Wyoming’s OOS scholarships (now called Brown and Gold) are good for residents of any state and it’s a low starting tuition (although not as low as it was a few years ago). I’m not sure what it is now, but engineers used to also get a $2500 scholarship on top of that. I think it would come in below $30k
And of course it is great in mining. Overall cost to live in Laramie is low. Right now my daughter pays $400/mo for rent and utilities (lives with 4 other girls). One walkable campus. Or bike it.
Laramie is interesting. The old territorial prison where Butch Cassidy was held for awhile is a cool place to visit. The ease and cost of transportation from New Jersey could be a factor though , depending on how far the family wants to travel for college.
Since it seems like your son is a “solid”, but not very top student, it may also be important to keep options open. Engineering is a tough major and many that start out there , do not finish there. He may or may not do well in engineering, and so I might also look at schools also that he likes and are within budget (but don’t necessarily have mining engineering) , in case engineering/mining engineering doesn’t work out, he ends up not liking it, changes his mind about his interests before college, etc.
It is nice to have options for alternative majors. I suspect that most of the 12 schools for mining engineering will have an assortment of other possibilities.
Two to consider are Utah State and U. of Alaska - Fairbanks both offer degrees in mining engineering as well as mining technology, should your son wish to continue in the mining field but without the same degree of challenge that engineering fields are associated with.
Also, does he have any interest in any of the fire-related professions? Fire prevention & safety technology, fire systems technology, fire/arson investigation and protection, wildland/forest firefighting and investigation, etc? (Only mentioning as I have heard elsewhere that mining engineers are often the ones involved with fireworks, in this was one of the areas that interested your son.)
Simply mentioning the above as possibilities if you’re looking for schools that have Plan A, B, C, etc. as a possible factor in selecting a college.
I know both of these schools well, know MANY who have done undergrad and grad degrees at them, and you are spot on. They are wonderful places to be for the right person. They are a bit niche, but they do their niches well. They are not for everyone, but they are great fits for some people. Both are wonderful cities and schools for people who enjoy the outdoors, and have amazing communities of like-minded people who go on all sorts of fun and ridiculous adventures. UAF is a geophysics powerhouse – it’s their big thing. The airport is right there in town and it’s surprisingly not hard to get flights. The SLC airport isn’t too far from Utah State, and people will be driving there and back constantly. I love to see such niche schools represented here!
1000% agree - he definitely needs a school where he could change majors out of Engineering if he needed to. That’s why we’re not looking at any of the ‘school of mines’ colleges. Another reason WVU is a good fit. And yes, we’re keeping options open - he still has two years till college, and we know things can change!
I don’t think Utah State has mining engineering - just programs for people who actually want to be ‘miners’.
University of Utah does, but it’s expensive OOS, and to keep any merit scholarships you may get that would bring the price down, you have to maintain a 3.5 GPA during college, which IMO is way too much pressure!
Hmm, perhaps Utah State was a bit expansive in submitting its IPEDS data, as College Navigator had Utah State with a mining engineering bachelors. But it’s not ABET certified and going to their site, it definitely looks like USU’s Eastern campus has mining courses for miners.
Speaking of Utah, I’ve heard that they’ve become less generous with merit aid but that’s because they’re trying to have more students qualify as residents. I believe that if a student spends the summer there (i.e. lives there for 12 consecutive months) they can establish residency and then get in-state tuition (so no worries about maintaining a 3.5 GPA).
For anyone who’s curious about which schools offer ABET-accredited mining engineering Bachelor’s in the U.S., here they are:
University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Arizona
Colorado School of Mines
University of Kentucky
Michigan Technological University
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Montana Technological University
University of Nevada, Reno
Pennsylvania State University
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
The University of Utah
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
West Virginia University
Depending on your son’s GPA, Arizona gives very generous merit aid.