-37%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment fell 37% at Whittier College vs the 2004–2008 baseline (812 vs 1.3k).
California · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
Whittier College
Whittier, California. 812 undergraduate students. 31 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Whittier College
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
+18%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Whittier College rose 18% between 2007 and 2010 ($30.2k → $35.6k).
+16%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Whittier College rose 16% between 2007 and 2010 ($13.8k → $16.0k).
-12%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Whittier College fell 12% between 2021 and 2024 (59.6% → 52.6%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. California
Each tile compares this institution to the California median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$59,492+29% · 6→10y
California median $42,588$46,025
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry63.4%-6% · '97→'24
California median 61.3%$18,125+36% · '97→'10
At program completion812+15% · '96→'10
latest IPEDS52.8%+3% · '04→'10
first-time, full-time85.4%-12% · '01→'24
latest cohort$49,864+67% · '01→'10
out-of-state $49,864SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
4.1%Median federal debt $18,125 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $59,492 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+67%
Whittier College · in-state tuition rose
$21,336 → $35,582
+141%
Whittier College · out-of-state tuition rose
$21,336 → $51,350
+36%
Whittier College · median debt rose
$11,750 → $16,000
-100%
Whittier College · cohort default rate fell
5.9% → 0.0%
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Law.$93,045Education, General.$75,643Political Science and Government.$63,587Business Administration, Management and Operations.$61,761Sociology.$60,980Biology, General.$56,770Psychology, General.$49,534Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.$45,651Health and Physical Education/Fitness.$45,155Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.$40,976English Language and Literature, General.$32,702
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
11 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
EDUCATION · CIP 13
FOREIGN LANGUAGES · CIP 16
FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES · CIP 19
LEGAL PROFESSIONS · CIP 22
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE · CIP 23
BIOLOGICAL & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES · CIP 26
PARKS, RECREATION & FITNESS · CIP 31
PSYCHOLOGY · CIP 42
SOCIAL SCIENCES · CIP 45
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in California
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Whittier College graduates earn $X” — not “Whittier College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Whittier College caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.