@PurpleTitan - definitely a great analysis. I will add however, that other comparisons, besides Atlanta being an awesome town and not as expensive as some other big cities, GA Tech is a “city” school (why we wound up dropping it from our list altogether), does have it’s own School of Computer Science (a plus), is in a crappy neighborhood. So if you want a college feel, UIUC if you want location (and yes, probably ultimately more expensive for all PurpleTitan mentioned there would definitely be pluses at GA Tech. We have a few students from our high school that are currently freshmen and I’ve heard they like it. One bad thing about UIUC. On a windy day you can smell the cows and more. 
@determined2300 - None of the public schools like UIUC,Gtech offer any kind of Scholarship,Financial aid to International students.If you need aid applyto Private colleges
@srparent15 ha! so true about the windy days!
@PurpleTitan My D is studying abroad this semester and it is indeed cheaper for her…although I fully expect the difference will be spent gallivanting around Europe!
@88jm19 But it is the opportunity of a lifetime! My son has no interest in studying abroad which is a bummer, but his choice. If he shows interest later on, I would jump on it. These kids grow up too fast and before you know it, they’re off working and don’t have the same opportunities as they did when they were younger. I have always heard the costs for studying abroad are pretty much the same as the one semester in school (yes, spending money is contingent on what the kid buys/spends), but am I wrong? Do you pay tuition to the university or the study abroad programs?
Studying aboard by the way, is one of the big selling points universities are pushing when you go visit. Like I said, my son wasn’t interested, but I couldn’t believe the statistics as to what percent of the students do a study aboard semester. Co Op is the other big buzz word. I guess anything to attract students.
@srparnet15 I’ll keep it brief since I feel guilty for straying off topic.
My husband worked out a budget with our D for her semester abroad. The straight out of pocket costs are less than if she were attending classes at UIUC by about $5k. So yes, that translates to “a lot of fun”.
I don’t have specifics in front of me, but that difference includes the roundtrip airfare. The huge savings was in the dorm cost…$3k! (that includes weekly housekeeping but no meals, in her case.)
And a huge yes, on it being a once in a lifetime experience!! A word of advice if your son has a change of heart. Plan ahead! (and perhaps a summer program would be better for his major.)
Also check if your child (or you as the case may be) got an email a couple days back about a study abroad scholarship from UIUC - my son got an email about an International Engineering Scholarship.
@srparent15, different schools do it differently. My understanding is that at some privates, you would pay the same tuition amount if you study abroad vs. at the school.
At UIUC, it seems that the UIUC tuition would drop down to a negligible amount but each program has different program fees (maybe what UIUC has to pay the foreign partner school? Dunno.)
But for instance, the Keio program seems much less than a semester at UIUC would cost: https://app.studyabroad.illinois.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.BudgetSheet&Term=Spring%20Semester&Program_ID=10069
We got that email but I’m pretty sure he isn’t interested and if it’s need based there is no way we would qualify.
Okay, so I contacted UIUC and they gave me a clear-cut reply:
“International student are not eligible for need-based or merit-based awards. University Achievement Scholarship cannot be awarded to International Students.”