Whitworth guarantees Spokane Public School students admittance and scholarship if they hit 3.6 GPA

Spokane Public Schools students are now guaranteed admittance into Whitworth University and an accompanying academic scholarship if they graduate with a 3.6 grade point average or higher, officials said.

The partnership between the school district and the private university was announced this week, about a year after a similar pilot program in the Mead School District. East Valley High School, Gonzaga Preparatory School, Saint George’s School and more have since signed onto similar agreements. The move is part of a larger bid by Whitworth to improve cost transparency and the path to admission – two points that continually come up as barriers, said vice president for Whitworth’s enrollment management, Josh Hibbard.

In the same spirit, just a few months ago the university announced that it would cut the 2026-2027 advertised tuition rate in half to better reflect what students actually pay. The new tuition rate sits at $26,900, required fees pushing the total to $28,400. Nine months of full room and board is an additional $14,900.

“When cost is unclear and admission feels unpredictable, many students opt out. And so that’s not good for anyone,” Hibbard said. “And so through the guaranteed admission program – students with a qualifying GPA of 3.6 or above – they’re guaranteed admissions to Whitworth, and they’re guaranteed a scholarship.”

For public school students, a GPA of 3.6 guarantees admittance and a $6,000 scholarship per year. A 3.9 means $9,000 per year. For students who don’t quite make the guaranteed admission cutoff but had a 3.3 or higher, a yearly $3,000 is waiting on the other side if they are accepted to the university.

This is just a base price, Hibbard said. Students may qualify for aid through federal programs and additional university scholarships.

“Affordability is a subjective term. So what may be affordable for one family is different for another family, right?” Hibbard said. “So we often talk about what is manageable, and our aim with our cost clarity is to bring that clarity at the very beginning so you don’t find surprises at the end.”

Washington is ranked 48th in the country for Federal Application for Student Aid application completion, Spokane Public Schools Chief of Student Success Scott Kerwien said. A former school counselor himself, Kerwien said that admission and cost clarity may encourage families to make the jump and fill out the federal application. “Back in the day,” he said, students would see catalogs for college coupled with a price tag that they felt sure their family would or wouldn’t be able to afford.

“Well, half the battle is ‘Can I go to college? Am I smart enough? Did I take the right classes?’ ” He said. “And this, right off the bat, this just says ‘You’re in, so don’t even worry about that part. We got your back. We’ll get you here, and TBD on the financial landscape of what we can do for you together.’ ”

Knowing about clear pathways early helps to build hope in students who might have never considered college before, Kerwien said.

“To have as many doors open as possible has kind of always been my goal for students,” he said. “And this shines a light on one door being open for them, and maybe they didn’t even know and thought that that door was closed.”

Admittance agreements between primary and secondary schools and universities are not uncommon in Washington. Starting in the 2021-22 school year, Washington’s public universities banded together to offer high schoolers in participating schools with a 3.0 GPA or higher guaranteed admittance to any of their campuses. While that model depends on schools sharing student data with universities, Hibbard said that Whitworth’s approach is meant to be “more about communicating this pathway to a Whitworth degree.”

Hibbard said Whitworth is happy to meet with any schools about extending an admission guarantee to their students. Northwest Christian School is expected to sign on next week, and Whitworth administrators have a meeting with Lakeside High School planned. While open to far-off schools – the university is partnered with California’s Marantha High School – connecting with local students is particularly important.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about strengthening our community,” he said. “And that starts with our local students. We’re a local university. We want to have a local impact.”