OP: Have you visited the Hispanic Student forum here on CC I have been a regular poster there and there is a lot of great information. Here is the link: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/ Be sure to read the sticky thread at the top. There is a collection of colleges that are generous for merit money for the hispanic student. My son was an NHRP about 5 years ago and we were the same as you money-wise. It took a lot of research on my part and quality applications by my son, but he ended up with two full-rides and about $750k in scholarships from colleges on his list.
I have a couple of recommendations:
- In order to get the most merit money, have your son apply early action to as many of those schools as possible. Money for NHRP is most generous in the early rounds. I second the Tulsa recommendation. For NHRP, students can get a diversity-fly (if you do not know that term then look it up on the hispanic forum) and and will get some money and be eligible for a full-tutition scholarships.http://admission.utulsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/presidential-scholarship-app14-15.pdf Nebraska is another college generous to NHRP. Same with Arizona (you get full tuition and a laptop). You son will start getting mailings and emails about NHRP, be sure to review them carefully since the scholarships for NHRP will be discussed in those mailings. Northeastern last year gave $30K for NHRP but it was not automatic for all candidates. http://www.northeastern.edu/admissions/cost-financial-aid/scholarships/ Always ask the college if they have a diversity fly-in and/or NHRP scholarships. Some colleges do not list it but do have money for it. Also some schools do not strictly interpret the top 10% requirement so apply if your son is close.
- Have your son show demonstrated interest for the colleges on his list. I think the reason my son did so well for merit money is that he showed the "love" to every college on his list. He did diversity fly-ins (many of those applications are due now).
- Look at the colleges that change lives group at ctcl.org. Alot of them are on the east coast. Again, ask them about diversity fly-ins and scholarships. With your son's georgraphic area and ACT scores, those colleges I bet would be interested in him. You could potential get enough to bring it to the $30K level.
- See if you son is interested in state colleges. Even with tuition surcharges for out of state schools, OOS colleges usually run between $35-$42K. With a scholarship you can get it down to your level. For example Ohio State would award him the National Buckeye Scholarship of I believe $12K a year. With his test score and being Latino he could apply for the Morrill scholarship which would be in-state tuition. They allow you to combine the Buckeye scholarship with Provost or Trustee. http://undergrad.osu.edu/money-matters/scholarships.html Plus your son could apply to the Honors Program (another thing you should look at for every college). Honors Colleges make big schools small and give a very personalized education. Miami of Ohio is another great school (very east coast like) that would give enough merit to make it affordable. You want to find schools where the price point is lower so that the addition of a scholarship makes it affordable. Try to find colleges that are actively interested in raising the diversity at their college. Look at the college partners listed over at imfirst.org. I know colleges like College of Charleston is trying to be more diverse and it is a great college. Unfortunately the Northeast is not the best area for looking for merit money for a Latino. Instead the South and Midwest are the best places. Even schools like Seattle University are good places for him. I have a Latino student there who got $20K in merit and then received an addition Costco Scholarship of $10K administered by Seattle U. What is great about Seattle U is that the merit scholarship of $20K is automatic for a student with certain grades and test scores. Dennison in Ohio has a good diversity fly-in program and good diversity scholarships. New Mexico is another college that with the Amigo Scholarship makes if very affordable.
- In creating his list, first make sure every school on it is affordable and then apply early to it. It is pointless to apply to colleges that are not affordable. If he applies to Duke, then make him understand that Duke is only feasible if he gets one of the few merit scholarships. My son had Vanderbilt on his list, he knew that school was a "yes" only if he got the one merit scholarship for Latinos.
- If my memory is correct, American gave my son $20K a year. I know GW is giving up to $30K a year if they really want you (most usually get $20k). What you son has going for him is that he is a Hispanic male wanting to study something other than science or engineering (Latinas are valued in those area of study). Rice has a diversity fly-in and some merit. I would only put it on his list with the understanding that he doesn't go if he doesn't get that money. Here is one diversity fly-in list and as you can see there are a lot of east coast schools on the list. http://matermiddlehigh.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=139084&type=u&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=407159 A better list is always on the website "getmetocollege.org" which is primarily devoted to Latino students. http://getmetocollege.org/hs/2015-free-diversity-college-visits It has been my experience with my own children that attending diversity fly-ins helped them gain admission and good scholarships so I strongly suggest your son apply to some of them. Always ask, some schools have them but are not on this list.
- Don't forget about private scholarships for Latinos. Private scholarships are tougher to get but my youngest has been really successful in getting them to close the gap for her. Hispanic Scholarship Fund is one. Have you son apply now to the student awards from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. My youngest won that one and it has open a ton of door for her. Again there is a list on the sticky thread in the hispanic student forum.
Good luck. I am confident your son can get accepted to a college that is affordable, but it will take work. Do the research, have him work on his applications now and submit them. My youngest was done by Oct. 30 and it made for a very nice senior year. We are a middle class family and neither child has any loans and we did not take out any loans. People may ask our children why they did not apply to the ivies, but we knew those kinds of schools were affordable for them. Each has ended up at a college that we never thought of when they were first in high school, but both love their colleges and can’t imagine themselves any place else.