<p>Just wondering, do public schools give good financial aid to out of staters?
Need based and merit based(hopefully merit based anyway...)</p>
<p>Need-based, I don't think so for most places. I know UT here in Tenn. just cut off all need-based funding for out of staters due to budget reasons and many other schools don't offer it either. Merit-based aid however, is plentiful at most schools. Some of the upper echelon schools like Michigan, UCBerkley, UNC-CH and UVA have a very small number of merit awards but many other lesser known schools have a good many. A lot of state Us give full or almost full rides to National Merit finalists.</p>
<p>Many publics will give some need-based aid to out of state students BUT (and it's a big but) expect the aid package to more likely be comprised of loans and work study, not grants. (Some schools are the exception to this of course).</p>
<p>Merit awards are a different category. Some states have merit awards that are earmarked just for instate students but nearly all schools have at least some merit awards open to ALL students, including non-residents.</p>
<p>Best bet: draw up a list of schools of interest and read their financial aid and scholarship pages very carefully.</p>
<p>Well, The University of Virginia just instituted the most ambitious financial aid program among all public schools called Access UVA, which will meet 100% of need. If you're a poor student, you will not have to take out any loans. Any amount that you can't afford will be covered by grants. If you're a middle-class/rich student, your loans will be capped at around $15,000 for all 4 years. Any amount of need above that will be covered with grants instead of loans, and that includes out-of-state students as well. Students will not be forced into work-study programs, because UVa realizes that students should be studying rather than worrying about earning enough money to afford college. Lastly, UVa will offer free one-on-one counseling on college financing & debt management. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.virginia.edu/accessuva/%5B/url%5D">http://www.virginia.edu/accessuva/</a></p>
<p>As for merit scholarships, UVa has the Jefferson Scholarship program, which offers a full-ride to UVa, plus summer programs in Europe, etc.</p>