One school not mentioned that I would like to recommend is Virginia Tech. They have an excellent engineering program and they also have a program in the business school called, “Business Information Technology.” The school has a wonderful career center and recruiting events for its students.
My kid has a friend at Bowdoin, which I never heard of prior to the friend going there. And another friend at Macalester. I get those two mixed up all the time. 
(half kidding)
I don’t get the point of going to a bone-crusher, weed-out engineering program (e.g, Georgia Tech, Michigan, UIUC) if engineering isn’t the long-term career goal.
There are respectable ABET programs at big public universities all over the South & Midwest which would throw wads of merit aid at your son. Alabama is just one of them.
Since he’s intending to get into business, this unique honors college which has great aid might be of interest:
Is Virginia Tech the school that WAY over enrolled this year though? They are trying to convince incoming freshman to take gap years. Even offering to give them some money to do so. Not sure I would want to get into that mess.
VT is very popular and increasingly competitive to get into (engineering program) each year. I still recommend the school. We know at least 50 kids attending that school. To me that just shows that applicants are really interested in attending this school and that the school is very popular.
IE sets up well for business roles. You don’t need to enter B-school to go down a business track.
As for saving money, UIUC has an extensive number of study-abroad programs and many are cheap (some are close to tuition-free).
He could probably get full-tuition scholarships if he wants, but an elite engineering department (where the kids generally have stats that are 95th percentile or higher) is kind of like an honors program already.
@compmom: “We were surprised to find that we did not have to pay for any grad school, and before we committed to an undergrad school that was a bit more expensive than planned, we checked that out.”
You forgot to mention that that may be a bit of a risky plan (or did you get some guarantee of free grad school before undergrad started somehow)?
Yes, many PhD programs are funded, but they don’t tend to be easy to get in to. Same with the fully-funded masters programs. A lot of professional programs throw around merit money these days but generally the ones giving out full-tuition/full-ride merit scholarships aren’t the top ones. Many employers offer some tuition reimbursement but very few would cover the full cost of a degree program these days.
@moooop: “I don’t get the point of going to a bone-crusher, weed-out engineering program (e.g, Georgia Tech, Michigan, UIUC) if engineering isn’t the long-term career goal.”
Strong quantitative skills can set someone up well in the business world as well.
To OP.
I will pm later. As you know my son’s at Michigan. He is doing Industrial for the same reasons. He will end up in business. Doesn’t need an MBA but look at ability to get BS/MS 5 year programs also.
Industrial can be looked at as Business Engineering if you will.
Lool at also outside opportunities to do business like things. I will give you some stuff to look at that my son has already done. He has done more business things then most business students… Lol.
Have fun learning about all this. But someone stated that once you get through all of this UIUC will most likely be your most affordable. Most of the 1/2 scholarships will put you at around $35,000/school end costs. We just felt Michigan was just better for my son VS staying instate in Illinois
Plus Michigan is doing pretty well in the College Baseball world series in the 4th inning Michigan 4,Vandy 2
We took a similar approach to @LMK5. Our instate schools were within what we were willing to pay, full pay. We did not require our kids to pursue merit aid . Oldest very strong student was competitive for top schools but we did not see the value in paying more for that. He was free to apply but would have had to shoulder more of the cost if he went down that road (we’re mean) 
We communicated the budget and had a second child to consider . Are there siblings ? If you are wealthy/very affluent, that is also a different story. Families make different choices. No right or wrong.
One of my kids is a an Industrial and Systems grad, still doing more engineering/research type stuff than anything related to business. Other is Systems and Information Engineering -started off in consulting but missed the technology aspects . IE and Systems are very versatile degrees.
Just try not to make it more complicated than it needs to be(easier said than done), set a budget and communicate that. You have a great instate option so you are very fortunate. Enjoy the ride!
SMU has a program for business school for undergrad engineering majors. They also give substantial merit aid to strong applicants. Business would be the stronger program at SMU.
FYE by itself is not “relatively unique”. However, Pittsburgh does not have competitive admission or high GPA thresholds to declare an engineering major, unlike many other schools with FYE programs (e.g. Purdue, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M).
@moooop and others, I get the thing about big and public in the Midwest, but I was still making the suggestion of schools like Tufts, Olin, UVM and others in case they want to think outside the usual box.
As for grad school funding, we didn’t have anyone sign a contract, no, but we got assurances that grad school would be funded where my kid was going, and it turned out to be true. We were told, basically, not to let future grad school expense influence our decision on undergrad affordability.
Now with next kid, we had to do extensive research to figure out which programs would work. Generally we avoided any terminal masters programs. The tuition for those tends to fund doctoral students.
In the discipline studied by second child, a masters in the UK (one year) or in Europe (Germany is free) was also a possibility but with engineering or business that wouldn’t work. Canada is also more affordable.
@compmom I especially like your suggestion of Tufts but, at our Chicago suburban high school, kids have a history of getting waitlisted there. Tufts doesn’t think our kids will go. The only student I know who got in visited three times, stayed overnight, met with professors and then went ED. @121IllinoisDad should check Naviance if his school has it to see what if kids from his school have applied. This happens a lot with some other east coast schools - lots of waitlists for our local kidsunless they go ED. Even very strong students who get into elite universities often get waitlisted at places like Lehigh, Tufts, and all NESCACs. The east coast has SO many great schools but there’s a bit of yield protection that happens.
Tufts is sensitive to yield with Harvard and MIT in their backyard. Tufts would be a good academic and social match with many internships nearby.
I want to go back to the suggestion of Olin. As an east coaster, I happen to know that Olin is as selective as MIT. It is an extraordinary school with personal attention and very project-based. “hands on.” Only 84 students in the class just accepted.
It is very well-known around here. It used to be tuition free but no more. But they have hefty merit aid.
But the reason I mention it so strongly is that it is right next to Babson, a well-known business school, and the two schools are very collaborative. Olin touts this relationship as a big plus to their school. Also, again, internships in the area abound.
It’s worth a look. And Northeastern colleges do like Midwestern applicants for geographic diversity.
@compmom yes they like Midwestern kids. That was just a warning in case the OP wants to take a look at some of your suggestions. When we have kids who get into Duke, Cornell, Georgetown, on and on, but there’s nothing but a slew of waitlist for three years running at places like Tufts and Midd then a student needs to pay attention to that info.
My comment wasn’t related to yours. I just remembered the Olin/Babson connection this morning and wanted to add it. Nothing wrong with shooting for schools as long as you have the right attitude about it Since Illinois is a winner, taking risks with other schools is a safe thing to do.
Michigan and GT do not seem to be particularly weed-out, compared to those of the FYE schools where students must then compete or attain high college GPAs to declare their majors. UIUC admits directly to major; while it may require college GPAs greater than 2.0 to stay in the major, these GPAs are in the low-to-mid 2.x range.
Hey all, the suggestion of Alabama and the scholarships offered for top talent there has kind of blown my mind. My wife and I have saved enough for S20 to go to UIUC debt free and my father (who is getting older and doing estate planning) has offered an incredibly generous amount of money to any grandchild who graduates from college with a 3.0. What I had originally told my son is if he’s smart, he’ll go to UIUC and put grandpa’s money into a retirement account. However, I also said if he’s absolutely in love with an expensive OOS, Grandpa’s money would fund most of the difference and he’d graduate nearly debt free. That is why I’ve let him look anywhere without restriction. But now I’m thinking, if he is really smart he’d go to Alabama for free (assuming he makes National Merit Finalist), use our 529 for his MBA instead and still have grandpa’s money for a nest egg. The kid prefers a big school so its not like I’d be forcing him to Alabama over Carlton or Oberlin.
I know part of college is an emotional connection for the child but when I sit back and think of this purely objectively, Alabama offers my son free college, a paid-for MBA (via our 529 that would be freed up) and a huge shot in the arm toward retirement. Is there any objective (not emotional) argument against this being the smartest decision? Clearly not the same academic caliber as UIUC engineering but as someone else posted, if my son’s interest is business maybe he shouldn’t go to a meat grinder.
By the way, I have learned so much in the three days I’ve been on this board. Wish I had joined six months ago! Thanks to all for comments (esp HomerDog). Very much appreciated.
@121IllinoisDad Do you know his PSAT score? I think the cut off for Illinois last year was 221 for NMSF.