I’ll only add that supposedly Drexel has change their policies with this new class that was just admitted and has focused on retention and the way they give out aid is suppose to be a part of that. So it would be worth asking the FA office about any package they promise to see if they are guaranteeing aid for subsequent years.
@ASJackson923, I’m sure you’re well aware, but for those who are not, Penn (aka UPenn) and Penn State are two different universities, both of which have fine engineering schools. UPenn’s campus is adacent to Drexel’s and the university is private (like Drexel) and is “full need met” IF you can get accepted (unlike Drexel).
Penn State (the public flagship for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) is notoriously expensive for both in-state and out-of-state students because it gets limited funds from the state and because, frankly, they can charge those prices due to the tremendous demand to attend the school. With regard to “front-loading” aid, yes, Drexel is a school commonly cited as subscribing to that practice.
This article describes the practice well and cites one expert who claims that 50% of colleges are guilty of the practice: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-column-weston-aidoffers-idUSKBN0LR15R20150223
Not sure if the OP is entitled to (or competitive for) merit aid at Northeastern (sounds like not from his original post), but take note for those comparing Drexel to Northeastern, only Northeastern doesn’t practice front-loading.
@Dolemite, you work for Drexel, don’t you? Can you provide any links to that new policy?
Like @LucieTheLakie mentioned, tuition at Penn State also goes up once you hit 59.1 credits, which could be 5th semester or earlier (a friend hit that limit 2nd semester thanks to AP). I’m not sure if that happens for all majors but definitely does in engineering.
I work in IT and in no way speak or recruit for the school and was just making mention to the various press releases sent to my inbox in the past couple of years. So I should have said they have changed their “strategy” to focus on retention as outlined by this nice press release:
http://drexel.edu/now/archive/2014/January/Student-Lifecycle-Management/
Like any good press release they aren’t admitting to the previous process but they do mention changing the way they give out aid so as I said it would be worth asking the FA office to see what they tell you.
Thanks for sharing that, @Dolemite. Glad to see they’re committed to changing their admissions process. Their existing one was just mind-boggling!
Readers should note that when the piece was released (Jan. 2014), it stated the changes could take “three to five years to implement.”
It’s a small correction, but NEU actually offers 4-year programs with 2 co-ops for nearly if not all majors. AP and IB credit helps to make that possible as well. Those who do a full five years almost always can do three co-ops. Another common option is doing 2 co-ops in 4.5 years - a decent portion of NEU actually graduates in December. It really depends on what you want, but there’s a lot of flexibility there. I’m actually doing a 5 year BS/MS with 2 co-ops - if I did just the BS, I would be on a 4 year 2 co-op track.
I’d say NEU is your best bet overall in terms of cost and co-op opportunities. Good school.
Drexel has awful, awful financial aid.
Your best bet is NEU.
Drexel is so expensive(the only reason why I did not even bother applying there). How much will it cost you?
As a current NEU student who looked at NEU and Drexel, I didn’t even end up applying there in the end - I think NEU is better in pretty much every way for my personal preferences - I think it’s very much between NEU and Penn State. If you want co-op and a city, Northeastern is your best bet for sure. I couldn’t personally imagine not having Boston every day in my life - it’s a great thing both socially and professionally.
Thank you everyone 
I am sorry for this late post.
I have been admitted to Drexel with grants upto 20k
However, taking into consideration all your opinions and suggestions and also researching by myself, I think i have brought it down to between Pennstate and Northeastern.
I still haven’t made a decision between the two, but when I do I ll surely let you all know.
Can you list net price ?