@InfiniteWaves Yes, she is.
It’s interesting that when I asked about something like that st Ursinus, our guide talked about how students can request quiet floors.
@InfiniteWaves How does that differ from a dry campus? Many (maybe most) schools are flat out dry now, with no alcohol allowed on campus.
State universities expand scholarship pool…
http://triblive.com/news/education/career/12951130-74/state-universities-expand-scholarship-pool
@Portercat IUP is not a dry campus. According to policy, students of legal drinking age can consume alcohol in their apartments. I would assume that substance-free housing allows for like-minded students of all ages to have that aspect of college/adult life be a non-issue.
IUP alcohol policy is on this website:
https://www.iup.edu/atod/policies/drug-free-schools-and-communities-act–student-information/
Edinboro University to cut, rework degree programs…
http://www.goerie.com/news/20171115/edinboro-university-to-cut-rework-degree-programs
Tough Decisions Ahead at East Stroudsburg University…
http://www.pahomepage.com/news/tough-decisions-ahead-at-east-stroudsburg-university/857430198
PA continues at the top of this list, just below NH:
https://amp.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-average-by-state-map-2017-11
I just looked at the first post of this thread and it has been a little over a year. Nice job everyone!
Hey, my supervisor at work went to Bowling Green and highly, highly recommended that we give it a serious look. Just a data point, but she says it’s worth it.
Just wondering. For those here, were you all looking for schools that offered enough aid to get the price “down” to our state schools, or less than our state schools?
I’m looking for a good school in PA that has his major, and that isn’t too far away.
But all of those schools, even state schools, are above our EFC.
Some of the private schools might be a bit less while we have two in college, but not with only one in college.
I just came back from taking my daughter to IUP. They played West Chester in the DII college football playoffs. I walked around town and the entire campus. It is really, really a beautiful campus. Of all of the PASSHE schools…my personal opinion is that it is the 2nd prettiest behind Bloomsburg. I would put CalU in the 3rd spot (there is absolutely no town at CalU…pretty campus). Seriously…IUP and the town would be a great place to spend 4 years for college.
@laralei, we were looking to get “down” to state school level with merit from privates but without need aid. It didn’t happen. If my daughter’s stats were higher, it may have happened. All of the 45-50K COA per year schools brought it down to 30-35K. These were mid tier privates or LACs like Elizabethtown, McDaniel and Randolph Macon. York College was the only one that brought it down to PASSHE level, but she lost interest. Also, they have since revised their merit system I believe.
I am late to joining this thread & read through the first 15 or so pages which has very useful info. My son is currently a senior and his heart set on Penn State UP campus. He has also applied to Temple, Pitt & WCU but I’d like him to apply to more schools that are more financially palatable. I’m certain we won’t qualify for financial aid but yet still can’t stomach the full tuition costs with another two sons behind him (one of which attends private school). He’s got terrific SAT scores (1460 superscore, 1360 best sitting) but is a bit of a slacker with grades (3.6 W, under 3.0 UW but over 20 honors classes). He attends a top magnet school in Philadelphia. Any suggestions on where else he should apply where he might qualify for merit aid?
@Gatormama The Florida State FYA program looks great…wish I could go. I’m going to share this with my son.
Welcome, @Cookies510! It depends what he wants. If he wants something similar to PSU, I’d check out the two faves in our household: WVU and OU. Both offer great merit for stats like your son’s. WVU, for sure, counts weighted GPA for scholarship purposes. You can see what those stats will get him here:
https://financialaid.wvu.edu/home/scholarships/freshmen/non-residents
(WVU also has a NPC that you can use to estimate base COA, without aid, and also with merit aid.)
OU’s NPC is here:
https://www.ohio.edu/financial-aid/cost/calculator
And scholarship info is here:
https://www.ohio.edu/admissions/tuition/scholfinaid/signature.cfm
Both of these schools are cheaper than PSU UP for OOS students, without factoring in merit aid.
So you can’t really lose by checking them out.
Our aim is to get either one down to the cost of a PASSHE school. D is getting more and more motivated, which is great to see.
That said, she loved West Chester when she visited, and so if she falls short, she’ll be happy to go there too.
There are other big-state U’s that offer great merit.
U of Alabama is the big one. Your son’s stats might help there also - UA offers up to full tuition for great stats.
Also, FSU gives an OOS tuition waiver for good stats; your son may qualify there also. FSU is a great school, not as wonderful as UF, but hey, it’s a good runner-up. (I’m a touch biased 
@Cookies510 There are many, many smaller schools that would provide merit with your son’s stats, but they would likely not be similar in experience to PSU. Also, how far away is he willing to go? There is a lot of discussion on Alabama in this thread also, which has (in the past) provided huge merit awards for OOS kids with high stats.—Just realized @Gatormama said the same thing 
Thanks @Gatormama & @Portercat We were considering Alabama but his GPA isn’t high enough to qualify for a full ride & they also don’t superscore the SAT for scholarship purposes. So the amount of merit he would qualify for at Alabama isn’t enough of a savings for our Nittany Lion family to switch allegiances:) Florida State could be a realistic option. It looks like their OOS tuition is similar to PSU instate.
He’s currently considering Clemson & University of Oregon and is open to any distance. I’d prefer it be somewhere within driving distance to keep costs down.
@Cookies510 My son applied and got accepted to University of Alabama. He received a merit scholarship before they received his final SAT score. They sent a follow-up letter saying congrats on the score improvement and offered him additional merit. So, they did superscore. Hope that helps you and good luck!
It is specifically stated on the Alabama website that they do not superscore. It’s under freshman admission FAQs.
Perhaps there is some confusion regarding superscoring and increasing merit by an improved score.
Not to be fussy but after reading this thread I looked it up wondering if there had been a policy change regarding superscoring at UA.
I have been in touch with UAH and UAB in the last six months or so and they also do not superscore.
Personally, I am very irritated by the Alabama schools for adjusting their scholarship levels this year according the College Board concordance for the new SAT which is very obviously flawed based on percentiles and the last admission cycle. The CB is publishing an updated concordance next summer but it will be too late for kids applying now who have been shut out of the higher scholarship levels, like my D with her 1370 and no hope to improve to 1390 in her current post-concussive state. I doubt UAH and UAB are going to re-adjust down in the future and UA significantly revamped their scholarships anyway.