<p>The only thing that is stopping me from going out of state is money.</p>
<p>I live in Arizona and while University of Arizona's decent to good when it comes to engineering, I just really don't like Arizona.</p>
<p>What are great engineering programs with great financial aid for someone with a family income of less than 50k?</p>
<p>If you can tolerate cold winters in the northeast, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Carnegie Mellon would be good places to start looking. Need to be a very strong student though as those two are quite competitive. What kind of stats do you have?</p>
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<p>Stanford guarantees precisely zero parental contribution for families making less than $60k and commensurate assets. {You will still need to engage in work-study and summer work.} Cornell has a similar program.</p>
<p>[The</a> Parent Contribution : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/finaid/undergrad/how/parent.html]The”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/finaid/undergrad/how/parent.html)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.finaid.cornell.edu/cost-attend/financial-aid-initiatives[/url]”>http://www.finaid.cornell.edu/cost-attend/financial-aid-initiatives</a></p>
<p>MIT charges a maximum of $4400 per year to families making less than $75k a year, and much (often times all) of that $4400 can be satisfied via workstudy.</p>
<p><a href=“http://web.mit.edu/sfs/financial_aid/index.html[/url]”>MIT Student Financial Services;
<p>Princeton essentially guarantees a completely full ride to anybody making less than $60k a year. Note, that ride may include a work-study component. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/how_it_works/who_qualifies/[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/how_it_works/who_qualifies/</a></p>
<p>That’s the first time I’ve heard “great financial aid” and “Carnegie Mellon” in the same sentence. </p>
<p>The Cooper Union gives full tuition scholarships to everybody. Olin, to my knowledge, still offers half-tuition scholarships. </p>
<p>Some of the Ivy’s have financial aid programs similar to Stanford’s. Their engineering programs aren’t quite on the same level as the others, but they’re still pretty good. UPenn doesn’t charge tuition for students from households with annual incomes less than $90k. For Columbia, the parental contribution is $0 for household incomes under $60k.</p>
<p>USC hooked it up for me. I wouldn’t be able to attend this school if it wasn’t for their generous financial aid packages.</p>
<p>The best way to find out the answer to your questions is to do some research – there are many schools that could provide solid financial aid to you, depending on your qualifications.</p>
<p>In general, the schools with the largest endowment per student provide the best financial aid.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the endowments of most colleges and universities in the country:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2010NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values_Final.pdf[/url]”>Page not Found;
<p>The College Board provides some pretty extensive financial aid information, as reported by each school. To find the financial aid information, go to the site below, locate the school’s profile, and then click on the Cost & Financial Aid button for the school.</p>
<p>[Advanced</a> college finder - find colleges and universities using QuickFinder.](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>You’ll find information like I have provided below for almost all schools – this is the information for Union College of Schenectady, New York (which also happens to have a small, but strong engineering school):</p>
<p>Financial Aid Statistics
Full-time freshman enrollment: 554
Number who applied for need-based aid: 375
Number who were judged to have need: 313
Number who were offered aid: 312
Number who had full need met: 310
Average percent of need met: 100%
Average financial aid package: $34,706
Average need-based loan: $2,864
Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $30,943
Average non-need based aid: $9,666
Average indebtedness at graduation: $25,621</p>
<p>Bear in mind that your family’s income is probably below average for Union College, so your need-based scholarship would probably be higher than the $30,943 figure mentioned above.</p>
<p>Many schools also have a financial aid calculator that will give you an estimated financial aid package, based on your income.</p>
<p>In addition to financial aid, some schools will provide academic scholarships, depending on your qualifications. If you are well above average for the school, they may try to buy you by offering you a merit award, often in addition to a financial aid package. As you can see from the above example, in addition to financial aid, a number of students (not specified here) received non-need based aid, with those packages averaging $9,666.</p>
<p>This is also an issue right now for our family. Oldest daughter really, really wants to go to Georgia Tech. However, OOS tuition is right at $40,000. We make too much for any need-based aid, but can’t afford to write that kind of check. We’re determined she’s not going to go the student loan route. She has great test scores and extra-curriculars, so she might get merit-based, and GT has several of those. However, if she goes to UT Knoxville, I know she can have almost a free ride. It’s not GT, but if she gets in their honors program and does really well, I think that will be much better than graduating with loads of debt.</p>
<p>Ivy’s are definitely a reach for me but because of my stat, which are still pretty good, I’m tempted to apply because of the ability to go there money-wise if I do get in.</p>
<p>I’m attempting to avoid debt after graduation but is there a chance its worth it?</p>