Is there a way for her to reach out to NJIT and ask whether she’s being considered for Honors? (It’s worth a try at least…
…IMHO… did they forget her??? It’s just odd.)
UMD being twice the cost of Rutgers doesn’t make sense financially speaking. Rutgers SAS honors is a nice perk, especially since there’s Honors housing for all 4 years if need be (this would especially alleviate stress in October freshman year when students need to have their group of friends and look for housing for the following Fall.) I agree the multiple-campus system with the buses is a big downside.
Would either Stevens or UMD require parental loans or would one/both be affordable if she takes the federal loan of 5.5K freshman year, the rest being funded from your savings/income?
If the answer is no and there’s no Honors at NJIT, the only real option that remains is Rutgers.
(Drexel is typically very expensive and CS majors don’t have trouble finding summer internships so unless she’s gung-ho about the co-op system and/or it’s actually cheaper than Stevens and UMD and similar to Rutgers in cost, I don’t think the expense would be worth it.)
We did reach out as we were curious… She is waitlisted for NJIT Honors, so we are moving on anyway as she is not keen, considering the location. Yes, it is really odd that she didn’t get into honors…
Rutgers is out in spite of the SAS Honors. Size is a huge negative!
Stevens is a bit cheaper for us than UMD… for any of these options, we are not considering cost as a big factor in the decision, as it is really not a huge difference.
Drexel and UMD will be pretty much the same cost, so UMD > Drexel
I think at this point we are down to UMD or Stevens.
Good job winnowing things down. 
Can she spend a day shadowing a student at both UMD and Stevens, and see what feels most comfortable?
Will ask her to research to see if she can.
You might find this UMD thread helpful:
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything equivalent for Stevens.
And if you want to shadow a student at either school - the admissions office or CS department may be able to help arrange something for you.
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