Engineering schools generous with merit aid?

Yes and I know 6 kids that go to Stevens from NJ and get 20-25k per yr But it’s from a hefty >60k price tag !

My daughter with similar qualifications applied and was accepted to to two of the engineering programs mentioned by OP. Even with merit aid, costs are 50k at one school and 38k at the other. I refuse to take out loans or pay more than in-state tuition so unless they bump up aid, she’ll be staying closer to home. Also applied to two liberal arts colleges with general engineering programs. Accepted to one and rejected from the other. Cost is approximately 45k after merit aid. Small sample size, but from my experience unless you are low income don’t expect aid to make private school affordable.

At the most expensive (60K plus), merit aid for good (not top) students will, at BEST, get you to 35K and up final price. This is more than in state flagship tuition in the Northeast, but only about 8-10K more. That’s the real price they want you to pay, unless you qualify for alot of FA.

The merit gets higher as the school rank goes lower.

Thank you all. We can afford $30-$35/yr. so I’m holding out hope. My son chose Purdue because even without aid the cost wasn’t far off from UCLA or Cal, and those schools don’t have his sport (he’s finding ways to bridge the delta because it’s about 40k). I’m mind-boggled by the cost of education. Our daughter may have to go to Cal Poly (if she gets in) even though it’s way bigger than she’s looking for, or major in something else - but we are going to give it a shot (and Alabama has been added to the list!).

Has she checked out the University of Illinois in Champaign -Urbana? They give some $$ to kids with high ACT/grades like your daughter. I know they have a great Systems/Industrial Engineering program and the school is highly ranked for engineering.

On the east coast RPI, WPI and Stevens all play the merit aid game together but even their medal award/presidential scholarships are only worth 25K. Lehigh meets full need which means very limited merit. Honestly students at the top who qualify for significant financial aid often choose an IVY, Hopkins, MIT over the engineering schools you listed or their state flagship because they pay less at the top tier meets full need/no merit school. That leaves parents who have worked very hard often sacrificing time with their children to explain the system of higher education and make their child choose a lower tier school or take the risk of paying full tuition, knowing that even if family disaster strikes, savings and life insurance will need to be wiped out before financial aid kicks in.

One nephew is at NC State with scholarships another is at Purdue which is much less expensive than WPI. One of our children is developing her own view of the system while sitting next to students paying a small fraction of full tuition in a top tier engineering program. I don’t think the next generation will tolerate the current system, but right now we are stuck with it! Crazy to think that we attended these same private institutions 30+ years ago when full pay was 1/6 of today’s cost.

“students paying a small fraction of full tuition in a top tier engineering program” - In many case though, it is the same or more of a burden on their families.

Is she likely to get NMF? If so, WPI and USC offer merit tied to NMF, as do many other schools. Alabama, as mentioned, and KY are generous. There are many threads on CC about merit aid. Are you from Indiana? Miami OH, nearby, has generous merit aid based on ACT and GPA. Also OH State I think.

U If Az and AzSU were giving generous merit aid even to OOS high stats kids, especially NMFs in 2007 and 2008, when we were looking.

For support of women engineering students, USoCal has the WISE program and has about 40% of their engineering program female, which is the highest in the US. Full tuition awards (rare and competitive) could be a big contribution toward the total cost of attendance.

Our S loved his years at USC engineering. He was a NMF and got over 50% tuition for 4 years in merit awards.

UIUC is known for poor financial aid, need based or merit scholarship, particularly for OOS.

You should absolutely consider Valparaiso Engineering! My son applied in October with their free application as a safety.

He was accepted directly into their Mechanical Engineering Program. They originally offered $24k per year in merit aid. I sent an inquiry email and received another $2k. Tuition is low, and so is housing/meal plan. Their program was rated high last year for undergraduate engineering.

My son applied to RPI, WPI, MIT, Rose Hulman. 34 ACT, 1500 SAT (no writing) 4.2GPA

Valpo offers overnight visits and this sold my son. He liked the labs, the school culture, the inexpensive study abroad, and the possibility of graduation with no debt from a good program. The other schools were not worth the $200K he would owe.

Even though Cal Poly is bigger than she wants, it does play small. The classes are small and students seem happy. It does suffer from bureaucratic bloat and inefficiency, but every CSU and UC does. She will have a VERY useable degree if she ends up there. As for admission, IE is the least selective admit within the CENG. Good luck!