As MWFan indicated, you need to have schools on your list that will meet the $25-30k price via sticker price alone or via merit aid. Several schools have been mentioned upthread, but as there are now 572 posts, this quote might help jog your memory on them.
AustenNut:
U. of Louisville (KY) has about 16k undergrads and you would qualify for $15k National Scholars award, bringing the costs down to about $25k. If you were interested in research and the Grawemeyer Scholarship, if received, your costs would be about $13k (it would all but about $1k of tuition).
Missouri Science & Technology has about 5700 undergrads and a great reputation. Its scholarship calculator estimates an award of $13k, bringing costs down to about $30k, and you could compete for additional scholarships as well.
Clarkson
U. of Arizona has about 37k undergrads. Your record would get you $30k in merit bringing the costs down to about $24k, and if you earn an IB diploma with at least 24 IB credits, then you may be eligible for up to $5k more in scholarships (source ), bringing the costs down to about $19k/year.
I also like the suggestions of Miami U . (OH), Iowa State , Kansas , and U. of New Mexico from others.
TCNJ is The College of New Jersey
These are schools like SUNY Binghamton, U. at Buffalo, etc. They are the public universities of New York.
AustenNut:
Based off the info you provided about what you want in a college, I really like U. of Louisville for you, and the honors program ’s class schedule also indicated honors sections of engineering classes. I’d also keep U. of Arizona in consideration, as its W.A. Franke Honors College would also be of interest. Some other schools you may want to consider include:
U. of Arkansas : About 24k undergrads. Its engineering school participates in the university’s honors program. You would receive an 80% deduction in the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition, bringing the costs down to about $27k for tuition, room & board, and you’d be eligible for additional scholarships as well.U. of Cincinnati (OH): About 29k undergrads at this school where co-ops are emphasized. There’s a variety of scholarships , up to a full ride, available. You may also be interested in its Next Innovation Scholars Program , a small select cohort of students focusing on innovation and transformation. I can’t tell if its honors program includes courses in the engineering department, but that would certainly be a good question to ask them.U. of Kansas : About 19k undergrads and Lawrence is reported to be a really great college town (but it’s not a major city). Looking at the class schedule, there were specialized engineering classes with honors sections (at least for aerospace and petroleum engineering). You would receive $16k/year in merit aid here, bringing your costs down to about $23k/year.U. of Nebraska – Lincoln : About 20k undergrads at this school in the capital of Nebraska. Although there are honors sections of engineering classes, it looks as though some may be combined with non-honors sections, so I would certainly inquire about that and class sizes. There are a variety of scholarships up to full tuition, including a $15k scholarship for incoming students with IB diplomas. With a $15k scholarship, the costs would be about $24k here.U. of Tennessee-Knoxville : About 25k undergrads. It appears that you would receive $15k in merit (if you increased your score to a 34 you would get $18k). That would bring your costs for tuition, room & board down to about $29k. The Cook Grand Challenge Honors Program in the Tickle College of Engineering seems as though it’d provide many of your desired benefits.
Posts 443 & 444 from @bgbg4us and @EconPop give more details on Nebraska and Cincy.
Adding on to these, make sure to do a deep dive at your in-state publics of U. of Alabama (Huntsville, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa) as well as Auburn, and any other in-state publics that catch your fancy.
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