<p>I am in serious need of financial aid and would like to know which public universities are the most generous when it comes to need based aid.</p>
<p>Usually the best overall financial package will come from an instate public as the tuition is generally much lower to begin with. If you qualify for state scholarships/aid, these often have to be used instate, although some states have reciprocity agreements. However, if you have outstanding stats, there are a number of public universities with full tuition, or even full ride, scholarships. UNC is one, and there are many others. Check out the sticky at the top of this forum or do a search for scholarship + the university you’re considering.</p>
<p>Also, here’s a list of schools that meet need with limited/no loans:
<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php[/url]”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php</a></p>
<p>Our personal family experience has been as Sk8rmom says. The bottom line lowest cost for any of my kids with one exception has been from our instate publics. We’ve never gotten any offers from any out of state publics though the low sticker prices of some of them have made them considerations on their lists. There were also possibilities of some excellent merit packages that my kids just did not get, so they could have been good deals.</p>
<p>My personal observation and conventional wisdom has been that out of state publics do not tend to meet full need, and are skimpy in financial aid. Overall that is a fact, as you can see the % of aid met from these schools is rarely anywhere near 100% even for in state students. There are exceptions, however, and if you fit in a niche where you are a highly desired student by a particular school, you could be offered a good financial aid package. I know of several examples of this. One of my oldest son’s friends and teammates was offered a financial aid package from a SUNY as an out of state student that met 100% of his need. I also know of other cases where the OOS differential was waived or the student was given a good package. </p>
<p>If you need a low bottom line price, you should include financial safeties on your college list that also are admission safeties so that you have a place that will take you and that you can afford. When you have that in place, you can take your chances on whatever schools you please, and hope that something pans out for you on your preferences. </p>
<p>You will generally do better at schools where your stats put you in the upper echelons and if you have something that the school really wants. If you have a low EFC, having some schools that guarantee to meet full need would be a good idea. For those schools public or private that do not guarantee to meet full need, you should be a top student among their stats to expect a decent aid package.</p>
<p>As mentioned, it is also an important issue to know which schools tend to pad their packages with a lot of loans. Getting your need 100% met with loans is not doing you a favor.</p>
<p>Typically, we’ve found in our practice that you have much better opportunities for money at private colleges than most public colleges. However your best bet is to have a good mix that you are applying to, both public and private, preferably with strong financial track records.</p>
<p>Getting the best offers from colleges is not a matter of try to pick the top one or two. You need to be applying to six to ten (safety, matches, & stretches if desired). Then you will find the options you are looking for when the offers come back.</p>
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<p>I think UVA meets either full need or close to it (please correct me if I’m wrong).</p>
<p>Most schools that meet full need are private schools. As others have noted, your instate public university is ALREADY at a reduced cost to you as an instate student because your family pays taxes to THAT state.</p>
<p>You should also be aware that most public universities do not have huge amounts of institutional funds to award all students. </p>
<p>But read the threads noted…there are some publics that do have very generous awards for high stat kids that they want to attract. The McNair at U of South Carolina is one…and the Pogue at UNC. U of South Carolina also has a couple of merit based awards that reduce the tuition to the instate amount along with a yearly scholarship amount.</p>
<p>Also, in some cases, if you are OUT OF STATE for a public university, you may find that the institutional need based aid you receive is not as good as if you were instate as the first obligation these schools have is to their instate students whose families support them.</p>
<p>The larger the school’s endowment the more generous the need based aid. The Ivies give aid based not only on tuition and R&B, but on an estimate of travel, books and spending money. If you can get in, an Ivy or near Ivy will most likely cost less after aid than an instate. At least that was our experience (one daughter at Ivy one at LAC).</p>
<p>So using the link above:<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php[/url]”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php</a></p>
<p>Basically if it state for in state residents and your applying to that university as an out of state resident… do not expect to recieve need base income as a in state resident?
Thanks, this will definately help cut my list/ potentially add new ones.</p>
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<p>If you’re EFC merits the numbers, you are correct.</p>
<p>But the OP was specifically asking about public U’s.</p>
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<p>My question is “why?”. Is he looking for the most financial help, or does he really want to go to a tax supported institution.</p>
<p>Public colleges do not mean least cost by a long shot.</p>
<p>I agree with you whole-heartedly Scott. Particularly for OOS students. Many top applicants could get some good scholarship money at smaller schools with good endowments.</p>