<p>Don’t just brush off Illinois State, Northern Illinois, and Eastern Illinois (IMO, the next best 3 publics in IL). I think their academics would rival (or surpass) some of the options that have been suggested to you so far, would take you 2-4 hours away from home, without huge travel costs to/from school and home.</p>
<p>[Tuition</a> & Fees](<a href=“http://www.uh.edu/financial/undergraduate/tuition-fees/index.php]Tuition”>Tuition & Fees - University of Houston)</p>
<p>The difference is only 50% in tuition and UH has reasonably good scholarships to attract students.</p>
<p>I’m looking for options outside of IL. ISU still costs about 26k, assuming I don’t get an 8k merit scholarship per year, but I’d rather not go there. I’ve lived in Illinois for 17 years, and it’s definitely time for a change. I just want to hear what’s out there.</p>
<p>Maybe I should clarify. I’m looking for a financial safety. 20k is the most my parents want to (can?) pay before I would have to take out loans, but some of the schools I do want to go to may cost us more than that, so I want to find somewhere affordable. Another reason for this is that I am looking to go to grad school, so UG is not all that important in the end, and I don’t want to break the bank.</p>
<p>Many thanks to all who have posted so far, please keep them coming. So far I like UA, UMT, UMN, and KU.</p>
<p>Going to local community college for two years, then transferring to a state university, could be less expensive than four years at a state university. But that may not meet the criteria of getting out of Illinois.</p>
<p>Four years at UIUC vs 2 at a CC and 2 at UIUC would definitely be more expensive, but like I said, I would never spend 30k to go to U of I anyways, which is why I like to hear about schools like UA where I would get an automatic scholarship that would bring 4-year costs to around 50k (less than two years at UIUC).</p>
<p>[Best</a> Values in Public Colleges, 2011-12](<a href=“Best College Values, 2019 | Kiplinger”>Best College Values, 2019 | Kiplinger)
Click-sort on the “Total cost per yr.(out-of-state)” column. Double-check the figures on the college web sites (since sometimes the Kiplinger numbers are out-of-date already). These are 100 schools that Kiplinger considers “best values”. That does not necessarily mean they are the cheapest state universities. None of them are < $20K for total, full-sticker OOS COA. Some are close enough that they might come under that number with a fairly small amount of aid.</p>
<p>You might do better with certain private schools.
[Best</a> Values in Private Universities, 2011-12](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/privatecolleges/]Best”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)
[Best</a> Values in Private LACs, 2011-12](<a href=“Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)
Some of these private universities and LACs do have total costs, after average need-based aid, under $20K. However, those schools tend to be very selective.</p>
<p>^^ Yup!! I see TOSU listed on “Kiplinger’s Best Values in Public Colleges in the State of Ohio.”</p>
<p>**Ohio State increases financial aid by $50 million
**
The plan (From Excellent to Eminence) includes a new merit scholarship program - Ohio State’s most prestigious yet - and increased grants to financially needy students.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For details here on CC Ohio State Board (since I really no longer have the time to post on the search board…): <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ohio-state-university-columbus/1319253-ohio-state-increases-financial-aid-50-million.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ohio-state-university-columbus/1319253-ohio-state-increases-financial-aid-50-million.html</a></p>
<p>Best of Luck & Go Bucks!! :)</p>
<p>Ohio State is still around 42k for OOS students and the merit aid that their NPC says I would get would only decrease that cost around 11k.</p>
<p>^^ Can’t you try to get your ACT score to 34 (since you are only 2 points away) to receive free-ride on tuition, fee, room and board? The newly established ‘Eminence Scholarship’ also applies to OOS students (assuming $42000 COA as you alluded - $28000 merit scholarship = $14k only). Plus, TOSU is really a cut above academically than all the schools mentioned in this thread - thus far.</p>
<p>Look carefully at the KU scholarship info on their web site, if I recall, you need a 3.5 GPA to keep their merit scholarship. </p>
<p>I think Alabama or U MN would be a great choice.</p>
<p>I would choose Wyoming over U Montana. Wyoming is pouring oil money into their higher education system with new buildings and scholarships. Montana funds higher education at one of the lowest levels in the country.</p>
<p>It’s so easy to get a 34, right… LOL. I’m retaking it, but I’m not getting my hopes up.</p>
<p>I am a little iffy on Wyoming because that’s where Matthew Shepard was killed… Awk. I’d prefer Minnesota over all of these, but merit aid is not guaranteed.</p>
<p>^^
</p>
<p>Sky’s the limit, my friend. I was an international student back then, and even I got 33 total on ACT without much studying (I was top 1% in high school). Plus, you still got time. :p</p>
<p>Don’t just brush off Illinois State, Northern Illinois, and Eastern Illinois (IMO, the next best 3 publics in IL). I think their academics would rival (or surpass) some of the options that have been suggested t</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like the OP wants the “regional college” experience…especially if he has flagship options…that are likely cheaper BTW. </p>
<p>Look at ISU. Instate tuition is about $12,000 (for a non-flagship!!! lol) . Once you add room, board, books, etc, you’re at about $28k per year…again, for a non flagship! oh my!</p>
<p>Alabama gets a ton of kids from Illinois because if UIUC isn’t for them (pricewise or whatever), they come to Alabama with scholarships and pay less for a better school than any of the other Ill publics…and they get the Flagship experience.</p>
<p>A student like the OP with an ACT 32 gets free tuition. He’d only pay for room, board, books, and misc. Few would choose to go to a regional ILL public (and likely pay MORE), than go to a flagship and pay much less. </p>
<p>Even a student with an ACT 30 will pay less than going instate. With the scholarship for an ACT 30, the student’s tuition is reduced to about $7k per year (again, cheaper than ISU). And if that child is an engineering major, his scholarship gets bumped to full tuition and gets 2500 per year. Remaining costs are minimal.</p>
<p>Sparkeye…it’s not easy to go from an ACT 32 to 34. You can’t just say…“it’s only 2 points more”. Once you’re in those top percentiles 98th-99th percentile, moving up becomes very difficult.</p>
<p>^^ “Sparkeye…it’s not easy to go from an ACT 32 to 34. You can’t just say…“it’s only 2 points more”. Once you’re in those top percentiles 98th-99th percentile, moving up becomes very difficult.”</p>
<p>My bad! “mom2collegekids” is right! Sometimes I can be very insensitive (an axx)… =.=" It’s just that whenever I look back at my high school ACT test taking preparation (granted I had a very solid science background from Taiwan, and opted for ACT instead of SAT due to my inadequate English proficiency - still sux btw lol), it pales in comparison to say my professional exam (USMLE) experience, which I tutor these days. Plus, I am surrounded by overachievers of NU Medical / Law School students on daily basis (at least half of the residents in my building are NU affiliated here in Streeterville). hmm… Not sure what I was thinking, but certainly wasn’t trying to show-off or make OP feeling bad… I truly believe that sky’s the limit if you try your best in life. And the fact that OP’s score is very respectable 32, I believe 34 is obtainable judging from his performance & potential. </p>
<p>On 2nd thought, I fear that I might have turned into an elitist snob mentality these days… not good!! Sorry! Above all however; Ohio State is certainly one of the very few (if not the only) Top-20 Public schools in the nation which offers merit scholarships both to OOS and International students.</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Scholarship Office | Scholarships for Nonresidents | West Virginia University](<a href=“Scholarships | Financial Aid | West Virginia University”>Scholarships | Financial Aid | West Virginia University)</p>
<p>Why not take a look at West Virginia University?</p>
<p>I’m not necessarily looking for a top-20 public school, price is more important than rankings in my opinion.</p>
<p>University of Iowa is in the low 20’s for OOS and a great school</p>
<p>If your EFC is below what you indicate your family is willing and able to pay (~$20K), then OOS public universities generally are not going to be your best value prospects. Your qualifications are strong enough for many private schools that will cover 90% or more of your EFC with need-based aid. Your qualifications may be strong enough for some private need-blind schools that will cover 100% of EFC with need-based aid.</p>
<p>A merit-focused strategy usually makes the most sense for high-stats full-pay students who cannot afford (or whose families are unwilling to part with) their EFC. The OP has fairly high stats but in other respects may not fit this description.</p>
<p>It may make sense to apply to a not-too-selective school like Alabama if it has guaranteed large merit scholarships for students with your stats. This could become an admission and financial safety, if you meet their requirements. I don’t think there are too many other public schools with similar merit scholarship programs.</p>
<p>jThe non-flagship Illinois schools are great options, and you can get just as good an education at any of them as you can at UIUC. However, as m2ck points out, they cost almost as much as UIUC; and like UIUC, once the MAP grants are gone (as they are already this year), they’re all full-pay (unless you qualify for federal money) . Truman State is almost $10K less for an Illinois residents than ISU is. The sad fact is that for low income Illinois residents, CCs are the only real in-state option, unless you live close enough to one of the four-year schools to commute.</p>
<p>tk, I’ve already got a strong list of private colleges (many of them need-blind), but financial aid packages can be unpredictable. Some of my schools (Carleton, Beloit, Oxy, Grinnell, a few others) use one type of net price calculator (not the CollegeBoard one), and that one gives us estimates around or less than 20k, which I would like to assume are accurate, but Colorado College and others use the CB one that estimates more like 26-27k, so I do want to have a few viable financial safeties. Plus, I may not feel completely right about making my parents spend 80k on a bachelor’s degree even if we can, so I want to know what’s out there, UA and beyond. I have gotten a lot of good recommendations so far in this thread alone.</p>