Best engineering schools under $20,000 (with merit aid)?

College Search & Selection
1

I’m trying to find a balance between affordable and highly respected engineering schools. By highly respected, I’m looking for courses that are rigorous and will prepare me well for work. I also want a decent amount of opportunities for connections, internships, and jobs (although I’m aware that this is mostly up to my own initiative). I know that this is a lot to ask, but any suggestions are appreciated. ***At the moment I’m not considering fit bc I can’t afford to be picky.

I want to major in civil or environmental engineering and am in VA. I already have VA Tech (slightly too expensive), University of Alabama, and VCU on my list.

I need a few more options where I could have a VERY likely chance to earn full tuition or enough merit aid to get the total price of college down to $20,000-15,000/yr or less. I don’t qualify for any financial aid, but my parents don’t have any savings, so the cheaper the better.

Stats:

I’m a senior, female, asian, from VA
Class Rank: #2
UW GPA: 4.0
SAT: 1460 (math: 740, english: 720, essay: 6/5/6
Math II: 710 US history: 790
ACT: 33 (english: 35, math: 34, reading: 33, science: 30, essay: 10)
Also wondering if my AP scores could save me any money
Lang: 4
Calc AB/BC, Euro, US, pysch, art history, environmental: 5

EC:
varsity swimming, states (9, 10)
class vice president (9, 10)
scholastic bowl (10,11,12)
varsity cross country, regionals (11,12)
girl scouts (long time), volunteer at hospital garden teaching children
NHS (11,12)
Model UN (11)
part time lifeguard in the summer (11,12)
art honor society (11,12)
summer marine museum volunteer (12)

Thank you!

2

Your state school

3

OP already mentioned living in VA and has already looked at VA publics (looks like VT is too expensive, but VCU may not be).

Some other schools with large scholarships for your stats:

Alabama - Huntsville
Florida A&M
Mississippi
Prairie View A&M

South Dakota State University has a billed cost of just under $20,000 for non-residents. However, travel and miscellaneous costs would probably push it out of range in terms of cost.

4

Cal Poly SLO, University of Minnesota are reasonably priced. Those two schools cost $40k/year (including room, board, books, transportation and miscellaneous expenses), so you would still need significant merit scholarships (roughly $20k/year), but for students with agentaquastar’s credentials, they can be generous.

5

Cal Poly SLO offers no financial aid (need-based or merit) for OOS students. $40K/year is what you will pay.

6

VCU doesn’t offer Civil or Environmental engineering
How about George Mason or ODU? Could you live at home and commute to either of those? That would put you well under $20k. Merit is possible for both

7

@agentaquastar

you would get an automatic full-tuition scholarship at Alabama-Huntsville:
http://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships

Huntsville is “Rocket City” and employs gobs of engineers, and would offer great co-op opportunities. The remaining costs will be well below $15K.

you would get close to a full ride at New Mexico (Regent scholarship + Amigo scholarship = almost $34K/year):
http://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html

punch in your numbers on this link and see if Nebraska gives you a happy estimate:
http://admissions.unl.edu/cost.aspx#scholarships/F-O

you could probably get full tuition at UT-Dallas, and also compete for the enormous McDermott scholarship:
http://aes.utdallas.edu/prospective-freshmen/awards

you could get a full tuition Presidential scholarship at Utah and also shoot for a full ride Eccles Honors College scholarship:
https://financialaid.utah.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/freshman/presidents-scholarship.php
https://honors.utah.edu/scholarships/eccles-distinguished-scholarship/

Mississippi State would offer enough scholarships to be very affordable:
http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/freshmen/money-matters/scholarships/academic-scholarships/
http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/freshmen/money-matters/scholarships/competitive-scholarships/
http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/freshmen/money-matters/

Ole Miss too
http://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/

you could also look into:
Minnesota
Ohio State
Miami Ohio
Iowa State
Arizona State
Michigan State
Illinois Inst of Technology
South Carolina

run their NPCs and examine their scholarships and see if anything appeals to you.

Good Luck!

8

Wien2NC provided a great list. Try to make UVa or VT work, fantastic in-state schools and very close to your $20K a year target.

Two Florida schools…

FSU shares it’s engineering college with FAMU, but it does have a decent Civil Engineering program. You likely would get an OOS tuition waiver (in-state tuition $6.3K a year or so), and a freshman scholarship (The award is $9,600 distributed over four years). You have to apply by the Oct Admissions date.

USF (in Tampa Florida) has a strong engineering program (IMHO, stronger than FSU’s program), low OOS tuition ($17,324) and nice automatic merit scholarships. Currently, you would qualify for the USF Green & Gold Presidential Award $48,000 (up to $12,000 per year). They also have some other scholarships that stack. like the $2,000 honor college scholarship.

http://www.usf.edu/admissions/freshman/admissions-scholarships/nonflorida.aspx

Still…if you can make UVa or VT work…

Good Luck!

9 
          I wouldn't count on that U ofUtah presidential. Certainly for in state kids, it isn't going as low as a 33. 35 and full IBD didn't do it this year. Also Utah's gpa req of 3.6 means many many kids will not get a renewal after freshman year. However Utah hands out in state rates like candy after the first year. USU has more carrots at 33 ACT.
10

@Gumbymom, Cal Poly does indeed give merit aid to OOS students. My son received some. :smiley: That said, it’s not much, $2k/year is about the max anyone can hope for. The OP would likely get an outreach scholarship, but the COA would still be too high.

11

Illinois Institute of Technology offers full tuition and a few full ride scholarships. They will cover a coterminal masters. Plenty of internships and job opportunities, good program.
My D also applied to University of Wyoming, and was offered a boatload of scholarships at 33 ACT and 4.0 as a woman in engineering.

12

@eyemgh: Probably should have stated significant merit aid is not available for OOS. Thank you for the info.

13

look into colleges that offer coop programs. It takes 5 years to graduate but you spend one of those years working in (typically) 2 stretches during which you are paid pretty well.

Another option for those constrained by finances is to attend a community college for 2 years and then transfer.

14

Check out Clarkson. As a female you should be able to get a LOT of aid (it’s about 70% male). The opportunities for building connections, internships, jobs are impressive. From their website:

Clarkson by the Numbers
Outcomes

Clarkson’s placement rate is one of the highest in the nation.
One in five Clarkson alumni is a CEO, senior executive, or owner of a company.
According to Payscale’s 2011 College Salary Report, the average starting salary of Clarkson graduates is $57,900 placing us #17 out of 1003 universities listed in this independent compensation benchmarking service.

Rankings

According to the U.S. News & World Report, we’re one of the top tier national universities. U.S. News also ranks our Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering as one of America’s best undergraduate engineering schools, and our School of Business supply chain management program as #14 in the nation.
Our innovation & entrepreneurship program ranks among the top 15 in the nation, according to The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.
Clarkson’s digital arts & sciences program is the most innovative in the nation, according to the International Digital Media and Arts Association.

I know both a graduate and a current student. Both are doing phenomenal things. Downside: cold winters!