Whitworth Aiming for Transparency: The New "Cost Clarity" Tuition Model

By Norah McLaughlin '28
Fall 2025 issue of In the Loop

On Sept. 8, 2025, Whitworth University students received an email about the institution "Introducing Cost Clarity." This new policy changed the undergraduate tuition rate to $26,900 for the 2026-2027 academic year, according to the email from Vice President of Enrollment Management Josh Hibbard.

"My initial reaction to the email itself was that it felt almost like the phishing emails that we get somewhat frequently," said Emily Edstrom, a junior biochemistry major at Whitworth. "But after looking into it more and having it confirmed that it was actually a real, legitimate thing, I think it's a really good idea what they're doing," she said.

This change felt out of nowhere for students who were confused about what it meant for them as current students. "I was wondering why they decided to change things now, or what motivated that," said Celeste Depew, a junior psychology and English double major.

Jason Tobeck is the director of admissions at Whitworth. This tuition change was not a sudden decision made by the university but has been in the works for a while, he says. "The sense of lack of clarity or unknown was something that created stress for families," said Tobeck, "So, we wanted to address how we can be more clear with the cost."

Hibbard explained that the university has been listening to parents and students to receive their feedback about applying to Whitworth and any barriers they might face. "What are parents saying? What are families saying that they need?" said Hibbard, "One of the things that has risen to the top every single time we ask that questions is they want clarity on understanding the cost."

Being transparent about costs is a significant aspect to consider when looking at colleges. "A lack of clarity about the cost is a big prohibiting factor in helping to get more people into higher education," said Edstrom.

Whitworth's previous model was to have a high tuition sticker price but to also offer high academic achievement scholarships to appear to lower the cost. These scholarships are mostly unfunded scholarships. "It's like a coupon. There's no actual money behind it," said Hibbard, "It's a reduction in the cost of tuition based on whatever factors that used to evaluate that academic achievement."

This model was confusing for many families applying to college because there is a lot of time and math involved in figuring out if students are even able to attend Whitworth. "Cost clarity is essentially about cutting those out and about clearly publishing what goes into your academic achievement scholarship," said Hibbard.

This model was adopted primarily to reduce sticker shock in prospective students. "There's just a population of students we know won't even raise their hand or look at us because of the sticker price," said Tobeck, "So, with a sticker price that is lower, that may open the door for students that will realize actually Whitworth is available and affordable for me."

A challenge with higher education is that there are many types of funding models. State agencies, federal agencies, institutional models and federal loans are just a few examples, according to Hibbard. Getting financial aid is also a complicated process. This is because students must apply to college, be admitted as well as submit their FAFSA before the institution can package their financial aid package and share it, according to Hibbard.

"I think looking at how expensive a lot of the other colleges around the nation are. It was very hard to commit to going somewhere without knowing that I'd have a sense of financial security," said Edstrom.

With the cost clarity model, the incoming student Academic Achievement Scholarship is going to be published at the beginning of the school year and will be determined based on high school grade point averages, according to Hibbard. Students will still need to take steps for grants and scholarships outside of Whitworth. "But from the clarity on the cost at the very beginning is because we're publishing that [...] non-inflated sticker price and we're publishing the academic achievement awards for every student," said Hibbard.

This model is only for incoming students starting next year and does not apply to current undergraduate students, according to Hibbard.

This new model will affect current students in a unique way. The tuition cost is being cut in half, but students' financial aid can't be given that same treatment because there are a range of factors that influence how much each student pays. "Our commitment is we're looking at every single individual student and adjusting their scholarship to the point that they wouldn't pay more than what they would have in the old model," said Hibbard.

Hibbard and his team are going to look at talent and participation scholarships as well as other awards given through the school in combination with the academic scholarship to ensure that students' costs don't increase because of university scholarships. "But there could be changes in each individual's level of non-university aid [...] that could adjust the cost," said Hibbard.

Tobeck has been presenting this new change to high school counselors across the state of Washington. At two local high schools, the students who attended the Whitworth presentation were the largest number that the Whitworth counselor had ever seen, according to Tobeck. The reception of this cost clarity has been well received by the counselors all over the state. "There was an applause that came from the high school counselors of the change [...] that was a good response," said Tobeck.

After the cost clarity was announced, the enrollment management team received an email from a parent expressing praise and appreciation for this change. "It's great to see someone finally say no to the silly game that is typical college tuition pricing," said the email, "I'm thrilled that my daughter's college is leading the way in making the whole system more rational and transparent."

This cost clarity is being received well, but it is still a brand-new transition that Whitworth is going through. "There's no playbook on how to do this in institutions. So, we're getting as much feedback as we can and doing this in a very transparent way as we can," said Hibbard.

Edstrom felt like there wasn't enough transparency when it was first announced. "A lot of people felt like it was sprung on us," said Edstrom, "There's not great communication between the finance and then students and then also sort of in-between faculty, they didn't really know what was going on."

However, students still appreciate this clarity about the cost. Depew considered how this change would have had an impact on her thought processes when first considering where she would attend college. "I would have probably appreciated the way they're doing it compared to other colleges, because it feels more transparent to me," said Depew.

This is the goal of this cost of clarity for incoming students next year and in future years. "To position ourselves to be an attractive product, both academically with great facilities and offering a mission and a college experience that is unique," said Tobeck. "But also, the accessibility financially and the clarity of that accessibility is going to position us well to recruit a class on a consistent basis."

If students or families have questions about the cost of clarity and how it might impact students at Whitworth, Hibbard encourages them to reach out to him or to the Financial Aid Office. "It provides that clarity and accessibility for students that thought a Whitworth degree was out of reach," said Hibbard, "Now they can see right from the beginning a much better understanding of the cost and that it's within range of what they might be able to afford."