Looking for thoughts on what CCers see as the best NMSF full ride (not full tuition) schools and the differences between them regardless on geographic area. Son is looking at social science major at this point.
Thanks
Do you really mean NMSF? There is only one automatic full ride I know of for NMSF (North Carolina Central U.)
NMF is required for a decent selection of automatic full rides, the best of which are probably Ole Miss, UT-Dallas, Kentucky, New Mexico, and Central Florida.
At New Mexico State University (not UNM), a Semifinalist can get tuition, housing, and a $1,165 per/semester stipend. The stipend increases to $2500 for NMF.
Wichita State University gives full rides with a $1000 stipend for NMFs.
Sorry Bob I was using NMSF as National Merit Scholarship finalist, not National Merit Semifinalist- my bad. I meant NMF.
What about University of Alabama, Birmingham?
Thanks southview- I saw that one. I’m looking to get some ideas on which of the schools might be best- I’ve seen the US News rankings but wondering if anyone has opinions, details etc. on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the schools or if they have sons or daughters attending and what they think of the schools.
I looked the the US News public college rankings. I know that’s not the be-all and end-all of looking at schools but it’s a place to start.
based on that, Alabama is the most highly ranked of the group and Oklahoma is next. Does anyone have any feedback on Oklahoma?
PS I see they are not technically full ride but if you add everything up they are close.
I thought bama was a full ride? Plus $2500 and an ipad?
Yes for UA Birmingham that is correct, not for Univ. Of Alabama. Univ. of Alabama is highly rated, not sure about UAB.
UA Tuscaloosa is full tuition for 5 years, $2500 if the student enrolls in the College of Engineering, and the free iPad.
The Bama scholarship offer requires careful reading. It is complicated, with full tuition paid for 5 years + $3500 stipend for 4 years. It is almost a full ride the first year(within $1000 if you don’t consider books and personal), the only year housing is paid for. It was a 4 year full ride until a couple of years ago but has changed. Still a great deal.
We’ve been looking at Bama for S. The $3500 will cover the mandatory(unless you pledge or get some other authorized exemption) freshman meal plan- $3266/academic year, plus a bit of the approximately $800 college/course fees. There is also mandatory deposit of $650 into dining $$ account each year, but you can get that back at end of year if not spent. After the first year you can spend your food money as you like and presumably make the $3500 stretch farther if necessary.
That $2500 extra you mention is for engineering students, right? Does anyone else get that? I suppose there might be some additional scholarship money from other depts.
I was looking at engineering but I didn’t know the $2500 was not for all types of students. Does $3500 cover housing AND food?! Seems like it covers food but then you are not full ride cuz housing is on your own?
@1203southview $3500 covers a meal plan, not housing. As @celesteroberts stated, the scholarship is almost a full ride the FIRST year because it explicitly includes housing for one year. After that housing is not included, but if you are in engineering, the $2500 would make a dent in that.
ahhh, thanks STEMfamily.
I will give a different answer given that the question is NMF/full tuition rather than NMSF/full ride:
Texas A&M and Fordham are IMHO the best offering at least full tuition, followed by Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Arizona, and Arizona State.
The new (for the HS class of 2014) Florida Incentive Scholarship for FL resident NMFs. Pays for a full ride (tuition, fees, room & board, books, supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous fees) to a state school (or the equivalent of state costs can be applied to a FL private school). I bet a lot more kids will be staying in state … And the rankings will rise for UF, the most selective of the state schools. Don’t see how the state of FL can sustain this for long as so many smart kids stay in state anyway.
This is the NMF scholarship package at The University of Alabama which is in Tuscsloosa.
http://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/
There is an additional $2,500 stipend each year for four of the five years for Engineering majors. Five years of tuition are covered, but only one year of housing. There are additional stipends detailed in the link posted above.
I would add Northeastern to our list, BobWallace… unfortunately they dropped from full tuition to 30k but it is still a great deal for a very good school, in a great location. I like their engineering coop program.
Oklahoma and Alabama both attract a huge number of NMFs with very generous packages. The 10-semester package these schools offer will cover most of grad school for many, since I think the average NMF arrives on campus with between 30 and 60 hours through dual enrollment and Advanced Placement. So even though neither of these schools provide a 100-percent full ride, the package they offer is potentially worth more than the full-rides that cover only the undergraduate enrollment.
Oklahoma provides a full-time staff member to essentially be a concierge to help NM finalists work through any problems they might have, such as a full class or dorm, etc. I think both schools have dedicated NM floors or dorms, which I think is kind of neat.
Ole Miss has a full-ride and a great honors college. I think Ole Miss and Mississippi State are the only two SEC schools to be in a small city of fewer than 25,000 people. Oxford, home of Ole Miss, is charming; Starkville, not so much. Texas A&M estimates the value of their scholarship at $100,000, which exceeds the cost of attending due to study abroad money, etc. They give a tuition waiver to out-of-state students which increases the value of their scholarship to about $170,000.
These offers often change a bit every year as each school, particularly Oklahoma and Alabama, try to get the maximum yield for the minimum amount of aid.