Government and state grants include the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), and the Washington State Need Grant (WSNG). When Whitman offers you scholarship and grant aid, the college is making a gift aid commitment to you. Therefore, if you are offered scholarship funds and you qualify for grant aid, the two kinds of gift aid are nearly always interchangeable. The scholarship and the grant portions of the gift aid may change, but the total amount of the gift aid remains the same for the majority of students.
You apply for a Federal Pell Grant when you submit a FAFSA. The Central Processor determines your eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant, then communicates this eligibility, as well as eligibility for other federal student aid both to you by sending you a Student Aid Report (SAR) at the address listed on your FAFSA, and by computer to the financial aid offices listed on your FAFSA.
We must have the electronic information from the Central Processor before we may disburse Federal Pell Grant or any other federal student aid funds to your account.
SEOG funds are given to the college by the federal government to award to those students with the greatest demonstrated need. We award the SEOG funds in August, replacing scholarship funds already offered, but always maintaining the gift aid total that appears on each recipient's offer of financial aid.
We identify and nominate qualified Washington State Need Grant recipients. When the state of Washington sends the WSNG funds for you, these funds replace Whitman scholarship in the same amount so that your gift aid total remains the same.
For example, suppose you are offered $14,000 in scholarship and $400 in Federal Pell Grant in the spring. Your gift aid total then is $14,400. When Whitman receives your federal information, we find that your qualification for Federal Pell Grant is $450 instead of $400. Your scholarship then is adjusted downward to $13,950, so the gift aid commitment of $14,400 is maintained. Then in August we award you $2000 in SEOG, so your scholarship award is reduced by $2000. In October you are awarded a WSNG of $4650, so your scholarship is again reduced. Your gift aid components then become:
$ 7,300 Whitman Scholarship
450 Pell Grant
2,000 SEOG
$ 4,650 WSNG
$14,400 Total
A portion of the 2009-10 awards made to students under the Washingont State Need Grant, State Work Study and Educational Opportunity Grant programs is made up of federal matching funds which come from the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Program (LEAP) and the Special LEAP Program (SLEAP). During the 7/1/09-6/30/10 award period, Whitman College received an average of $1106.96 in LEAP funds and $3879.40 in SLEAP funds per student.
