<p>The topic of lower cost OOS college options frequently comes up in this forum. Below I have compiled a list of the public liberal arts colleges with the lowest OOS tuition cost (under $20K). These colleges are members of COPLAC, the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. They are sorted by OOS tuition, beginning with the lowest:</p>
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<h1>Public Liberal Arts College Location OOS Tuition</h1>
<p>Midwestern State University Wichita Falls, TX $9,188
University of Minnesota Morris Morris, MN $12,549
U of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Chickasha, OK $12,720
Henderson State University Arkadelphia, AR $12,864
Truman State University Kirksville, MO $12,952
Shepherd University Shepherdstown, WV $15,136
University of Wisconsin-Superior Superior, WI $15,477
SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, NY $16,343
Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT $16,984
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts North Adams, MA $17,645
Fort Lewis College Durango, CO $17,734
University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL $18,070
University of Maine at Farmington Farmington, ME $18,225
Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA $18,706
Evergreen State College Olympia, WA $19,561
Keene State College Keene, NH $19,676
University of North Carolina-Asheville Asheville, NC $19,682
Eastern Connecticut State University Willimantic, CT $19,943
<p>I don’t know most of these schools, and don’t know how COPLAC defines “LAC”, or if a “public LAC” has its own special meaning, but I don’t think Eastern Connecticut fits the common understanding of what an LAC is. It’s a directional uni with a grad school and 6000+ undergrads, not appreciably different from or cheaper than the other directionals in CT. I don’t think anyone seeking a typical LAC experience would find it there. Made me think of this: </p>
<p>“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”</p>
<p>“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”</p>
<p>“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master - - that’s all.”</p>
<p>Public LACs are generally chartered as such by their state. Not everyone will be able to afford a private LAC, so public LACs attempt to provide a liberal arts education and environment at a more affordable tuition.</p>
<p>Eastern Conn is designated as the public LAC for Connecticut:
<p>Montevallo is the only public LAC in Alabama. It is a hidden gem of a place with plantation buildings and brick streets. The town is quaint and charming but only thirty minutes from the large city of Birmingham. The university is excellent with an outstanding professional staff. There are several unique features and unusual majors at Montevallo.</p>
<p>I understand that the state designates Eastern CT a “public LAC”, but other than having a liberal arts core curriculum, I’m not seeing how the school fits into the category of an LAC as commonly defined and question whether it would be a satisfactory alternative for someone looking for a classic LAC experience at a state school cost–which is what the posted list seems to promise. Eastern is pretty big, it has a grad school, it has majors like Accounting, Business Admin. and Early Childhood Education–none of these are typical elements of an LAC. I guess I’m just confused by the “public LAC” concept. It doesn’t seem to be a terribly helpful term to someone trying to identify the right fit. I live in western CT. While lots of our high schoolers attend UConn and the two closest directionals, I’ve never heard of anyone from this area crossing the state to attend Eastern or even discuss applying there, so I doubt it’s pulling students because of its LAC designation (as opposed to SUNY-Geneseo, which certainly attracts students from all over the state who are looking for an LAC-like alternative to the bigger SUNY’s.)</p>
<p>Anyway, my point is that before anyone jumps on one of the schools on the posted list as a cheap way to attend an LAC, some due diligence should be done to see if the school really offers the desired experience.</p>
<p>As noted in the information I supplied previously, Eastern Connecticut has only been operating as a public LAC for 5 years. Consequently only 2 cohorts of students have been through the new LAC curriculum. It is hardly surprising that you and others in the state are unfamiliar with the concept of a public LAC, have failed to note the new curriculum at the college, and are not prepared to consider it a viable alternative to private LACs that may have been operating for 200+ years.</p>
<p>COPLAC itself has only existed since 1987, which makes the whole public LAC movement quite infantile in the higher education scheme. However, there are certainly public LAC success stories. In my state, for example, since adopting this model our public LAC has improved substantially in measures of quality such as freshman SAT scores and freshman retention rate, to the point that it has surpassed all the other public colleges in the state by these measures, save the 2 dominant research universities.</p>
<p>The criteria for compiling this list are quite clearly stated at the outset, namely membership in COPLAC and low OOS tuition. As with any such list it seems rather obvious that a student will need to investigate whether a particular college serves his needs and desires.</p>
<p>Thanks for the list!! UNC Asheville is also one of our state’s hidden gems…although its not hidden here in NC. A great school in a FANTASTIC location. For those of us who are NC residents the tuition value is tremendous at $3120 per semester, so $6220 for the year, residence hall double is $2261 per semester and $1667 meal plan per semester. OOS tuition for 2013-2014 is $10,031 per semester, $20,062 per year.</p>
<p>But NC caps OOS students to no more than 18% per campus, and some of the campuses are at a much lower OOS attendance. UNC Asheville has 30 majors and 3700 undergrads.</p>
<p>I know NC A & T isn’t on the list but I would venture as an alumni parent that it too, has the feel on an LAC. Very self-contained campus, small undergrad population around 4000, lots of history, lots of teacher/student interaction, small class sizes but offering an ABET Engineering school, nursing program, agriculture school…lots of pre-vets, all on a very driven school-spirit campus, (HBCU).</p>
<p>Montevallo is the only public LAC in Alabama. It is a hidden gem of a place with plantation buildings and brick streets. The town is quaint and charming but only thirty minutes from the large city of Birmingham. The university is excellent with an outstanding professional staff. There are several unique features and unusual majors at Montevallo.</p>
<p>I haven’t been to the campus but my older son went to Boys State there and said it was a very attractive campus.</p>
<p>It is a rarish LAC in that it has a B-school.</p>
<p>And…the OOS COA is less than $23k…that’s cheaper than some states’ instate COAs. OOS tuition and fees is less than $13k. R&B is amazingly low cost.</p>
<p>I don’t know what that cost is listed in the first post. Is that COA or tuition? </p>
<p>Montevallo…OOS COA
Estimated total price of attendance: $21,900
a. Estimated tuition and fees $12,800
b. Estimated room and board $4,650
c. Estimated books and supplies $1,000
d. Estimated other expenses
(Personal expenses, transportation, etc.) $3,450</p>
<p>It’s not on the list, but a couple of years ago UMinn-TC had relatively low OOS tuition and significant merit aid for OOS students. This year OOS tuition (fees not included) is $9,155:</p>
<p>I would not be surprised if the COPLAC schools are routinely ignored because there is little awareness of public schools other than large research universities and large regional commuter universities (note that many of the public LACs are in more remote places). Many of the COPLAC schools are also not that selective, which hurts their selectivity-based prestige. There may also be a general bias in favor of private schools.</p>
<p>But a student looking for a LAC should certainly consider them, particularly the ones with lower cost.</p>
<p>I’m still struggling with the concept of “public LAC”. It appears these are all residential public colleges with a liberal arts core and a smaller size than the other public schools in the respective states, whereas most of us would think of an LAC as smallish college with no grad school (and hence all classes taught by professors), small class sizes, and few or no professional courses of study. Calling these schools “public LAC’s” strikes me as primarily a marketing tool organized by the schools via COPLAC to improve their visibility and the quality of their student bodies. I have no quibble whatsoever with the goal, but I feel they are using some semantic legerdemain to achieve it.</p>