@MYOS1634 TY for that thorough discussion! You’re definitely right that I should think about what “big” and “city” entails. I’m DEFINITELY interested in living in Theme housing. I agree that Cent OK and OSU aren’t places I’d be necessarily happy at.
@parentologist my dad set up, and has been fully funding, a 529 since I was born.
OP is a sophomore. I’m going to suggest that rather than focus on budget at the moment, the OP figures out what kind of colleges interest her. Once she has figured out what qualities in schools she likes, next year at end of Junior year, she can see if those schools are in budget - and if not - find similar schools with the qualities she wants that are in budget.
School FA policies change year to year, disqualifying or including schools based on current net price calculators (that often look back a year) will be very out of date by the time OP actually applies.
Even with a good budget/list we found that by August when applications open some schools were not going to be feasible and others had become maybes based on new FA policies.
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TY @BuckeyeMWDSG for mentioning that FA changes a lot. I hadn’t even considered that that would happen. I did this just to be prepared and I’m an eager beaver.
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I realized I’ve been leaving Washington St. off my recent lists. Am I right that Pullman is the boonies? That was my impression, thus why I’ve left it off.
When I looked up residential rates for the schools you guys suggested, I couldn’t find a few, so here’s the current pecking order:
NAU
OKLAHOMA
OSU
MONTANA
CLARK
MONTANA STATE
OCCIDENTAL
Look at WWU. Not in the boonies and WUE.
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@MYOS1634 is Western WA in Seattle or Tacoma? (I THINK Tacoma is near Seattle)
It’s in Bellingham, on the coast, 1h30 north of Seattle, 1h north of Vancouver. Excellent location 
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If this is the case, and you are 16 years old…that’s $240,000 in your 529. Is that what’s there? If so, if you divide by 4 years of undergrad, that’s $60,000 a year. Is that your real 529 balance…or what?
If you really have $240,000 in that 529 and spend $100000 ($25,000 a year) of it on undergrad, there will be $140,000 let. What’s that going to be used for?
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Actually with interest there’s a lot more than $240,000.
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Montana allows state income tax deductions of $3,000 per year for individuals and $6,000 for married couples of contributions to 529s. State schools there come in under $25,000 sticker.
The OP has already stated parents would like the budget to be approximately $25,000/yr and that she wasn’t sure of the exact amounts of balance or contributions. A generous budget put together by parents that have been planning ahead would likely be in the ballpark of state school prices.
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TY @BuckeyeMWDSG it’s my hope that my 529 will be PLENTY for wherever I would want to go.
Added in WSU, slots in ahead of Clark.
Better than hoping, why not ask them how much is in the 529 account now?
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@parentologist I DEFINITELY need to get that concrete $ amount.
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Note that it wasn’t WSU but WWU that I mentioned. WSU is rural and not as well located based on your preference, although it’s a very good school.
WWU is the school on the coast 1h30 to Seattle/Vancouver.
Both could be on your list for now. 
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@MYOS1634 yup, I mentioned WA St because they had previously been on a preliminary list.
At breakfast this morning, I gently asked my dad about the 529. He walked me to the computer, pulled up the bank site. I saw it’s currently at $280k! I was relieved.
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Wow, the level of sacrifice this implies…
It also means you’re not constrained by WUE if you find a better value (ie., something a bit more expensive that fits you& your goals better and has added-value).