Thanks to assistance from state and federal funds, Whitman has been able to offer all students the opportunity to work regardless of financial need. After June 2010, however, the college may be forced to discriminate which students it allows to occupy campus jobs.

Whitman students will lose over $400,000 in funding if Governor Christine Gregoire’s proposed state budget, which calls for the suspension of the Washington State Work Study and the Washington Scholars programs, is finalized by state legislators in upcoming weeks.

In December 2009, Gregoire was required by law to submit a balanced budget with no new revenues in reflection of Washington’s $2.6 billion budget gap. While initial cuts to the Need Grant program were partially restored in January 2010 as part of Gregoire’s supplemental budget, the Washington Work Study and Washington Scholars programs are still in jeopardy of being dissolved.

Gregoire introduced her January 2010 supplemental budget with a personal statement, “Rebuilding our Economic Future,” in which she expressed her displeasure with the proposed cuts, explaining that they are a necessary evil because the state can no longer afford to finance its higher education system at pre-recession levels.

“I fully recognize that what I recommend cutting today may not be restored for many years, if ever,” Gregoire said in the document. “While I am required to submit a budget with no new revenues, my work is not done. The reductions I propose are too hurtful and damaging, and do not represent my values or the values I know most of our citizens hold.”

However conciliatory, Gregoire’s remarks cannot disguise the financial distress that may be in store for nearly 500 students at Whitman who benefit from state-funded financial assistance. In addition to the $240,000 it receives in work study funds, Whitman is reimbursed 65 percent of students’ wages, which allows the college to hire many more students than qualify for the work-study program. Off-campus employers such as Heart to Heart, YWCA, the Red Cross, Campfire and many non-profit organizations are also subsidized by the state for employing Whitman students.

“We’re pretty rare here at Whitman College. Most colleges only allow eligible work study students to work: it’s really unusual for a college like Whitman to allow all students to work. It’s pretty amazing; we’re very lucky,” said Marilyn Ponti, director of financial aid services.

“Whitman spends a lot of money on their payroll for students,” Ponti continued. “What may happen as we tighten our budget is that it’s possible only students with work study eligibility will be able to work. We want the students who have the most need to be able to get jobs, and that’s really our priority.”

For many students, taking part in the work study program is an important part of financial aid. If the budget is approved, it will be difficult for Whitman to offer jobs to everyone because the college will not take away scholarships and grants from students who already receive them.

“Hopefully, the goal with Washington State Work Study is to pay the students a little bit more and give them a great working opportunity,” Ponti said. “When we mail financial aid packages out, we may grant them, say, $2,000 in work study. If they can’t find a job, it’s pretty difficult. We don’t just take the $2,000 and put it on their account; they have to work.”

In the event the budget is finalized, a number of students may not be able to attend Whitman at all.

“We have a number of students on campus who receive a Washington Scholars scholarship, and that enables those students to be here,” said Ponti. “For a lot of those students, if they lose that money they may not be able to stay.”

Junior Tessa Carlson echoed Ponti’s forecast.

“I’m a recipient of a Washington Scholars grant, and without it, I can confidently say I would not have been able to afford coming to Whitman,” she said. “If that money disappears next year, it is going to make paying Whitman’s tuition a huge burden to deal with during my senior year.”

“Because I only have one more year at Whitman, I wouldn’t transfer,” continued Carlson. “But it would make senior year a lot more difficult. I haven’t had to take out that much money in loans as of yet. But I get a substantial amount of money each year in grants, so [if the budget is approved] I’d have to find that money some other way, by taking out loans or by working a lot more or by asking my family for money, which I’ve never done before.”

In consideration of the possibility the budget will be approved, Whitman has put a number of programs and services on hold until the numbers are final. The Student Engagement Center has held back on moving forward with the application process for summer internship funding.

“We normally fund about 20 internships through the Whitman Internship Fund and another 20 through the Washington State Work Study Program,” Ponti said. “Right now we’re holding off on that because we don’t know if we’ll have the money available or not, so we don’t want to offer the internships. So normally the Student Engagement Center has two different internships, and now they just have one.”

Ponti hopes students will take action by voicing their concerns to their state legislators in writing.

“What we’re hoping is that everyone will write our legislators and say, ‘This is huge. We rely on these jobs to pay our tuition, to buy our books, to help with so many other things and possibly to pay our rent or food,'” said Ponti. “There are a lot of students that rely on work study. Our goal is to get as many students as possible to write their legislators about how important education is, how important it is that you work, that you have the opportunity to do an internship, to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life.”

“If we don’t have these internships, and we don’t have these jobs, what will students do?” Ponti said continuing. “It’s hard enough right now in this economy to find a job. We’re very lucky that we have as many jobs as we do on- and off-campus, but I have a feeling some of those jobs will go away. And that worries me.”