My D received in-state tuition to Michigan State because her dad is a Veteran. (Got out in 1984 - served 4 years.) - Which is great. This takes a large amount of money off the tuition but it also classifies her as in-state. When i re-calculated the cost via Net Price Calculator using our income and in-state status our cost went way up as apposed to out of state status because it dropped the OOS scholarships and it dropped a merit scholarship.
Is it worth it to go to MSU for Journalism for the cost of approx. $20K a year? She could go to Loyola Marymount for $10K more a year or Baylor. She wants to major in Journalism/Communications. I would like to have her close to us in California but not sure the extra money is worth it. She also is interested in Ole Miss but has heard so many negatives about the Ole Miss Journalism school I think she has been scared off. Any thoughts?
You definitely need to talk to MSU about this situation. My son was granted in-state tuition for being a National Merit Finalist but was still eligible (and received) OOS scholarships. MSU was very generous about stacking scholarships. Even the estimate you receive in the mail is not likely to be accurate. Our COA ended up being $10,000 less per year than the estimate after all of the scholarship money was added up. The individual colleges at MSU also have some scholarship money available for the asking and might be able to supplement what you’re already receiving if your daughter’s stats are very good.
Talked to MSU twice and both people said that the OOS scholarships are taken away. Red Cedar is for OOS students who had a parent or grandparent who attended. One is a Study Abroad scholarship and the last is a merit OOS. Talking to students in the Financial Aid office is very annoying. Its like they make up what they are saying as they go. I was told that Financial packages aren’t even going out until end of March, but I did talk to two other people and both said we would only qualify for in state tuition only - no other scholarships. I will call again Monday and see if I can talk to someone who isn’t a student working in the financial aid office.
Thank you for posting this. My son got accepted and we are out of state. I just filed the paperwork to have his status changed to in-state based on my service. I had no idea that MSU offered this perk for dependents of veterans.