For first-year Jessica Simmons, finances made coming to Whitman a hard decision.

“It’s really difficult for my family to pay the tuition,” she said. “I wish they could have given me more money.”

While Simmons is not alone, Whitman has continued to try to give as much financial aid as it can during the economic recession. The Office of Financial Aid increased its budget this year to help an increasing number of students.

“Last year we gave about $18 million in financial aid, this year we’re closer to $20 million,” said Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Tony Cabasco.

First-year Shane Young appreciated this increase.

“Honestly, Whitman gave me the most financial aid,” he said. “I have nothing bad to say about it. I am very grateful.”

The amount of need-based financial aid a person receives is based upon three factors: their College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and their parents’ income tax returns. The CSS Profile and FAFSA forms look into a family’s financial standing as well as their assets.

Some students found FAFSA to be a hindrance rather than a help.

“My biggest problem was that the FAFSA form really underrepresented how much money we were actually going to have to pay,” said first-year Hannah McNamara. “It said we were going to have pay a lot less than Whitman actually made us end up paying.”

“FAFSA is an outdated system,” said first-year Patrick Wiley of the 17-year-old application.

While students may feel the pressure of paying Whitman’s estimated $47,600 tuition, the Office of Financial Aid says it does its best to make Whitman affordable. The average financial aid package is $29,000. Of this number, $21,000 is entirely scholarship.

“Seventy-six percent of all Whitman students receive some kind of financial aid,” said Cabasco. “This includes merit-based, need-based, work study and student loans. About half of the students at Whitman qualify for some degree of need based financial aid.”

While need-based financial aid is determined by a family’s income and assets, merit-based financial aid is based solely upon an individual’s achievements in high school. Merit-based scholarships are awarded for achievements in academics, music, art, theater, debate and leadership.

“We recognize for some families that are upper-middle class, paying $48,000 a year is a lot,” said Cabasco. “So even though some of these students have parents that can afford most of the education, we still want to help them out and recognize some students’ talents.”

Other than in music, a student cannot receive a merit based scholarship if they did not receive one upon entry.

“Merit is a snapshot in time of the student’s academics in high school,” said Director of Financial Aid Services Marilyn Ponti. “Then a student can reapply at any time for need-based aid.”

For both need- and merit-based scholarships, about five to seven million dollars come from the school’s endowment.

“Our endowment is wonderful,” said Ponti. “It really allows us to give out even more scholarships than we would be able to otherwise. Someone has given their money so that another student can attend here and have that opportunity for a Whitman education.”

Other students, while satisfied with their financial aid packages, found the work-study program designed to offer students campus jobs to help tuition more difficult than expected.

“My financial needs were met,” said first-year Alex Norman. “My only problem was that the work-study aspect of my financial aid package was a bit confusing to me. I knew that there were work study things available, but I feel that there was just that student jobs page on the Whitmwan website as our only resource.”

“I went online and looked at the website, but jobs were difficult to find,” said first-year Allison Ramp. “I think maybe a little more direction in that aspect would be nice.”

With the economic recession, Whitman had to tighten some of their expenditures.

“We made some cuts to balance the budget across the board,” said Cabasco. “We made cuts to ensure that we had enough scholarships. It looks like we’ll need every dollar to ensure that Whitman will remain accessible.”

Ponti feels that Whitman has done well working towards that goal.

“I think we’ve done a good job trying to help the families as best we can,” she said.