Hi and my condolences on being my PA neighbor and dealing with the crappy state of higher ed in this state.
I’m glad you have Pitt on your radar, b/c with your D’s interests, and Pitt’s financial aid, it might be a good fit. (That said, let me say that Pitt and all of the PA public/quasi public schools have ridiculous COAs for those of us in-state - generally the most expensive in the nation.)
Pitt offers the Panther Pride and Pitt Success grants. They may or may not be helpful in your situation, which, like my family’s, involves farm/business/LLC/royalty income that does not play well with normal W-2 income-based NPCs etc.
We have a different situation - our EFC is likely too high to qualify for need-based aid - but same goal: finding an affordable school. For us, the southern auto-merit schools have to be on the radar. Depending on your actual SAT, your D should check out UofSC, Bama, Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU and Arkansas. The NPCs won’t help you, but the auto-merit pages of each school will. Very stats-based. You know exactly what you need to get a certain amount. And there are several awards that include room & board in addition to full tuition, so you’d be paying just fees and incidentals (plus transportation).
If none of the OOS options end up working, you should be able to get the following need-based aid that will help cover costs at an in-state school, even a Pitt branch campus or a PASSHE school (the directionals - Slippery Rock, Kutztown, West Chester etc) or even Northampton Community College, which has dorms:
Per semester:
3247 Pell
300 SEOG (federal supplemental educational grant)
2127 PHEAA (Pa Higher Education grant)
2750 federal student loan
= 8424
plus work-study (variable/not guaranteed)
I know these #s because I helped a kid get exactly those amounts last fall.
The PHEAA grant is not portable out of PA except in Delaware, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia. (There are apparently limited exceptions in MD and NY).
Hope this helps!