That’s great. Will look into it
Thanks
Most state universities are need-blind for admission. But most do not give good or any need-based financial aid to out-of-state students (some, like in Pennsylvania, are not very good at it for in-state students).
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He could acquire in-state status at U of Utah after the first year. Most states do not permit this unless the entire family relocates, but Utah does. They also give decent merit for stats like your son’s. STEM programs are strong so it could be a good safety.
Have you looked at Olin College of Engineering? It’s a tiny school, project-based, and very prestigious; and they give half-tuition merit to all accepted students, which puts the maximum cost at around $54K/year. This is double your “safety budget” but Olin is not a safety school; it’s comparable in reputation to other schools you’re contemplating paying much more for. Electrical & Computer Engineering is one of the three degree programs they offer.
The Cooper Union in NYC is another small but top-notch STEM school with automatic half-tuition merit for all. Total cost of attendance with on-campus housing is 46K/year.
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Ya , Utah and Missouri S&T are on list now after researching .
Will surely research the other options as advised by you and other members
Thank you guys
You have been really helpful
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UNM has an ABET accredited engineering program in EE/CE (electrical and computer engineering)
https://ece.unm.edu
LUE (Lobo Undergraduate Exchange Program offers tuition discount at 2 levels:
LUE automatically gives 150% of instate tuition for applicants with 960 SAT/18 ACT OR 2.8 GPA
LUE Plus automatically gives 100% of instate tuition for applicants with 1030SAT/20ACT OR 3.0 GPA
https://go.unm.edu/scholarships/lue.html
UNM COA is under $25K.year in direct costs (tuition, fees, housing, meals) for anyone paying instate costs.
https://admissions.unm.edu/costs-financial-aid/index.html
The College of Engineering offers some engineering-only scholarships to undergrads.
https://engineering.unm.edu/students/scholarships/undergraduate.html
The OP could also apply for the UNM Regents Scholarship which is a true full ride (plus perks like special housing and honors seminars)
The Regents is competitive and looks at non-academic achievements as well as academic achievements.
UNM has internship opportunities with companies iike Intel, Los Alamos Laboratories. Sandia Laboratories, Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), White Sands, Facebook just opened a major data center in Los Lunas (about 40 minutes south of UNM’s campus) in fall 2021.
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@SFifa please read the post about University of New Mexico. This could be an excellent and affordable option for your student.
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Thank you
Looks impressive. Will surely research on it
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I don’t understand the comment that he’s OOS for every state. Is he just studying outside the country? Is the entire family living outside the country? Is there a place of permanent residence in the US for either or both parents?
The University of Maine can be an incredible bargain - AND it also offers smaller campus (8000 undergrads) but with the range of majors of a flagship university. In fact, it is the smallest flagship in the country. Their student:faculty ratio is 15:1, which is lower than many state universities.
Residents of Canada pay Maine’s instate tuition. In addition, through their Flagship Match program, qualifying students (eligibility to apply = 2.5 gpa) from the following states pay their home state’s in-state tuition at the University of Maine:
- All New England States
- New York
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- Michigan
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- California
Flagship Match students will pay University of Maine’s normal room & board costs, which are the same for both in-state and out-of-state students. Because of the cost-of-living there, this is likely cheaper than the cost at your home State U. So, tuition, room, and board combined will likely be cheaper For Flagship Match students than at their home State U.
Furthermore, National Merit Semi-finalists automatically are eligible to attend University of Maine tuition free. There is also additional scholarship money for other OOS students available in the range of $7-10,000 through their Flagship Leaders program.
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Thanks for the details, @Bill_Marsh !
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My Texas daughter just finished her first year as EE major. We were chasing merit, needing HUGE merit. Her stats were 1590 SAT, 36 ACT, 15 APs, rank #1. She was not NMF, she was commended.
She ended up at Texas Tech University, which gives instate tuition for anyone that get 1K merit. She got the top auto merit of 9k but then got 18.5K from engineering dept. so total 27. 500 a year, that is covering full cost of attendance. Tech is generous with merit money! She in in the honors college so classes are capped at 25, her engineering classes are capped at 49. Tons of school spirit.
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Yes entire family is outside
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Did your son attend a high school outside the US? If so, what were his grades?
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Given that you said to ignore your budget for safety schools, here are some small private colleges with outstanding engineering programs, including electrical engineering and where your son would be a top applicant. All offer merit scholarships of varying amounts.
Worcester Polytechnic (WPI) - automatic scholarship for students with minimum IB of 40. Scholarship amounts are minimum of $20,000.
Stevens Institute of Technology
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Bucknell University
Lafayette College
Union College
You might also consider, both of which offer full tuition scholarships:
Southern Methodist University
University of Delaware
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Though you might find better deals elsewhere, one more suggestion for EE, Gonzaga. With merit, it’s possible the cost might go down into the 30s.
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Same for Villanova where the son of a friend has a full ride for engineering. Top student, good kid but no hooks, small town, public high school.
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That’s great! For OP, I would put these two schools in different categories. I’d put Villanova in the reach category for admission, due to low acceptance rate. Its full rides are competitive and, if I recall, require additional application. I’d put Gonzaga is in safety territory for admission for OP, and its merit discounts do not require a separate application. (OP, In both cases you would not know whether it was affordable until you see how much merit your student gets.)
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Yes, Villanova had a 23% acceptance rate this year, but that’s not in the single digit acceptance rates of a lot of schools on his list. SAT 75th %ile at Villanova last year was 1470. This kid is 1580 and his IB is equivalent to straight A’s. I think he’s a pretty safe bet there.
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Even though an overseas US citizen will pay state tax in the last state where they established residency (and I assume any kids born overseas will inherit their parents’ state of residency?), this doesn’t mean that they will be state residents for other purposes, like tuition. That generally requires physical presence unless you meet one of a specific set of exemptions (eg military deployment). States want you to keep paying them taxes, they are much more reluctant to continue offering you benefits.
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Thanks. The reason I was wondering is because University of Maine offers instate tuition to residents of a dozen other states. They do this to combat declining enrollment. So, while many states might not want to offer instate status for admission to State U for someone who doesn’t actually live there even though they pay taxes, U Maine just might because they’re actually looking for reasons to induce students to come there.
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