<p>We buckled and did the same. Great news!</p>
<p>I believe the Oklahoma University NMF scholarship covers roughly tuition/fees/books for the first 4 years, plus housing the first yr, and if you stay a 5th yr, a 5th yr of tuition only. That leaves family to pay board for year 1 and room/board in the years 2-4. And incidentals, transportation and so forth.</p>
<p>This is how I figured, using this link:
<a href=“Tuition & Fees”>https://www.ou.edu/content/bursar/tuition_fees.html</a></p>
<p>Assume 15 credits/semester, as there are various per credit hour fees. If student takes more hours, costs are higher.</p>
<p>Tuition: is covered 100%, regardless of rise in tuition rate. It covers up to 21 cr per semester, while some schools charge extra starting at 18-19.</p>
<p>Books: The one time $2000 tech/book scholarship may cover books for 4 years if one shops carefully.</p>
<p>Fees. This is where it gets complicated.
Mandatory ‘Hourly’ Fee(now flat rate for full time): $1565.25/semester x 2 = $3130.50/yr
Mandatory per Semester Fees: $176.50 x 2 = $353/yr
Academic Excellence Hourly Fee: ($52.50 x15) x 2= $1575/yr *
Program Hourly Fee(variable, using engr. A&S is lower/journalism higher): ($45 x 15) x 2 = $1350/yr
Total 3130.50 + 353 + 1575 + 1350 = $6408.50. That eats up most of the remaining $6750 in yearly scholarship $$, and one expects fees to rise every year. Also, this estimate does not take into account any individual course fees, like the $40 for online courses or other similar fees. </p>
<p>*Confused. The academic excellence fee seems to be counted in 2 places if you read the materials closely. It is listed in the Mandatory Hourly Fee breakdown (which is not a $$ breakdown, just a list of the items included), and separately has its own listing. I would have assumed the separate listing was just a break out of what is already included in mandatory hourly fee based on year of enrollment. But the only way to get their OOS tuition/fee estimate to come out right is to add it in separately. So maybe they are 2 different fees with the same name. Or else OU has made an error in the OOS estimate. Or else the discrepancy in the estimate is from some other fee I am missing. Anyone know? I’d call to ask, but not until my HS junior evinces an interest in the school.</p>
<p>Housing: The $4200 housing scholarship freshman year covers the room part of room/bd cost for the cheapest rm choice. Room costs range from $3976/yr for community style dbl on up to $7554/yr for suite stye single. I looked at the housing rates and subtracted out meal plan price of $1973/semester.
<a href=“Tuition & Fees”>https://www.ou.edu/content/bursar/tuition_fees.html</a></p>
<p>It is still a very generous scholarship, but difficult to figure out how much it really covers. </p>
<p>Also should add the way I determined that the NMF scholarship does not include the Mandatory Hourly Fees.</p>
<p>The scholarship description page lists tuition part of scholarship for OOS as having $81,000 value over 5 years, so $16,200/yr.</p>
<p>The current OOS tuition, NOT including the mandatory hourly fees is $16,146.</p>
<p>Officially a NMF</p>
<p>No NMSC mail in NH today. Trying to be wait patiently rather than calling. It can’t be much longer…</p>
<p>By doing a Twitter search for keyword phrase “National Merit Finalist” it looks like there are a ton of people that found out today. Even a couple of pictures of the letter that was sent home ^:)^ </p>
<p>Regarding the OU scholarship. I did have an email exchange with their National Merti office in January to understand the out of pocket costs. This is what I received. </p>
<p>"President Boren approved an increase to our National Merit scholarship which is now valued at $116,200. The increase also affects the out-of-pocket expenses. A non-resident student can expect to pay approximately $3,800 out-of-pocket for the freshman year and approximately $8,000 out-of-pocket for the sophomore, junior, and senior years. Any additional scholarships/financial aid awards that the student receives, can be stacked on top of our award. These out-of-pocket figures do not account for miscellaneous expenses such as a parking permit, athletic tickets, travel expenses, etc. </p>
<p>The $81,000 tuition waiver figure is an estimated value for now. We base this on the 15 hours of flat tuition rate that is charged to students as OU is on a flat tuition rate. Students can enroll in 12-21 hours and will only be charged for 15 hours of credit. We waive the tuition for five years whether for undergraduate or graduate coursework. This waiver is only for the tuition. </p>
<p>Fees can be partly covered by a portion of the State Regent’s cash award and the National Merit cash stipend. Depending on what other academic expenses these portions are being used for, will depend on how much fees are covered. Since they are cash awards, they can be used to cover any academic expenses. The housing scholarship will be all applied the first semester of the freshman year."</p>
<p>I’m estimated OOP expenses at <$30K for 4 years which is a generous package. My son toured the campus in October and loved it. We are from the midwest and I would be shocked if he didn’t land here – he is also considering KY. OU has been great about answering questions. </p>
<p>Snappybarton, thanks. And that agrees with my calculations. </p>
<p>Finalist letter received in Oklahoma today.</p>
<p>Finalist letter received in Wisconsin today. Yippee!</p>
<p>2 beautiful identical letters arrived today for our identical twins! Whoohooo. </p>
<p>New York got them… :)</p>
<p>School letter and at home letters both received in central Oklahoma today. </p>
<p>DS received the letter today!</p>
<p>Got ours in ohio today</p>
<p>Got D’s letter in West Michigan on Monday the 10th. </p>
<p>DS got his yesterday!!</p>
<p>Here in the Chicago suburbs, my son received his letter at home yesterday, but the school still has not received their letter…is anyone else still waiting on the school letter? I am starting to assume it has been lost.</p>
<p>Anybody in Texas got the letter ?</p>
<p>re: OU’s package. Info on out of pocket costs can be found at this link. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/nationalmerit/scholarship.html”>http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/nationalmerit/scholarship.html</a></p>
<p>According to OU, the out of pocket expenses are as follows. </p>
<p>Oklahoma Residents:
$1,800 for the first year
$6,000 for the following years</p>
<p>Non-Oklahoma Residents:
$3,800 for the first year
$8,000 for the following years</p>
<p>They are considering ALL costs here, even travel and incidentals. In looking at the specific breakdown we received when my son applied, they are very generous with those amounts and figure more than what we actually spend. </p>
<p>Also, these numbers assume the only aid received is the NM package. My son was awarded a couple of other scholarships through OU and a generous scholarship from my husband’s employer. </p>