@kidzncatz, UScranton and UDayton are also bigger, and might have swimming, but not sure if the price would come in low enough.
The WVU net price calculator estimated $6,000 in merit for 3.5 GPA and 1160 SAT. $30,000 COA minus $7,000 in aid (Pell and FSEOG) resulted in about $17,000 net price.
Kent State in Ohio estimated about $10,000 in merit for 3.5 GPA and 1160 SAT.
@ClarinetDad16, a $0 EFC PA resident student would get the Pell grant, and PHEAA grant at any PA school.
They would not get ājust loansā at a PSU branch.
Even higher EFC PA students might still qualify for a PA grant.
They might be offered work study, maybe SEOG, and private schools would probably give merit and need based aid as well.
But the price tag for private schools is often higher to start with.
No swimming at U Dayton.
Her ādreamā school was OOS, and her home state is PA. Would the State grant travel to an OOS school?
@kidzncatz we also live in PA and it is tough to find affordable schools, with limited finances.
Our oldest commuted to Penn State branch campus and hated it w/ a passion. Lots of kids just did their classes and took off, they often had jobs they had to get to. DD worked to pay for balance of tuition after aid. We supplied the car and picked up books, fees, etc. Even so, we realized there would not be any way to afford the final two years at main campus. Our Pell grant and state grants were couple thousand less than yours.
My middle son. luckily, had high stats and got into both Temple and University of Alabama. He is in engineering and there were NO state schools that even had it. PS and Pitt only gave him about $5K in scholarships. Otherwise I donāt know where he would have gone. We have an EFC of $1500/$1600 (?) Not positive and not looking it up. 
My friendās son goes to PSSHE school. They had same Pell & state grants as we did, plus he received a small scholarship. They cash flowed a little less than $6K per year to fund his education/books/travel costs.
My youngest would love to go away to school and as I have not been happy w/ any of the commuter schools here, including CC which is almost as much as the PSSHE schools, would you mind sharing where you daughter ended up and which schools worked financially?
Our youngest has stats very similar to your daughters, and right now even the PSSHE schools are not going to be affordable.
At what level income to the PHEAA grants become inaccessible?
@ClarinetDad16, there are a few āportableā states where you can use your PA state grant, but it is only a fraction of the amount as far as I know. Like around $500.
quoted from: http://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/state-grant-program/pdf/2015-2016/Program-Manual.pdf
Presumably the PA grant is to help keep the talent instate.
@bester1, I think above $12,000 FAFSA EFC. Would depend on family size and students in college what the income would be.
There is a table on that page that might help: āhow much can I expect to receive?ā
http://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/state-grant-program/prepare.shtml
We got a $1700 grant for a EFC of about $10,000 and $3900 grant for EFC of around $8,000.
But there is a formula, it depends on tuition, Pell, EFC and need.
Page 6 and 7 in the PA grant manual explain it better.
http://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/state-grant-program/pdf/2015-2016/Program-Manual.pdf
Thank you for the infoā¦
So if your household income is $100,000 or moreā¦you are not eligible. I am not sure that it is fair but āIt is what it isā
http://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/state-grant-program/prepare.shtml
@bester1, most people above $100,000 income probably wonāt qualify for much in PA grant.
But it depends on cost of school, EFC, need. A family of 5 with two working parents making $100,000 income and having two students in college at the same time could have a FAFSA EFC of $7,000.
this calculator was pretty accurate for me to estimate FAFSA EFC. Choose federal methodology.
Looks like the PASSHE Profs may go out on strikeā¦second most expensive system in the country and the students will be penalized in another wayā¦no classā¦such a disappointment
@bester1 It is crazy. I wonder if this will affect admission rates also, scaring away higher qualified students for 2017. They say that enrollment is down overall. For instance, if West Chester was more difficult to get into last year, might it tick the other way in 2017, opening up spots?
@portercat I think you could be on to something. I believe the two with strong enrollment are Bloomsburg and West Chester. I believe the others were trending downward but I have not seen any official stats. Seem hard to find.
In light of thatā¦it will be interesting to see if that impacts those schools and the system as a unit. I am kind of bummed about it. I just want a solid, affordable education for my children.
This is a year old now, but hereās some good enrollment data (including projections for 2015-16 on page 21) in here:
http://www.passhe.edu/FactCenter/Documents/FinancialPresentation.pdf
Youād have to go to the Common Data Set for each school to get this past yearās actual admissions and enrollment numbers, Iām guessing. Hereās West Chesterās:
https://www.wcupa.edu/viceProvost/institutionalResearch/documents/CopyofCDS_2015-2016_001.pdf
Hereās another way to look at these statistics. A huge # of WCU students live in apartments and houses within a 10 minute walk of campus. Technically they do not count as campus residents, but they are on campus on weekends, at night, etc. Very lively town and not a suitcase school.
Second, some kids have to take off a semester or two (or longer) to work and save up so they can finish. Others might do a co-op or internship to gain work experience and make some moneyā¦This can distort the 4-yr grad rate.
Third, I agree that some students will not obtain a degree, for a whole variety of reasons. Others will graduate, but will do so from a school other than WCU, which is not the same as ā33% never graduate at all.ā
WCU was always well known for education and music, and its reputation is improving each year, as are the stats of incoming students.
^^ I agree. WCU is filling a gap for a lot of families in the southeastern part of the state who either canāt afford Penn State (or Temple) or object to their locations (Penn State being too far; Temple being too urban).
Most of the students I know who went there earned their degrees. There are a lot of criminal justice majors there now too.
I actually think that strike may move things, if only more people get behind it and shame the legislature into doing something. Students should definitely do something, itās their experience and education, and the parents should be pushing too, because itās their money. If the parents say the University better settle with the professors and the students or they will sue for a refund it may move things along. Clearly nothing else, even common sense, has moved the legislatureā¦
Ultimately, striking is a desperate action, and the system has reached its end point when it decided to charge extra for credits necessary to graduate in 4 years (IE., above 12 credits).