<p>Does UO offer financial aid for out of state students? I want to go to UO but it wouldn't be possible if I couldn't get financial aid. If possible, how much on average?</p>
<p>Graffe, for the purpose of answering your question, let’s draw a distinction between “financial aid” which is based on economic need and “scholarships” which are based on merit (grades, test scores, athletics, musical talent, leadership or any other special skills or talents a student brings.) </p>
<p>The federal government makes limited financial aid available to students who meet certain guidelines regarding family income and other assets (investments, property, etc.) It is not a lot of money, does not usually meet the cost of living away from home and going to college – even in-state, but certainly not for private colleges and out-of-state publics. That aid is usually Pell grants for the lower income students (these max out at around $5000), loans and work study. States sometimes have state aid available, but not sure if your state does or what limitation might be attached (attending you own in-state colleges?) Some well-endowed private colleges also have funds with which they support lower-income students with need-based financial aid.</p>
<p>The federal aid will not vary much from in-state to out-of-state to privates. (Work-study can, certainly, but the Pell grants and guaranteed loans will be the same.) The difference is that tuition is so much higher for out-of-state students that the federal need-based aid does not go as far in covering tuition costs.</p>
<p>Scholarships for merit is probably what you need to be asking about. Whether you’d be eligible and for how much will depend on what talents you bring and how much a given school wants them. I’ve been working with a student recently who got a very generous merit-based scholarship offer from UO for her musical ability. Other students have received them for their high GPAs. It just all depends.</p>
<p>To have the best shot at merit-based aid, you need to look for schools where your GPA/test scores and/or special talents put you in the top rungs of students at that school. It’s not really possible to predict --or even make a random guess-- without a lot of information about a student.</p>
<p>Generally, out-of-state publics can be the least advantageous choice from a financial perspective, but of course there are always exceptions to that!</p>
<p>thank you, that was a big help. I’m out of state (Colorado) and I would be hoping for a merit-based scholarship as I wouldn’t qualify for financial help with my household income. i do not have any outstanding talents but I’m hoping to have high gpa and test scores to qualify for a scholarship.</p>
<p>@Graffe218: You would also be well advised to call the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships to discuss this with them:</p>
<p>[Contact</a> the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships | Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships](<a href=“http://financialaid.uoregon.edu/contact]Contact”>Contact Us | Financial Aid & Scholarships)</p>