Ohio State
Iowa
(These really surprised me–what a huge range of admitted students!)
Iowa State
UIUC
Penn State
@LucieTheLakie Thanks for the correction. I was interpreting the data incorrectly by using UMN as a reference. Here is the link from UMN Common Data set:
http://www.oir.umn.edu/student/characteristics/term/1159/count/10734
The UA incoming class size is about right now. Big increase from 844 in 2011. They should try and keep the incoming class size at about 1500. Is that maybe why the engineering supplement scholarship (30 - 31 ACT) is going away after this year?
Even without the supplement, UA cost at 2/3 OOS tuition scholarship is still competitive with many of the schools above. At current published rate UA is $21.5K for Tuition/R&B vs. $31.0K at UIUC for IL resident. UMN is $22.5K, $22K at Purdue, OSU at $21.6K and $20.6K for UW for IS.
I suspect that fits in with the long-range plan, @CyclonesGrad, to gradually raise the scholarship requirements as they meet their internal goals.
And, yes, even with “just” a 2/3 OOS scholarship, it’s still a great value for students from states like Pennsylvania, where the COA in state for Penn State in 2014-15 was $34,598.
^^ The UIUC COA is close to that- tuition and fees alone over $20,000 and, like PSU, not much merit or need-based aid.
UIUC Engineering in-state COA is $17,670…per a semester.
https://cost.illinois.edu/Home/Cost/R/U/Compare/FullTime/120158
@Gator88NE Yep, I know that and that is why my twins, DD and DS, did not even apply. They give very little merit money. We are IL residents.
They applied to UMN (got IS tuition merit scholarship), ISU, and UA. Received good merit money from all. UA has the best offer for sure.
Wow, what is going on in Illinois. Phew that’s expensive for in-state.
@SouthFloridaMom9 IL is bankrupt. Have reduced funding to the state U by 65% since 2007. Making up gap by tuition increases and significant enrollment of OOS/Foreign.
Not from IL, but I think the situation represents a large state population, coupled with a decimated state budget. Add in a HUGE influx of students from overseas, particularly China, and they are able to maintain that very high price-tag.
It also happens to be an outstanding engineering school; for many, it’s a bargain if they were budgeting full pay at an elite private.
This thread is from a year ago, but may be of interest: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1729156-inside-higher-ed-the-university-of-china-at-illinois-p1.html
@LucieTheLakie IS student population has dropped to 70%. There is a large amount of public scrutiny right now on that. The tuition and IS student population is now a BIG issue being discussed here in IL.
@CyclonesGrad, is 70% considered low? It’s 62% at Penn State UP. Heck, it’s down to 46% at UA!
@LucieTheLakie It may be closer to 65%. That is considered low because in the mid-2000’s it was low 80’s%. Can’t really compare to UA because of population base difference considering size of universities.
Why is PSU so low? Is it cost? I would think that Pennsylvania has enough population base to support. Of course, there is Pitt; state school, correct? Is U Penn private or public?
UIUC is really the only highly recognized school in IL.
LOL, ever heard of Northwestern or the University of Chicago, @CyclonesGrad??? 
Penn is private, and an Ivy, so in-state or out-of-state has no real bearing.
Pitt, like Penn State (and Temple), is public, but those schools only get 10% of their funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The state-owned schools are the PASSHE system, which is not as highly-regarded.
Penn State is a huge draw to OOS students in the Northeast, especially from NJ and NY. It is what it is, and nobody frets it enough to actually DO anything about it.
Also, Alabama may be a sparsely populated state by comparison to PA and IL, but don’t think for a second the fact that Alabama residents are now in the minority at UA isn’t a bone of contention in the state.
Shows how ignorant I am, I guess. Heard of Penn but did not realize that is University of Pennsylvania. Sorry for that! LOL
Alabama residents in the minority at UA is not a surprise when the university goes from 14K students to 30K+ in a decade. I do not think Alabama’s population has doubled in the decade.
Would be interesting to know if the absolute numbers of incoming class from AL has changed over the decade? % can be deceiving when growth of an entity occurs. My guess is absolute # has not changed and that UA growth has come from OOS enrollment.
I believe Penn is the only University of (State Name) that is actually private.
That’s okay, @CyclonesGrad. As a Penn grad, I’m just impressed you didn’t think it and Penn State were one and the same!
Re its problematic name, it’s no doubt rooted in its age. Ben Franklin founded the College of Philadelphia in 1755, which merged with the University of the State of Pennsylvania to form the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.
FWIW, Pitt, another very old institution (whose roots date to the late 18th century) was private until 1966.
Penn State is really the upstart here, as it wasn’t founded until 1855. The Commonwealth selected the school in 1863 to be its sole land-grant college, the name changing officially to Pennsylvania State College in 1874.
The PASSE system is comprised of all the old “normal schools” (aka “teacher colleges”), all of which are significantly less expensive than Pitt and Penn State, but their STEM offerings are limited and they’re not widely known outside the state.
Re UA, you’re correct that the total number of AL residents has remained steady during the rapid growth of the past decade, and that the overall growth is entirely due to the increase in OOS students, who have tipped the overall balance of the student body.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/university_of_alabama_sees_dra.html