My daughter was in a similar situation 3 years ago. You hit 4 on her list - she added Purdue and Penn State.
$25k is going to be tough out of state without dropping down a tier.
OP, UMD is VERY generous with AP/IB credit. Plenty of students who come in with a year’s worth of credit wind up with double majors within four years. That said, I would be careful about course placement freshman year. Engineering core is tough; it may be better to take intro level even though she has taken AP, just to ensure a strong foundation.
Engineering and CS is a common combo at UMD.
Purdue is another good option.
Oh shoot! I, and a lot of others, missed a pretty significant want…drivable from DC. I was fixated on the rest of the list. Cal Poly would be a LONG drive. 
Georgia Tech has the top rated aerospace program in the country…and their Center for Space Technology is amazing…http://cstar.gatech.edu/ BUT not sure about the finances.
RPI has your engineering, aerospace, four astronauts - two recent, and possible additional merit as a female. But is shot down for weather and lack of beach. 
Nice outdoor activities in the surrounding area - hiking, rafting, skiing, etc. Environmental studies at Lake George.
Here is the complete list of 53 off campus project centers all over the world. This is made possible by automatic grants of up to $5,000 to cover associated costs of the seven week off campus research experience. These are not classroom exchanges but real research solutions to solve problems for real people as part of a team driven solution. I believe this is still unique to WPI.
See https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/global-project-program/project-centers
Purdue is not going to get the cost down enough for an OOS applicant and way far from the beach ; )
Purdue is only 2.5 hours from a beach…Lake Michigan even has waves!
SO many unlikely financial matches, really? CWRU? CSM? Purdue? RPI? NEU? GT (GT!) Match schools seeking merit =reach. At such schools she has the usual admission stats, not merit yielding.
As drivable from DC seems so unlikely, UTD, U Houston, might be worth a shot for the warm, wet, NASA type stuff. She should get some AES (not sure how much) for either. UH is a commuter, UTD gets a lot of love from the merit seekers. This geographic thing won’t work for merit IMO.
No one wants to go to Texas’ beaches. No one.
Ditto @Greymeer! I went to school in Houston. I went to Galveston twice and wondered both times why people went there. I took a second trip because I couldn’t believe my recollection of how bad it was could be accurate. It was.
“P.S. although SpaceX and NASA might seem like the pinnacle (they were for my son when he started), the bloom sort of falls off of the rose once you get perspective from insiders of what they are like.”
Agreed (though their problems are very different from each other). And in 5 years time who knows what (if anything) either one of them will be doing. Space startups may be fun right now, but that’s what people thought in the late 90s too. I would make sure to have exposure to a broader range of aero technology than just space.
Unfortunately, Texas’ beaches are nothing like Florida’s. They are brackish and muddy because of how shallow they are and the gulf’s current dumps everything there.
OP here. I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful recommendations. She is adding WPI to the list and wants to do some more research on FIT as well. She likes a lot of these other schools but the return on investment just does not make sense when compared to UMD in state (Purdue, Georgia Tech, any of the California schools). I appreciate the insight on the space industry as well. She kind of gets some that already which is why she wants her BS in mechanical engineering. She figures that give her all sorts of paths for the future in many different industries.
Again, Thanks
@hokie95 - You may find the following thread informative.
Maryland was just short of our list - we actually visited but didn’t apply. I would agree that, assuming finances are a concern, there aren’t many schools that would be a better education/finance combination than in-state at UMD.
@hokie95
“Wants to major in engineering. Most likely mechanical with double major or minor in aerospace, robotics or comp sci. Eventual goal to work in space industry for NASA, Space X, Orbital Science, Etc.”
This says WPI should be on list:
See Aerospace @ https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/aerospace-engineering
Robotics @ https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/robotics-engineering
CS @ https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/computer-science
For employment in the space industry history go to the following website and click on “Post Graduation Report” for the latest 2018 report. Aerospace is on page six. You may also want to click on other departments listed in the contents. Average salaries are also given unless the numbers are too small to protect privacy. See
@ https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/career-development/majors
Robert Goddard is a WPI alumnus. President Laurie Leshin used to head the Goddard Space Flight Center
For the best engineering study abroad program available see https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/global-project-program. It is on 53 off campus locations around the world and every participant receives an automatic $5000 credit toward costs of off campus participation It is a undergraduate research program and not just a classroom exchange. You will solve real problems. See https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/global-project-program.
For overview of degree requirements see WPI Plan @ https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan
No safety or likely school here. UMD-CP hardly a safety unless daughter willing to go the community college route as the back up plan as another parent here with an engineering bound DD has explained works as the failsafe route. If the student understands this and is on board, great. That base is covered. Get it done early.
Engineering spots tend to fill up early from what I’ve seen so, time is important in terms of getting the apps Out. Once there is a likely school in the bag, just apply wherever there are merit dollars. That merit is needed makes all schools a reach.
I would throw GTEch onto the reach list. I’ve known some women with similar stats who have gotten generous merit from them recently.