I was actually just wondering about other state schools with good OOS aid 
Haha!
BUT now that you asked – how’s biology/neurobiology? Do students get to work with professors?
I do hear the housing situation is problematic -but I’m hoping in 2 years they can fix that a bit.
It seems like a nice find that I didn’t have on my list previously.
Ohio (purple?) has multiple public schools that have a good chance of fitting your financial criteria, and if I understand correctly their abortion rights were recently voted on and are now in the state constitution.
D24 (OOS) was accepted to 3 that ended up at or less than our in-state costs (mid 20s) with merit. Ohio has an amazing number of really good schools, but can be a hard sell for some due to the weather and the fact that some of the schools are surprisingly hard to get to from the closest airport.
Merit aid doesn’t matter.
Cost does. A school with merit may cost more than a school without.
But look to Kansas. Yes, Kanasas. So KU is going to be left but there’s other schools such as KSU and Wichita State as well but KU is most likely the right one for you, in a great college town.
Likely not blue although the Governor is - and after Roe v Wade the citizens of the state embedded abortion rights in the state constitution.
And yes, the schools are reasonably priced.
It’s likely the best combo for cost and assured access.
Yes, Ohio voters voted yes on Issue 1 in 2023, which made abortion legal before fetal viability. However, it is otherwise more reddish at the state government level, if non-abortion-related politics and resulting laws and policies matter.
I think the only east coast option that came in under $25,000 was Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia, the next cheapest was SUNY Bing, just a bit under in state Rutgers.
One might try schools like Millersville, West Chester, etc. if looking in PA vs the name brand.
If SUNY Bing is coming in at or under budget, it is a tremendous value. A highly respected university with as much rigor as a kid wants (admittedly, not every student is going to reach for the stars intellectually) with great career services support.
Not a red state exactly, but Kansas does have abortion access protections in its constitution, and KU might get to that budget with auto-merit, depending on your housing option. In particular, they have “scholarship halls” that are much cheaper than normal dorms but require work obligations from each student to maintain the premises. Great college town with tons of school spirit. Kansas State would be another to investigate, though the levels of merit there are a little more complicated to parse.
You could also look at U of New Mexico - with these stats, it would be $27,500 COA for OOS.
KU and KState are great suggestions. And those are her safeties (we live in KS! But I’m really glad to see it mentioned because KU is seriously under-rated. They have really strong Engineering and the Biology is strong too.
But she wants to leave this state -and I respect that. The more I look at costs, the more it may become impossible but I want to give her some options at least.
On the list it goes!
All schools are listed as residential colleges on the College Board’s site.
Check out Illinois schools that aren’t UIUC. Oftentimes there’s no price difference between in-state and out-of-state. Southern Illinois - Carbondale tends to really punch above its weight in terms of producing alums who go on to earn doctorate degrees. But since it’s so far south in the state, it may not feel like a coastal state anymore. I’d also look into Northern Illinois & Illinois State.
In Michigan check out Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Western Michigan (I know you’ve already got Michigan Tech on the list from your previous thread).
In Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, check out non-U. of Minnesota- Twin Cities schools. U. of Minnesota - Morris is its liberal arts college, so a small school like you were hoping for. Check out Winona State, Minnesota States (Mankata or Moorhead), and UMN-Duluth.
I’m seconding (thirding?) the SUNYs. Geneseo seems like it might really be right up the alley in terms of a more liberal arts feel, but some of their other campus could work, too. In particular I’m thinking of Oswego (about 6k undergrads), but also Brockport (about 5100 undergrads), Fredonia (about 3200 undergrads), or Plattsburgh (about 4k undergrads).
U. of New Mexico and New Mexico State give good merit aid, but they’re not known for being near bodies of water.
Salisbury (MD) is another school that punches above its weight (a top producer of Fulbright Scholars) and its location is really great for water lovers. If your D gets the max merit, it would probably be about $27-28/year.
When referencing numbers of students going on for doctorates, this is the source I’m using: Baccalaureate origins of doctoral recipients
Those Scholarship dorms are a GREAT deal - hard to get into -but a great deal if you can get one.
KState has pretty basic merit awards but the cost is a little less the KU.
UGA is capped at 20% OOS.
But based on the OP’s priorities, I would not suggest any school in the state of GA.
New Mexico is a blue state (with strong abortion access) and offer good deals to OOS students.
The AMIGO Scholarship is more or less automatic if a student has 3.5 GPA and 23ACT (1130 SAT) OR 3.0 GPA & 26 ACT (1240 SAT)
The Amigo gives in-state tuition rates plus an annual stipend of $200.
The Regents Scholarship (awarded competitively) is s true full ride- tuition, fees. housing, meals.
UNM’s instate COA is $23,010 for 2023-24
While North Carolina currently has women’s care/abortion access and a democratic governor, we are also dealing with significant political … let’s just say “actions”… that make this far from being a solid BLUE state. The rumors around the capital involve lots of talk about making changes to healthcare access here, and if you want a sense of what the future holds for residents of this state, you could do some research on Mark Robinson, current Lt. Governor and one of the major party candidate’s in this fall’s gubernatorial election. He has a distinct view of and history with abortion.
I agree with @blossom’s positive review of UVM and Burlington. I like the city, and one daughter got a very good education there (and is currently doing very well in a DVM program elsewhere – there is no DVM program in Vermont). It is popular for students from other states in the northeast and has merit for out of state students.
For us the NPC was exactly right, and did predict merit aid. You might want to run it and see what it says (I would not count on it being accurate in every case). However, I would be surprised if you can get the total cost of attendance down to $30,000/year out of state at UVM.
Maine?
No political comments here…but I’ll just say…yes…but….
For states which would meet your criteria…New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts are good bets.
UVM, UDel, Univ denver. Elon in NC (purple state) also worth a look though not sure about their biology program
Besides Binghamton, take a look at SUNY Geneseo, New Paltz, and Oneonta. These are some of the smaller suny schools. You can also take a look at Buffalo and Albany. I am not sure if they are too big (along with Binghamton), but they give merit.
