716: Making the Price of College Make Sense with Adam Miller

Welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tillie Gottlieb, a senior college counselor and content specialist here at CEG. This season, we're sitting down with admission officers to hear their real stories. I spent years on that side of the desk myself, and one thing I want listeners to walk away with is this: these aren't gatekeepers deciding your fate. They're people trying to build a class and a community, often inside a system that feels chaotic from every angle. So over the next few weeks, we're getting to know some of them as people, hearing what actually drives them, and along the way, getting a clearer picture of what they're looking for.

Today's guest is someone I've known since my earliest days in admission. He's also doing something I wish more colleges would do: making the actual cost of college something a family can understand before they ever apply.

Let's get into it.

Adam Miller serves as Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid at Whitman College, located at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Walla Walla, Washington. Over his 13 years at Whitman, Adam has led efforts to build a more equitable and transparent admission process, including removing unnecessary barriers in the application and developing financial aid practices that give families a clear understanding of the true cost of attendance. Adam is a frequent speaker for high school audiences, where he helps students and families navigate college admission and financial aid, and he’s regularly cited in national media as an expert on these topics. Whitman’s approach to paying for college has been featured in The New York Times, and Adam’s recent work on the college’s “10% Promise” has been covered all over the news. He’s particularly interested in expanding access to selective colleges and demystifying the admission process for families. Before Whitman, Adam spent six years in the admission office at his alma mater, Claremont McKenna College, where he oversaw international admission, coordinated leadership scholarship selection, and served as the admissions liaison for athletic recruitment. 

We hope you enjoy. 

 

Play-by-Play

• 2:32 – How did Adam go from playing baseball in France to falling into admissions at Claremont McKenna?
• 6:07 – What makes Adam sit up and pay closer attention to an application?
• 7:28 – What's the one piece of advice Adam gives students most often about their essays?
• 8:41 – When did Adam first realize college cost was something he wanted to help fix?
• 11:17 – Why is the price of college so confusing, and why don't families find out the real cost until it's too late?
• 13:42 – What is the high tuition, high aid model, and why has it become a problem?
• 16:53 – What is Whitman's early financial aid guarantee, and what did Adam learn from launching it?
• 20:05 – What is the Whitman 10% Promise?
• 27:45 – How do merit and talent scholarships factor into the 10% Promise?
• 30:09 – How does the 10% Promise apply to undocumented and international students?
• 33:57 – Does Adam think transparent, fixed-cost pricing models will become the norm?
• 42:08 – What's Adam's advice for a family just starting to navigate college costs?
• 44:06 – What questions should families be asking colleges about financial aid?
• 45:50 – What does Adam want families to keep in mind about affordability and fit?

 

Resources

• How to Pay for College in 4 Steps: Crash Course on How to Pay for College
•  Colleges That Offer Complete Financial Aid 
• Podcast: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid?
• What is Financial Aid?
• CSS Profile and CSS Profile Schools
• Family Handbook: Discussing Finances + Financial Aid       
• Whitman 10% Promise (official page)
• Whitman Early Financial Aid Guarantee
• Forbes (Michael T. Nietzel, June 22, 2026)
• Fortune (June 25, 2026)
• College Worth Your Money (book referenced re: ROI)
• College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
• College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
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