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<p>Any of the 14 true PA state schools are less expensive than Penn St. See the link to them that I provided or do a google search for PA State Schools and get the link there.</p>
<p>Of the state related schools, Pitt and Temple both provide better aid than PSU, but none are super with it except for those with high stats. I haven’t seen PSU be good even with high stats, but there could be exceptions.</p>
<p>Generally, a student with high stats can do better (financially) than publics in PA. Ditto that for students needing significant need-based aid (if they can get in to schools offering better aid). State schools seem to work the best for those not qualifying for much in need-based aid and/or without the scores to get into better merit option schools. They also work for athletes as they provide athletic scholarships.</p>
<p>As a personal anecdote, Pitt ended less expensive for my high stat kid than U Alabama (well publicized on cc for good merit aid). We didn’t even try PSU or Temple as Pitt was the better option for his plans (pre-med/neuro). Kiddo ended up going private though (U Rochester) as that not only was his first choice, it was also the least expensive for us due to their adding in need-based aid. The overall difference was only a couple grand per year though (per school, so about 4 grand between UR and UA) - not super significant, but nonetheless, don’t discount the privates. As mentioned above, if in a high need situation, Dickinson or Franklin & Marshall could be good in state (but not public) schools to try.</p>