@rjm A&M is huge & is about as rah-rah as you can get. If you get a little merit aid they usually waive the out of state tuition & u pay instate rate. People are apparently friendly & cohesive. Area is thriving & growing. Well located (by Texas distance standards) to access Houston, Austin, San Antonio, & even Dallas. I have a kid going there for grad school starting in fall.
https://scholarships.tamu.edu/Non-Resident-Tuition-Waiver
Other big publics with automatic or nearly automatic merit aid/oos tuition waivers include Iowa State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kentucky, FL State, Tx Tech, W.Virginia, Kansas, Kan. State, Ok. State, Nebraska, Mississippi,LSU, Clemson, S. Carolina. (Maybe Auburn & Mississippi State?) Obviously most of these are not in glamorous coastal locations, which is probably why they offer significant financial incentives to out of staters. But most offer a solid education in a fun town for a bargain price, which ain’t a bad combination.