<p>I'm a newbie here. We have a jr in high school this year. Looking to submit an early application in the Fall of 2013. I'm wondering if there are any schools in north or South Carolina that will waiver out of state tuition ? Before anyone comments about why a school should waiver the higher fee, we live in dreaded PA. Schools are so expensive here. Even in-state PA students get slammed with high tuition. PA students get slammed trying to go out of the state. I read that some schools may waiver the difference. S is in the top 10% in his class, 3.91 gpa and SAT of 1260 (combined). He will take the SATs again in June. Just wondering if some actually do for good students and if early application admission would help.</p>
<p>We too are stuck in PA. We have one in State and one going down south for college next year. I think that you will find the southern schools OOS tuition combined with merit scholarships will be comparable or even more expensive than PA In State. This of course depends on the quality of the applicant as merit offers differ greatly. </p>
<p>I think the list of schools that offer OOS tuition waivers is getting smaller. I would consider looking the University of South Carolina, as they offer very significant scholarships including OOS tuition Waivers for top tier applications. Others, like Clemson and College of Charleston, offer $ based merit scholarships, but I believe that even their most significant awards do not make up the difference between OOS and in State. </p>
<p>We found that the larger schools in NC (UNC, NCState, etc.) offer very little merit aid for OOS. </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your post. Those net price calculators are of no help. Our combined income is 72k but we have no assets worthy of being penalized. Not much saved. We’re probably screwed. 72k might sound kind of high but it’s really not. I have nothing against our state schools. They just don’t seem very generous. Pitt, forget it. I guess we’ll just apply to a bunch of schools, pay the 50.00-75.00 app fees and see what happens. Maybe try some private schools. Thanks again.</p>
<p>S is in the top 10% in his class, 3.91 gpa and SAT of 1260 (combined). He will take the SATs again in June. Just wondering if some actually do for good students and if early application admission would hel</p>
<p>I’m guessing that the SAT score is the Math + CR score? </p>
<p>Why are you limiting to the Carolinas? You need cheaper tuition so you need to broaden your geography.</p>
<p>Right now, his SAT might be high enough for a merit scholarship at some school to end up with instate rates. HOwever, will that be enough? </p>
<p>How much can you pay each year? From the sound of it, even paying “instate rates” would require you to pay too much each year (about $25k per year for tuition, room, board, books, fees, etc). </p>
<p>To give you an example…If you can only pay about $15k per year, then your child would need a “full tuition scholarship”.<br>
Have him test again AND take the ACT. He may do better on the ACT.</p>
<p>Yes, PA is actually the worst state in the country in this respect:</p>
<p><a href=“HigherEdInfo.org: Percent of Family Income Needed to Pay for College - by Type of Institution”>HigherEdInfo.org: Percent of Family Income Needed to Pay for College - by Type of Institution;
<p>South Carolina definitely has merit-based OOS tuition waivers. I don’t know the score level required to qualify.</p>
<p>A lot of the Mississippi and Louisiana schools have specific cutoff scores to qualify for OOS tuition waivers. For example, 1170 SAT at Mississippi State: [Academic</a> Scholarships for Entering Freshmen - Scholarships || Office of Admissions and Scholarships || Mississippi State University](<a href=“http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/scholarships/academic/index.php#nonresident]Academic”>http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/scholarships/academic/index.php#nonresident)</p>
<p>Or 1050 SAT at Louisiana Tech: <a href=“http://www.latech.edu/admissions/Scholarship%20updates%20for%20website.pdf[/url]”>http://www.latech.edu/admissions/Scholarship%20updates%20for%20website.pdf</a></p>
<p>Our combined income is 72k but we have no assets worthy of being penalized. Not much saved. We’re probably screwed.</p>
<p>the above is why I think the OP may need merit that is far more than just OOS waivers. With not much saved and that income, paying full instate rates probably isn’t affordable either. It would be nearly impossible for someone with that income to pay $25k per year out of pocket for instate COA. </p>
<p>My gut tells me that the student needs at least a full tuition scholarship, so that the remaining costs…room, board, books, fees, misc, travel (about $15k-17k) can be covered with a small student loan, family contribution, and maybe some summer earnings. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that an OOS public isn’t going to meet need with need-based aid. So, you’re goal should be to get enough merit to get the cost down to what you can pay. </p>
<p>And merit won’t be applied to EFC. IT will get applied to “need” first. That’s why large merit is needed to get costs down to what your family can cover.</p>
<p>Thanks for your opionions. Much appreciated! Will have to improve test scores for one. And broader geography. Thanks for the tips. Keep them coming.</p>
<p>Get him SAT and ACT test prep books. If necessary, give him some incentives to do some practice tests. My kids liked going to the movies with a pal, so if they did a practice test on a Saturday morning, then I would pay for 2 Matinee tix to the movies for child and a pal. </p>
<p>Don’t have him only do the practice tests…have him read the tips in the beginning chapters.</p>
<p>Your son will need to submit his college apps early next fall because many schools have early deadlines for big merit scholarship consideration.</p>
<p>We have a lot of family in PA. Yes, the flagship schools are expensive. They have the dubious honor of being the most expensive in the country for their own in-staters. However schools like Slippery Rock, and PA has a slew of them are still nicely under $20K in price. If your student is looking for a school like Temple, Penn State or Pitt, in terms of OOS publics with the same amenities and name recognition, it’s not going to be likely they will beat the in state price those schools have, high as it may be. Those prices are still less than what the sticker prices are on OOS flagships. And getting merit money and/or financial aid, to the point where it makes a big difference in cost is not easy or likely Of course, try, and maybe something will come up, but right now, it’s a lottery ticket.</p>
<p>Actually, Temple could be a good try for you. I know some kids who got into Temple with merit money and they were accepted into the honors college. </p>
<p>It is always that interplay, give and take, between the name recognition and rankings and amenties vs price. The more you can give up on one, the better you can do on the other. </p>
<p>I worked with my cousin for her son’s college and chronicled the experience in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1367319-how-families-sometimes-do.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1367319-how-families-sometimes-do.html</a></p>
<p>Ironically, PA is not a bad choice at all for the state schools for OOSers. For then non flagship ones like the UPs, the cost is around what the SUNYs are for us, for example. and for the flagships about $10K more, which I consider a fair OOS premium.</p>
<p>I have another question too. What about border states for PA. Do they ever waiver OSS tuition? In my online reading I came across schools that offer to wave tuition for boarder students. ?? As you can see we are entering into this early I am looking at all angles. My S wants to major in Finance/Business/Information Systems. Something of this nature. I have found a lot of schools have programs in these fields.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply!</p>
<p>You’ll have to investigate each school’s rules. </p>
<p>In my experience, if a public school is located near the border of another state, then residents of the county that border that state sometimes get instate rates because there is an assumption of “cross paid taxes”. However, rarely do you get instate rates just because your state borders another state. If PA particpates, that still wouldn’t help you since your son’s major is not unique enough that it’s not offered in your state.</p>
<p>do you live in a city or county that borders another state? If so, which other state? And is there a state school right across that border?</p>
<p>There are some states that belong to the Academic Common Market, and if your state schools do not offer a unique major, then you can get instate rates at another state’s school in the ACE that offers that major.</p>
<p>Since your son is interested in Business and Mgmt Info Systems, then he needs to look at Bama, which has a very strong MIS program AND has generous merit scholarships…but he still needs to get his scores up!</p>
<p>Have him also take the ACT.</p>
<p>There is the SREP Academic Common Market, but PA does not participate. </p>
<p>If you just google “getting in state tuition at an out of state colleges”, you’ll find some articles on the subject, but from what I have seen, the schools are ones like SouthWest Mississippi, not University of Mississippi. For the main schools, on the main campuses, it doesn’t fly unless you have certain stats, when some schools like Alabama or SUNY Buffalo or a number of them will have some scholarships that can bring the price down for your student. But really, it would be difficult for you to get a school like Penn State at University Park for less than what you would be paying as an in stater. If you have the test scores and grades, you could do better as some schools, like Alabama would give you a free ride if you can flash 'em some good numbers. But, other wise the OOS charges are going to be higher. </p>
<p>We have cousins that are OOS and go to WVU, UVA, Pitt, PSU, UDel, UMD, OSU, OU, Miamii of O and the only ones that got any money got something from Pitt and a little merit from UMD, still not enough to beat their in state flagship prices. We only got one OOS offer out of all of our kids that beat our instate public options and that was for a private school in PA. We got all kinds of awards, but none enough to make the difference. YMMV, but that is the usual experience unless you have a kid with very high test scores and grades. </p>
<p>Some schools like UVA, Michigan, Illinois, have deliberately jacked up their OOS supplementary fees to help out with the budget andmost (UVA excepted) won’t make much of an attempt to offer financial aid even to those who are most needy. They want the bucks. I know kids from PA going to Virginia Tech, James Madision, the Ohio public schools, UMD, UDel, WVU, and they are not paying any less for those schools than they would for PSU. </p>
<p>It’s still hard to beat your flagship schools in price, even when they are among the highest, if you are going for like schools.</p>
<p>I have a son who is a high school sophomore, and have been trying to figure out what the best course of action would be. I have looked at state schools outside of Connecticut, where we live, and it appears our costs here are very competitive. My son doesn’t want to attend a State university, but since we can’t afford OOS tuition at many of the schools he would like to attend, he may end up at one. From what I have seen in all my research, state schools are ultimately your best bet financially.</p>
<p>An example, you can do well at Truman State in MO, as state school that is very good to OOS prospects. About $21K for OOS. But Truman State, a very nice school is no PSU in name recognition. It might be a better choice of a school for someone who wants a smaller school than the PA giants, but then you could pick the UP schools like Slippery Rock at about $18K for in state which beats the Truman State price tag. Without an award, any school like PSU is going to cost you more. When you start looking at those state schools that are less known, you’ll find that when you compare them to like state schools in your state, you are still better off going in state.</p>
<p>Indiana University of PA has an excellent honors program, and I believe auto or close to it awards for those accepted to their honors college. That would bring the price down even lower than the non flagship state school costs. </p>
<p>15 years ago, when I was looking for my oldest son, schools like UT Austin< txas AM, WVU, University of FL, FL state, Clemson, Alabama, Arkansas, Clemson, Iowa State, Kansas, Nebraska, South Carolina, all flagship schools were pretty inexpensive even for OOSers running about $15K or so. But at that time schools like the very top ones now close to and in the $60K range were half that price. Now some of those schools have really jacked up prices for OOSers, and those who still offer a decent deal tend to hover at about the $30K point while PSU for you as an instate Pennsylvanian is around $25. So you’re still better of at PSU, price wise.</p>
<p>I would have him take the ACT also. You never know they might score better on one or the other. My kids did better on the ACT. </p>
<p>If he can get his scores up a bit, I’d consider Lehigh. If he is admitted they will meet your need which will be much more favorable than your state options. Great business school and computer systems (I think that’s what he is looking for). It’s hard to get into and harder as they look for geographical diversity. But it’s something else to look at. </p>
<p>I have a friend who’s D is at university of South Carolina. She loves it and there are lots of kids from all over the country. And if you qualify for scholarships you get in state rates. At least it used to be that way. I’m sorry I’m not up on what things are right now. It’s been very affordable for them. I’ve heard that universities in New Mexico are very affordable. My S applied years ago and they offered him in state rates and it was really cheap. He did go to Michigan Tech which I know is off the grid and not a popular choice. But they have quite a few out of state students and do offer money to off set the out of state rates.</p>
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<p>University of Mississippi OOS tuition is the same as Penn State in-state tuition without any merit awards or waivers.</p>
<p>That’s good to know, Bobwallace, but trying to find a flagshipstate school that is say 10% less expensive on an OOS basis than PSU or Pitt or Temple (in state) and have the name recognition and amenities and rankings is not doable. </p>
<p>I thought about trying to get GT tuition lowered for a program not available in some states where there are some recipricol privileges, and it is possible if your school has such an agreement, but I don’t think PA does. Once upon a time, VA was a good place for low OOS tuition rates-James Madison and VTech were some favorites,but they have jacked their prices up these days. Carolinas had good deals too, but no more.</p>
<p>My brother in VA couldn’t get his kids in the VA state schools that they liked, the competition was so fierce and though they were good students, their test scores precluded them from going to the ones they liked. They went to PSU and WVU and were pleased with the OOS price tags there for what they got.</p>
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<p>Mississippi is ranked comparably to Temple (#150 vs. #125), and this student already qualifies for an Academic Excellence award of $6000/year based on the 1260 SAT. So that would make Mississippi about $17K Tuition/Fees/Room/Board vs. $24K for Temple.</p>
<p>If the student can improve the SAT score the cost would be lower still.</p>
<p>Gotta put Old Miss on the list as a good deal. I think she might come in first in flagship state schools for low OOSers cost, Bobwallace. Uof SD and U of Wyomings also used to be low in price. A lot of the others have really jacked up OOS costs. I almost fell over when I saw what U of Tennessee , Knoxville cost. My son was recruited there, and I remember thinking that the cost was low even if we had to pay full freight there. No more. The deals are quickly going away.</p>