<p>From what I can see on both the ASEE website and the school website, Alfred’s engineering program is pretty limited. Primarily ceramics and materials science. No mechatronics, as far as I can tell.</p>
<p>Too bad you’re stuck on the Northeast . . . there are some really rural (as in “out in the friggin’ middle of nowhere!”) schools if you were willing to venture a little farther afield.</p>
<p>[Alfred</a> University - Inamori School of Engineering - Undergraduate Programs](<a href=“http://engineering.alfred.edu/undergrad/]Alfred”>http://engineering.alfred.edu/undergrad/)</p>
<p>Biomaterials
Ceramic
Electrical
Glass
Mechanical
Materials Science </p>
<p>Still around 40K a year, depending on the major, under that amount if an in-state program is chosen & student is in-state… merit aid and need based aid available. Housing for all 4 years, no Greek Life, etc…</p>
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<p>Which moves it way up on my list! The significant Greek presence at both Union and Lafayette is a major drawback, as far as I’m concerned. Union tried to reduce the Greek influence by starting the school’s own “Minerva” system . . . but it’s had virtually no impact on the school’s frat’s and sororities, although it provides an alternative for the kids who probably wouldn’t have joined the frat’s and sororities anyway.</p>
<p>Bucknell has a huge greek presence and gives all need based aid, and little to no merit aid. But has a beautiful campus, and definitely well known for engineering. Definitely rural as well.</p>
<p>I’ve read that Lafayette’s greek presence is declining. I’m not sure though. We are likely visiting this summer and will find out more then. Easton would not be considered rural, but not metropolitan either. Plus it seems they give out pretty generous merit aid.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone 
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<p>It’s likely the boy can’t have everything he wants, so if you can think of some great rural engineering schools that offer good aid further afield, go ahead and suggest them. He has some medical issues that complicate air travel, so closer is better, but if there were a great match somewhere else, it would be worth thinking about whether the travel would be worth it. Although… once we’re out of driving distance, travel to and from a very rural location will probably be quite inconvenient (lack of major public transit routes nearby), especially since we’re pretty rural on this end as well.</p>
<p>How about the SUNYs? Might some of them fit the bill?</p>
<p>The epitome of “rural,” as far as I’m concerned anyway, is [Michigan</a> Tech](<a href=“http://www.mtu.edu/][b]Michigan”>http://www.mtu.edu/) . . . and it actually does offer some decent merit aid (although probably not enough). But it is about as inaccessible as could be . . . a 10-hour drive from Detroit or a small commuter plane Chicago. Getting there from where you live would be a nightmare . . .</p>
<p>So, no, it wouldn’t be a match. . . . but it is kind of an unbelievable place. Gives “rural” a whole new meaning!</p>
<p>The other (much more reasonable) option, of course, is Swarthmore, the third of the LAC’s with an engineering program (the other two being Union and Lafayette). Nearly impossible to get into, with excellent need-based aid, and far enough outside of Philadelphia to qualify as “quiet suburban.”</p>
<p>Maybe Lehigh University? I would say it’s more suburban than rural but it’s a nice small school and Bethlehem is definitely not a big city by any means. It’s actually nice and quiet. I visited and the campus was beautiful in my opinion and I’ve heard good things about their engineering program.</p>
<p>In terms of merit aid, I’m not sure how it works at Lehigh as their website is pretty vague but you can always contact them:</p>
<p>[Lehigh</a> University: Undergraduate Admissions: Tuition & Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www4.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/tuition]Lehigh”>Tuition, Aid & Affording College | Lehigh University)</p>
<p>Lehigh does offer merit up to full tuition, but it’s unclear how hard that is to get. </p>
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<p>And pardon my ignorance, but how do UMD College Park, Rutgers & Princeton stack up on the Urban/Rural continuum? The first 2 appear to offer good merit aid, and the latter good need-based (though of course quite a reach).</p>
<p>Right, that’s why I said it was vague. Lehigh is a very competitive school (admit rate is around 33%), so I’m sure those scholarships are not easy to obtain.</p>
<p>College Park, MD is not rural at all. It’s considered suburban, but it’s not suburban like Bethlehem is. College Park is a very large town (made up of mostly students during the fall and spring) and has many strip malls and hotels/restaurants to keep the 30,000+ students who attend UMDCP content. It’s definitely not urban; there are no large buildings or anything like that, but it gets very busy especially during the school year.</p>
<p>Olin is the first one that comes to mind. It’s a strictly engineering school. I visited there. It has a beautiful, newly built campus. Also attractive is its price-tag:
“Every student admitted to Olin receives a half-tuition merit scholarship valued at more than $80000 over eight semesters. All additional aid is need-based.”</p>
<p>According to Lehigh’s CDS, 4% of freshmen receive non-need-based aid in an average amount of ~$10K (48/1207). As a fraction of students determined to have no need it’s 7.5% (48/639).</p>
<p>Was going to second RPI.</p>
<p>Another good school, though would not call it the best by any means, is WPI</p>
<p>Neither RPI nor WPI qualifies as “rural.”</p>
<p>I disagree strongly. It doesn’t need to be in the middle of farm pasture to be rural. Troy and Worcester are cities, but these are not big urban meccas.</p>
<p>Cornell does not give merit aid. Our school has sent numerous students to RIT, RPI, & Clarkson. In terms of academic reputation in pecking order would be RPI, RIT, Clarkson. Many of our students who’ve majored in engineering have considered all three. Our strongest student chose Clarkson over Cornell, & the others I’ve mentioned because of the great merit aid she received & loves it there. RIT has a great internship program but many find their campus to be not as appealing as the others. RPI appears to be the toughest academically of the three, and has a good atmosphere. Don’t know that much about Union, beautiful campus, had one student attend there years ago & he liked it & has been successful in the field.</p>
<p>^ the student does not consider UVM rural … which is in smaller college town (60k) and the back of campus opens up to excellent run, bike, walk possibilities … if this is not considered rural than he is looking for very rural environments.</p>
<p>(whoops … this was in response to jym … another poster snuck in while I was typing)</p>
<p>post #2 says suburban would be fine too, as long as it had a “campus feel”</p>
<p>If the OP wants rural, while its not in the NE, Rose Hulman would fit the bill.</p>
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<p>That’s a really interesting suggestion . . . definitely rural! And even though it’s further away, transportation should be relatively easy. The school is one hour from Indianapolis airport.</p>