Engineering college with merit based aid for OOS students

My son wants to major in Mechanical Engineering. He has a 3.9 GPA and 32 ACT. We live in Missouri. He is uninterested in Missouri S&T due to it’s small size. He is interested in predominately larger Division I schools.

University of Missouri would also be a good option financially, but he has lukewarm interest in this school.

I’m interested in finding other similar schools with merit based aid for OOS students. I know Alabama gives pretty good merit based aid for OOS students. Mississippi State and Kansas State also give decent aid. Are there any others that I haven’t found yet?

Thanks for the help. Chad.

Iowa State

Arizona? U of New Mexico (not sure if they offer mechanical engineering).

Iowa State for sure. My son’s stats aren’t as good as yours and Iowa will probably end up coming in cheaper than in-state for us.

Alabama - Huntsville is another one. He’d qualify for a 67% tuition scholarship there.

As others said, check out Iowa State. My D is going to go there for Design in the fall and we are OOS. Engineering is a pretty big draw for them and based on his stats, he qualifies for one of the automatic Merit awards. Very nice campus and the town of Ames is nice for a smaller town.

One thing I have seen about ISU however is the tuition increases and some programs have a bigger jump as you move into your major so you’ll want to check that aspect as well.

Thanks for all the help so far! I will check into Iowa State. I’m a graduate of U. of Iowa. Went to ISU once (for VEISHEA) and enjoyed the campus.

These may be farther away than you’d like, but you might research U South Carolina, U Delaware, Miami U (in Ohio), West Virginia U, and/or Temple.

How low does the net price need to be?

If he needs a full ride with 3.9 GPA and 32 ACT:

https://www.aamu.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/scholarships/index.html
https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships

If it’s for Fall 2020 admission you’re going to want to get going on Iowa State because you need to be admitted before they send the invitation to apply for the Engineering scholarship and the deadline for that is 12/1. Luckily, the admission decision is quick.

Nebraska ?? they are building a new engineering wing soon with some neat features.

UT Dallas is a possibility. They offer the AES scholarships and even if you receive the lowest level, you would qualify for instate tuition.

University of Missouri with my son’s GPA / ACT with in-state tuition, guaranteed merit based scholarships, room & board, and books should cost around $14,000 / year.

Iowa State:
Tuition: $24508
Room & Board: $9149
Books (Estimate same as what I’m using for Missouri): $1400
Adventure merit award: -$8000

Total cost: $27,057.

On paper, Iowa State is looking like 2X cost of Missouri. With my son’s GPA and ACT are there other scholarships that he is likely to qualify for to bring down this amount significantly?

When we applied to Ohio State Engineering, they had scholarships for OOS students, tiered by ACT scores, that made it about the same price as in-state for my D with a 32 ACT.

University of New Mexico would be about right. Your son would at least qualify for the Amigo Scholarship which would give him instate tuition. IIRC, the total cost of attendance is well under $20,000 a year.

@WayOutWestMom 3.9 GPA, and 32 ACT?

Another vote for WVU. I think he qualifies for $21500 per year in scholarships . OOS tuition is only about $25k so most of tuition is covered, so you just pay room and board (~$10.3k) and ~$3.7k tuition. This is under in-state cost. I happen to be a WVU ME grad myself ('94).

Thanks. We’ll look into New Mexico as well.

I’m finding a $16K merit based scholarship (3.9 GPA and 32 ACT). Where are you seeing the $21500 amount?

Thanks for the help!

@cpotter638 Use this calculator:
https://admissions.wvu.edu/cost-and-aid/scholarship-estimate
The $16K is the scholarship of Distinction but he should also be eligible for another $5.5K for Engineering Excellence since he is applying as a ME.

Another vote for WVU. Engineering Excellence plus scholarship distinction level 1 = $21.5k. Total cost around $15k/year. You’re basically paying room and board which you’re paying now. Hard to beat. I don’t think UTD AES is automatic anymore. Got very competitive.

He should still apply to one of the instate universities, in case he changes his mind about going far away to school. And to have a financial safety.