The private schools have higher sticker price, but often give merit for 1300 plus SAT and need based aid for low and middle income households.
But most are not academically better than the publics.
Here’s a nursing link for schools in PA that is incredibly useful because one can sort via the pass rate or other criteria important to a student:
https://www.nursingschool411.com/pennsylvania/
York College of PA has an 89% pass rate, but is the closest college to us making it an affordable commuting college for students. Couple that with any aid offered and it’s less expensive than any of the state schools for most students.
Bloomsburg gets many who can afford to go away to school. 
(It’s closer to us than Clarion.) Lock Haven also gets some.
Messiah gets many who prefer a Christian school.
Robert Morris has attracted some financially.
Off track for the OP, but could be useful for some readers.
We visited Bloomsburg admitted students day (for Nursing). It seems like a good school. I do think that for Nursing though, (specially in Honors), there is a lot that the extra $10K/year you’d shell out at Pitt does get in terms of opportunities. One big one is simply geographic - hospitals at Pitt get cases from all over the country.
Probably Temple has a similar advantage. Fantastic for clinicals.
Interesting to see that Pitt has nursing students doing better (percentage-wise) at two of its satellite campuses than at its main campus (100% vs 88.8%). It makes me wonder if the smaller class size helps that much or what the other variable causing the difference would be. It also makes me wonder if the stats hold over time or if it’s just this year. We rarely get anyone considering Pitt for nursing (distance, cost) so it’s not one that has caught my eye over the years when I’ve showed students how to look for potential schools.
For nursing and other health professions, direct entry to the major can be a major advantage.
You don’t know from the statistics about nursing exam pass rates how many students started out as nursing majors in that program, and actually made it through.
@MaineLonghorn that is very interesting thank you for your perspective. I checked back with kid20 and they said architecture it’s just that the guidance counselor has been pushing engineering because who wouldn’t want be an engineer LOL
Kid has done a shadow with an architect and liked it… loves the idea of attending Syracuse or another fancy place like u t Austin
@bester1 I know what you mean about the lunch table usually it makes me laugh that other 17 year olds are considered the complete experts about everything compared to us parents but in the case of college costs it is irritating
Thank you fellow PA parents it feels better to hear about your solutions because the typical comments about what a great deal the flagship schools are just don’t apply in our state (yeah you, PSU)
Are there schools that don’t do direct entry to nursing? All of ours I’ve talked with apply for and get accepted to nursing. I always thought it was its own thing.
We definitely discuss the issues with “pass rate.” The student needs to do their part. Undoubtedly as with pre-med, many students start and change their mind. However, one wants to know if they do their part they have a good chance of passing the test - hence - its importance.
@thingamajig, that’s funny! Glad your kid knows they want architecture. It is VERY hard to get into UT Austin, especially as an architecture major. OOS makes it almost impossible.
@thingamajig If your student wants architecture, definitely consider VT if you think it’s at all affordable.
Trust you’ve seen this since you mention Syracuse, etc, but posting it just in case (or for other readers):
https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/13611-top-architecture-schools-of-2019
UT might be out of your 8 hour commute range… 
Miami OH would be a good choice for you to investigate…there have automatic merit which you can see here: https://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/. We are PA residents and my D also applied and was accepted to UConn, UMass, VT, and U Del – Miami ended up with the lowest COA by far. And they have a tuition promise which means they don’t raise the rates at all over your four years - what you pay freshman year is what you pay senior year. And from western PA, the ride wouldn’t be bad at all - for us on the east side, it’s a haul.
@SincererLove Your mileage may vary, but of all the schools D applied to this year, VT was the only one that gave her absolutely nothing beyond basic admission - no merit and no honors college. Her COA there would have been at least $10K higher per year than her next most expensive schools. And even people who get merit there don’t seem to get much – on the VT thread for this year’s applicants, the most I’ve seen is a couple thousand and there even some who got like $87. Yes, that is correct - $87. So I don’t know what is going on there, but as soon as she saw that they offered her nothing, she eliminated them from contention.
For reference, she has a 4.0UW/4.84W, 7APs with 5s in all the ones she has taken so far (3 coming up in May), top 5%, 1460 SAT, strong 4 year ECs with leadership, great essays, and was applying as a neuroscience/biochem major.
@bester1 PASSHE only has ABET Computer Science. I understand the new PASSHE administration is focusing on expanding this.
I think Shippensburg has computer engineering, and IUP is getting environmental engineering and a new science building.
You can search ABET accredited programs here (by specialty and state)
Per my previous post per PASSHE ABET programs(links were provided)…more ABET programs are on the way!
Bloomsburg offers ABET:
Computer Science
Electronics Engineering Tech
CALU offers ABET:
Computer Engineering Tech
Computer Info Systems
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering Tech
East Stroudsburg offers ABET:
Computer Science
Edinboro offers ABET:
Computer Science
IUP offers ABET:
Computer Science
Safety,Health and Environmental Applied Science
Millersville offers ABET:
Computer Science
Occupational Safety and Environmental Health
Shippensburg offers ABET:
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Software Engineering
Slippery Rock offers ABET:
Computing
West Chester offers ABET:
Computer Science
SRU adding Mechanical and Civil Engineering Fall 2019.
@MaineLonghorn I hear you, but honestly I could have gone either way, except it just never occurred to me that engineering was a possibility. I loved math, and I loved my structures courses. I’m really only middling at the artsy side of architecture. I think of it more as solving a jigsaw puzzle - getting all the pieces of what the client wants to fit in the space available. Mind you, I’m doing mostly additions and renovations with people who want the additions to look pretty similar to the original house. A lot of the interior work is removing interior walls, which of course involves engineering!
One caveat about architecture (besides notoriously low salaries) is that professors tend to have mostly local connections. I studied architecture in New York, but wanted to join my then boyfriend in California after I graduated. It took me forever to find a job, while my friends who stayed in the City had an easier time. This goes in spades for summer jobs.
@mathmom, you are unusual!
I agree that architects aren’t paid well enough.
It will be interesting to see if SRU’s entrance into engineering is accepted by those employing engineers. Most I’m familiar with want established programs generally found in large schools. How long will it take for the ice to break?
Engineering and engineering tech are two different things.
With computer majors I’ve seen kids be successful from pretty much any type of school. That seems to be totally based upon what they know and can do. Some kids get computer jobs without a specific degree. My own lad did that. So much is often picked up outside of the classroom with that major.
Pitt Johnstown is seeking or planning to seek ABET accreditation for its new engineering programs (note: not the long-established ABET-accredited engineering technology programs, which indeed is a different animal altogether), and “expect to have accreditation in the year following the graduation of the first class, as is ABET’s normal procedure. Those who graduate in the year application for accreditation happens will be accredited retroactively.” That’s directly from their website.
For what it’s worth, Pitt-Johnstown looks like a nice campus that could be a reasonably-priced alternative.
I’d also add that some of the PASSHE schools offer 150% tuition (that stacks with other scholarships) to qualified residents of some other states-Maryland is one-but the only one I can think of right now is Millersville. That also looks like a nice campus.
Interesting thread. I’m from West Virginia and graduated from the “other” university. We used to refer to WVU as the University of Southern Pennsylvania. I thought it was just snark until I read about PA’s tuition, etc. WVU is probably a less expensive, viable option for many of your kids. And trust me, we could absolutely use the money here 
!
To be clear, within PA our PASSHE schools are still popular. Walking the halls in school today I saw sweatshirts for IUP, Bloomsburg, Shippensburg, and Kutztown. Many of our graduates attend these schools and have successful futures. They just aren’t always the least expensive options for high stat or high need kids and they don’t offer some popular majors (like engineering).
Penn St, Pitt, and Temple are better for name recognition and ranking (and have engineering), but tend to be even costlier for most students. They are state related schools vs true state schools.
Many states have low cost state flagships for state residents. PA doesn’t.