IU is significantly warmer in winter than Ann Arbor, so if climate is a factor in the decision-making, I wouldn’t rule out Kelley because the Indiana’s not part of the south. Also, as soon as I started reading your description, I immediately thought about U. of South Carolina. It should definitely be on the list (I’d guess a likely for admission and a toss-up as to whether or not it would come in as affordable).
Some other schools that your family may want to consider include:
- College of Charleston (SC): About 10k undergrads
- Florida Atlantic: About 24k undergrads. Classified as a commuter school, but 58% of first year students live on-campus, which means thousands of freshmen are living on-campus. Make sure to read up on what’s going on with public higher education in Florida to see if your family thinks it would be a fit.
- Louisiana State: About 31k undergrads at this big SEC-player
- Oklahoma State: About 21k undergrads
- U. of Arkansas: About 26k undergrads here and your son would get good merit aid here, too.
- U. of North Carolina - Charlotte: About 23k undergrads and Charlotte has a lot of businesses in the area, especially for banking
- U. of Texas-Dallas: About 22k undergrads and a more academically-focused rather than athletically-focused campus