I am in IL. We do probably have the best solution in state at IL St. It is a great teaching school. And it would be under $20K per year for sure. Although at MiamiOH she could possibly come in with 39 credits from AP.
In reality D23 would love to a be professor, but that is tough. If she passes the 4 APs she is taking this year like the 7 others she has already taken she won’t have much in the way of Gen Eds to take. She loves history and knows more than anyone I know. She is also a solid reader. So I could see her getting two majors (Hist & Eng). The wildcard is she did real well on the SAT on the math section and she decided on her own to take AP Calc BC. Which all of that is crazy because she has always disliked math as a kid.
She is a super interesting kid. I just gave up fact checking her in about 8th grade when spouted facts all the time because she was always right. Her memory is stupid good. She is quiet and stays out of drama, but somehow gets into leadership roles. She is the type that in the right situation could do something amazing(like some thinktank group) or just be content living a normal life.
I would love for her to get OOS and spread her wings and really experience college. But our main goal with both kids has always been get through undergrad with no loans.
Ironically D19 might end up in teaching but in a round about way. She started off at Miami as a BioChem/Span majors on a pre-med track. Pre-Med is out the door now and she moved to Bio/Spanish Majors with Education & Latin Am Studies minors. She has talked about teaching but in another state. She has been looking into those programs where you can start teaching while getting certified. Between AP, Research and normal classes the kid will end up with like 184 credits when she graduates. By graduation she will end up as an author on two research papers. Listed 6th on one and 4th on another. But all that did was let her figure out she didn’t really like lab research.
Btw, not putting all this out there to humble brag or anything. I believe D19 hit the wall while in college and decided she didn’t want to put in the work to be a doctor. She was super focused since middle school. And all of this is super tough for two parents who are Accountants and our lives was so much more planned out while in college and focused. We knew what we would be doing right after college. But we had to because we had student loans to payoff. My kids won’t have that if college is done right. Hence on the hunt for merit $$$. I just wanted my kids to have options after college where I felt I didn’t have that same freedom. I learned real quick being debt-free translates to freedom.