<p>happens to me ALL the time! ;)</p>
<p>On the other hand, some friends of ours, who have a D the same age as my college kid, found that the cheapest options for them were the private schools. The D commutes to a local private college, and goes almost tuition free because she got a very nice merit award that covers most of the cost. Even going to an in state school locally would have cost more since they are not eligible for financial aid and would have had to pay the tuition cost less any scholarships. She did not get much in the way of merit awards from the state schools. But it would have been close to compare living away at one of the state schools vs living at the private school where she attends. The state school costs for room and board are much less, as is their tuition. So even though their $2500 merit award is not even 10% of what the private school gave, the lower sticker prices make the final cost comparable.</p>
<p>That is what we will likely see with our high schooler, but since it is not likely he would get a hefty merit award, or any whatsoever, the lower state school costs would likely be less even with him living there as compared to commuting to a local private college he likes. But commuting makes that expensive college a possibility since our budget is at about the $35K level for schools. He could go to a SUNY, and even with room and board, get by at about $20K. $35K is about what an OOS public would cost for him including room and board, so they are also on his list.</p>
<p>GymnastKaori you have some great stats and lots of options. If you live in California, I would strongly suggest you look at WUE (Western Undergraduate Exchange) schools. WUE is a tuition discount for residents of certain states. Sometimes it is limited to certain majors and sometimes it is not. A student can often receive $7,000-$11,000 per year in merit money. If you are able to get any other additional help from that school it may end up being cheaper than an in-state public. It has also been reported in California that CA state schools are limiting students to 13 units per semester as a way to ease the budget problems in the state. At this point it is most difficult to graduate from any CA public university in four years. So you need to add on the cost of that possible additional year. I also strongly encourage you to broaden your horizons and look at private schools and even those out of state private. We know many students that received large merit scholarships from OOS privates that are trying to woo students from CA.</p>
<p>As you can see from this chart: [Project</a> on Student Debt: What’s the Bottom Line?](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php]Project”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php) need based aid for some at a certain few schools can be less than the local state school.</p>
<p>This: [FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf) will give you an idea of the federal aid you are eligible for. Are you eligible for a Cal Grant? </p>
<p>Most money comes from colleges themselves. However, most state colleges do not have the funds to give need based aid to out of state students (UVA and UNC might be the exceptions). Many state and private colleges offer merit money. (U Alabama can be particularly generous for merit aid [Out-of-State</a> Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html]Out-of-State”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html)). </p>
<p>When calculating college costs, you might want to consider the cost of a fifth year at schools that have lower four year graduation rates. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>