Private · Whittier, CA
Whittier College
Get to know the college, from admissions and cost to life on campus.
Overview
Founded by Quakers in 1887 and named for poet John Greenleaf Whittier, this is Richard Nixon's alma mater, and at under 800 undergrads it's one of the smallest campuses here. The formal Quaker affiliation is gone, but the college still leads with social responsibility as its identity, not just history. The Whittier Scholars Program lets students design a custom major, but only alongside a real off-campus internship or study abroad.
About Whittier College
- Type
- Liberal Arts College
- Setting
- Suburban
- Undergraduates
- 764
Admissions
- Early Decision/Early Action
- Yes
- Accepts Common App
- —
Cost
Tuition and aid
- Full cost of attendance
- $64,712per year
- Average family income
- $81,480
- Students with a school grant
- 99%
- Average school grant
- $28,187
- Average federal debt
- $20,000at graduation
- Need-blind
- —
- Meets full need
- —
- Merit scholarships
- Yes
- CSS Profile
- —
- International aid
- —
Academics
- Majors offered
- 31
- Freshmen who return
- 66%
- Notable
- Custom majorsthe Whittier Scholars Program requires an off-campus internship or study abroad
Students
Campus life
- Setting
- Suburban
- Location
- Whittier, CA
- Live on campus
- —
- Student organizations
- —
- Varsity sports
- —
Whittier no longer holds a formal Quaker affiliation, but it still leads with the same social-responsibility identity the founders built in. At under 800 undergrads, it's genuinely small, students and faculty are described as living and learning in close proximity, with the residential model treated as central rather than optional for the first three years. The suburban Whittier campus sits about 12 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, close enough for city access without being inside it. The Quaker Campus, the student newspaper, carries that heritage in its name even as the college's religious ties have loosened. A First-Year Experience program eases the transition, and 24/7 campus security patrols the property.
Summarized by Spike from what students write: Whittier College Campus Life, Whittier College (Wikipedia).
Outcomes
- Earnings 6 years in
- $46,624
- Graduate within 6 years
- 62%
- Average federal debt
- $20,000
- Graduates go into
- —
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Spike Rankings 2027
Where Whittier College ranks.
Ranked on federal data about graduation, earnings and cost. How Spike ranks colleges
Common questions
Questions about Whittier College
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