First, tell your eldest s/he’s not going to Maryland due to lack of funds. Based on what you said you’ll need a specific approach, but better let her know now.
Transfers get lousy aid - merit aid is for freshmen. (So, going to cc if one has high test scores means forfeiting all the possible merit scholarships. Look for a thread titled “did I cost myself tens of thousands dollars?” By a kid eligible for full tuition and full ride scholarships who went to a CC and lost those opportunities).
So, your eldest won’t be able to afford UMaryland.
Anyway, the best school for journalism is Mizzou and they are looking for students (due to a drop in other schools, not journalism) so they might offer a scholarship AND best of all after the first year the student can apply for instate residency and pay instate tuition.
Hopefully your eldest applied to transfer to a UC.
U New Mexico has a decent school of journalism too - check if it is open to WUE transfers. Generally speaking look at WUE (transfer column, not all WUE are open to transfers). Also, nor sure WUE is within budget.
But all in all, CA schools are your best bet. If your second child doesn’t want to go to California colleges, you need to work together to find affordable options.