Oh, I should suggest U of Akron in particular. It’s an urban, public, STEM-focused school, and it’s on the Midwest Exchange, so your costs would come in just over 30K/year. Their bio major offers lots of research opportunities, and there are other interesting STEM opportunities too, with a particular specialties in polymer chemistry and polymer engineering. There are also multiple tracks of biomedical engineering, including a biomaterials and tissue engineering track with a co-op option. You would not have trouble getting in, but you would also not have trouble finding as much challenge as you wanted once you were there.