<p>A lot can depend upon how well your state is represented and how your daughter compares academically to the student body at the OOS public under consideration. Often, if the academic stats of a prospective OOS student place them in the top 5-10% of the applicant pool and if admitting the student will increase the georgraphic diversity of the student body, many public universities will be very generous with merit aid for an OOS student. That’s exactly what happened to my daughter. She is from Connecticut and applied to publics in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. All were very generous with merit aid offers in an effort to recruit her. She ended up in Kansas, and pays far less there than she would have at our in-state public flagship. In addition, a top student will normally also be admitted to the honors program, with smaller classes, top professors, opportunities for research, etc.</p>