Well, I really can’t disagree with anything you just said, @PurpleTitan .
SIU-Edwardsville has a well-regarded School of Education, gives merit and has special funding for $0 EFC, and is in a much more attractive location than many of the other directionals. SIUE used to be a commuter school, but it has become more residential over the last decade.
https://www.siue.edu/financialaid/scholarships/institutional.shtml
^^^
Thanks! I think that one may just do it! 
Edwardsville is a nice area and town, too. Plenty of places to shop and eat, hang out, and St. Louis is only 15 -20 minutes away, I think. My husband went to school there, way back when, and loved it. He lived on campus in a university-owned apartment. One of my D’s high school friends, a year older than her, just accepted an offer there for nursing school because they offered her a full ride scholarship.
Here you go. The cost to attend Central CT State University for instate students is about $20,000 a year. Tuition is about $4500, but there are also fees of $4000 or so bringing the actual tuition total to $8500 a year…or so.
The total list price for in-state Connecticut residents to go to CCSU is $20,412 for the 2013/2014 academic year. Out-of-state students who don’t possess Connecticut residence can expect a one year cost of $30,496.
Undergraduate Tuition
Central Connecticut State University tuition is $4,510 per year for in-state residents. This is 28% cheaper than the national average public four year tuition of $6,256. The cost is $17,951 and 80% cheaper than the average Connecticut tuition of $22,461 for 4 year colleges. Tuition ranks 4th in Connecticut amongst 4 year colleges for affordability and is the 27th most expensive 4 year college in the state. If attending from out-of-state, the tuition is $14,594 which represents a 224% premium.
The school charges an additional fees of $4,196 in addition to tuition bringing the total effective in-state tuition to $8,706.
Housing Costs
On campus room and board is provided by the school at a cost of $10,506 per academic year. Students electing to live off campus elsewhere in New Britain should budget at least this amount.
Books and Supplies
The estimated annual cost for books and supplies is $1,200.
Expenditure Price
Connecticut Resident Total Cost $20,412
In-State Tuition $4,510
Other Fees $4,196
Room and Board $10,506
Books and Supplies $1,200
Non-Resident Total Cost $30,496
Out-of-State Tuition $14,594
Other Fees $4,196
Room and Board $10,506
Books and Supplies $1,200
All price data are reprinted from the U.S. Department of Education’s 2013-2014 and 2012-2013 IPEDS Survey and represent reported costs for the 2013-2014 and 2012-2013 academic years.
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Link to southern CT state university cost of attendance. About the same as CCSU.
Mom2, he might be eligible for some out of state tuition programs for the state of Wisconsin schools. I don’t know if biology is one of the Tri-State Initiative majors at UW-Platteville, but the cost for the Tri-State Initiative tuition is a little over $10,000. UW-Platteville is known for the engineering, and science programs.
He might also be eligible for the Midwestern Exchange at some of the schools. Attached is a link:
http://uwhelp.wisconsin.edu/paying/nonresident.aspx
Our state’s financial situation is an absolute mess. It shouldn’t have to cost $30K for our flagship UIUC, and COD is facing an uproar of it own. We advised both our kids against UIUC. Both got much more money elsewhere. Youngest child is on her way to college this fall and DH and I can’t wait to leave this state. Unfortunate, but true.
http://dekalbcountyonline.com/2015/01/case-study-of-a-corrupt-system/
I second SIU-Edwardsville. It’s about a half hour from St. Louis. In-state tuition is just over $5,000. It has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of decades. Nice facilities. I have family that went there when it was almost exclusively a commuter school. The campus today is an entirely different place.
Well, that $5000 figure is per semester, but at today’s Illinois prices I do think SIUE is a very solid option.
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It shouldn’t have to cost $30K for our flagship UIUC,
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while I agree, I think that’s similar to Umich, UCB and UCLA.
Most good public flagships these days (since they are over 10K in tuition).
And a good chunk of that is room & board. Hard to argue that that shouldn’t cost something. And I’m not sure you should count the rest (like “personal expenses”; those would occur even if a kid doesn’t go to college).
@mom2collegekids, Umich in state is $23,700.
Wouldn’t surprise me about UCLA and UCB. Their state is in trouble, too
http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/
In the Kiplinger report, UIUC is #36 best value and ISU is #99. I didn’t fully read the methodology but it’s interesting nevertheless.
You really have to look at only tuition + fees + room&board when comparing across schools since some schools add several thousand in personal expenses/travel/books/etc. in their COA and others don’t.
UMich upperclassmen tuition+fees is about the same as UIUC base rate tuition+fees (about $15K/year).
With regards to Illinois public universities, once you start the tuition is locked in for four years. However, they now have very high fees as a way around the lock. You will need to avoid the University of Illinois name to find the cheaper public schools. The most expensive undergrad programs for the public Illinois schools are respectfully UIUC’s engineering at about $10,300 per semester and UIC’s Bachelors of nursing at $9500 per semester.
I saw that Governors State went 4-year last fall. And they’re building dorms. Illinois finances are dismal and might lead to cuts. A lot of the community colleges have articulation agreements with 4yr schools. See I Transfer or IAI.
What about Northeastern Illinois U? Not, Northern.
Some other flagships also offer need-based aid to in-state students. Aid at UIUC is a joke. I don’t know about Michigan, but I believe the need-based aid is much better at the UCs.
UMich seems to be quite generous now to OOS students, however this students stats are not UMich worthy.
UIUC’s aid is a joke which puzzles me. The UC’s charge a high instate rate so that it can "rob Peter to pay Paul, and give some UC grants in addition to what’s given as state aid. You’d think UIUC would be able to do a similar thing since it charges a similar instate rate.
@mom2collegekids, colleges have to make their finances work some how.
The UC’s still get comparatively more state funding than some other top publics. UMich does not but has a large endowment for a public and also a pretty high percentage of OOS (and full-pay OOS can fund a lot).
UIUC has less of all of that, so if they want to keep high-quality faculty & programs, they have to be cheaper somewhere else.
BTW, while this won’t be helpful to the truly poor, there are ways to make UIUC cheaper. For instance, the total cost for many UIUC study-abroad programs is cheaper than even in-state costs. They really like their students to study abroad.