I focused on schools that have not been mentioned yet. Almost all of the colleges on this list are at schools that have NAAB-accredited M. Arch programs, so I suspect they will all have either a BS/BA in architecture (Emmanuel is the exception, but is in a consortium with a NAAB-accredited school).
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
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Bowling Green State (OH): About 14k undergrads here with a sticker price around $34k and it appears that you’d be eligible for additional merit aid (source). The major in Architecture and Environmental Design is probably the one that would interest you most, but you may also be interested in Environmental Policy and Analysis, Interior Design, or American Culture Studies. Google Maps makes it appears as though there’s a definite town around the university, and it’s a short distance to Toledo.
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Emmanuel (MA): About 1900 undergrads at this Boston school that is part of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium that inclues Wentworth (the latter of which has a NAAB-accredited M. Arch) so students can take classes, participate in extracurriculars, and do sports together. It has traditional majors like sociology (as well as a sociology with a concentration in social inequality & social justice), that could be of interest, but its Digital History or Sustainability & Global Justice majors might as well. In running its NPC, it estimated that you would receive $26k in merit aid, leaving this with a cost of around $39k.
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Kent State (OH): About 20k undergrads with a sticker price of less than $36k and likely to be eligible for merit aid here. It offers a BA in Architectural Studies and a BS in Architecture. There are also minors in climate studies sustainability, urban studies and other areas as well as a semester in D.C. that appears focused on national issues (and affordable housing and environmental design issues could definitely count). The program seems as though it may have been created in direct response to the Kent State riots decades before your birth, so definitely more of a focus on policy and getting changes made.
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Marywood (PA ): About 1900 undergrads at this Scranton school. Besides the B. Arch it also offers degrees in Environmental Design, Interior Architecture, and even Virtual Architecture (creating environments for films, video games, etc), which might not be your interest, but at least sounded interesting to me. The NPC estimates you would receive $20k in merit ($19-21k range provided) which would leave the cost of around $35k.
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Morgan State (MD): About 7600 undergrads attend this HBCU in Baltimore. It’s part of the Baltimore Collegetown consortium that allows students to take classes at other area schools like Johns Hopkins and Loyola Maryland. It’s classified as a commuter campus, but 88% of first year students live on-campus. Sticker price of $32k.
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Thomas Jefferson (PA ): About 3800 undergrads at this Philadelphia school. Besides the B. Arch there is a BS in Architectural Studies and a BS in Interior Design. The NPC looks as though you would probably receive between $16-18k/year in merit, leaving costs of about $46k, so chances are this school will be out of budget, but wanted to leave it here since I’d already done the research (i.e. saving you this step).
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U. of Hartford (CT): About 4k undergrads. This one was mentioned earlier but I don’t know if links were provided. There’s a B.S. in Architectural Design and Technology as well as a minor in architecture for those who don’t want to do the major. Its NPC estimates that you would receive $30,500 in merit aid which would bring your costs to less than $32k.
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U. of Kentucky: About 23k undergrads at this Lexington school. Lexington has over 300k people (more than half a million in the metro) and it’s 90m to Cincinnati. Sticker is around $49k. Students entering in Fall 2024 with your stats would have received $8k, bringing the price down to $41k (source). The scholarship levels for Fall 2025 are still TBD.
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Wentworth Institute of Technology (MA): This Boston school has about 3700 undergrads and is part of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium. It offers a B.S. in architecture, building sciences, industrial design, and interior design. There is also a first year exploratory semester for students interested in architecture & design but are unsure about their major. The B.S. in architecture includes available concentrations in urbanism and in adaptive interventions for transforming communities and existing conditions. Additionally, two co-ops are built into the program. If you apply EA here, you are eligible for an extra $1500 award, and the NPC estimated that you would receive $20k in merit (it asked for your GPA but did not follow up with a score question). That would leave your family with costs around $40k.
Likely (60-79%)
- Hampton (VA): About 2800 undergrads at this HBCU in Hampton, which is in the middle of the Newport News/Norfolk area and offers an architecture major here. You might want to reach out to the admissions office to see what they mean by a 3.3 unweighted GPA, as many colleges will calculate it differently from high schools. According to their website, a 3.3 UW is the lowest they will consider for a merit based scholarship, but those scholarships range from $10-25k (source). If you don’t receive a merit scholarship, you could be considered for a room scholarship, which would cover your housing (but not board) costs. Sticker price is around $42k.
Toss-Up (40-59%)
- Howard (D.C.): About 9800 undergrads. This HBCU is in D.C. and its sticker price is right around $50k.
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Ohio State’s sticker is around $53k, and I’m unsure whether you’d get enough merit here to bring this within range. U. at Buffalo has already been discussed several times, which I think would be a great option for you as have Syracuse (and SUNY ESF) and Drexel.