Assuming you are in NJ @Itsawkwardgirl
We are having a discussion in another thread that has sidelined to discussions about Rutgers money. If you read thru recent threads I’ve commented on you will find it, it was within the last couple of days. There are a few Honors scholarships from Rutgers that amount to a good chunk of money (in the 15K range). The key word there is FEW.
In general, in state cost of attendance for NJ public schools (Kean, Montclair, Ramapo, Rowan, Rutgers, Stockton, TCNJ, Wm Patterson) runs around $30,000 (give or take) per year. It is increasing about 4% a year.
NJ public schools that offer good merit are Ramapo, Rowan and Stockton.
For your scores Rowan would give you are 10-15K a year, depending on the applicant pool, your major and other factors you bring to the table. I’m knowledgeable about Rowan because I have two kids there right now. I’m knowledgeable about the other schools because of offers made to my own kids or to close friends of theirs.
Montclair offers no merit aid.
Kean and Wm Patterson are not as highly thought of, but I believe offer decent merit money to a small number of top performers. My kids did not apply so I have no offers to base hard numbers are.
TCNJ and Rutgers offer the least merit aid (generally around $4 to $8K a year, and that amount for TCNJ is new for 2017’s class)
Think in terms of 4 years, not just 1 year, because to graduate, you have to get thru all the credits, which takes AT LEAST 4 years. Many students do not graduate in 4 years. It is not free if you don’t, keep that in mind.
The fact that your family earns what you said, no matter what their expenses are, means you will be a “full pay” student. This means any 'financial aid" you are granted will be to YOU in the form of loans that you will have to pay back.
Schools in NJ offer no “TAG” grant aid to students without very low incomes (<45K or so).
You need to sit with your parents and have this conversation NOW. How much can they afford to pay each year? How much do you have coming in from a job? If there is no money, is there a school you could commute to in order to save money? It may not be a dream experience, but it won’t be the nightmare of $100,000 in debt to pay back.
On debt - You will only be able to take in loans in your name, $5,500 for the first school year, slightly more for each year after that. The parents can take loans, or co-sign on loans for you, but think very carefully about how much that debt hamstrings you for a long, long time. A dear girl neighbor kid of mine, who graduated from U. Tenn last year, managed to get herself into 90K of debt for just 2.5 years of school (first 2 years were at community college). She is now a very unhappy kid
My history is all over CC, if you go read threads I’ve written on Rowan’s CC forum, you can see it, or you can message me. I won’t bore everyone else by repeating it.
Good luck, and way to go researching now and not in April 2018!