Do public schools consider state residency for merit-based aids?

Paying for College
1

My S is a rising senior and is interested in STEM. Our in-state flagship (Umass Amherst) is highly selective for STEM majors (~20%), so we have a list of OOS flagship schools on our list as well.

My question is this: I understand most public universities give need-based aids to in-state students only, but what about merit-based aids? How is that awarded? Do in-state students get priority over OOS students? Or is state residency not a factor?

2

Short answer…it depends. Usually merit aid is awarded based in the strength of the application. But some states DO give priority to their instate strong applicants.

If your student is a strong applicant…look at University of Alabama. They give merit awards guaranteed based on stats to anyone who applies.

3

Thanks @thumper1! Is this information in CDS or sort of ‘hidden’? How do I know about this for the list of schools S is interested in? BTW, does U Alabama has a strong reputation for STEM? S never intended to look that far away from home (we are in Massachusetts).

4

Each college is different. Sometimes, it is stated right on the college’s web site.

For example, the University of Alabama has different scholarships-for-stats for in-state versus out-of-state students:
http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/in-state.php
http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php

5

Here are some more lists, but check college web sites to verify, since some have changed:

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/

6

Just depends on the school and the state. For instance Ohio State has a scholarship for residents of a specific OH county (endowed by a company within that county). Check the FA info on each school’s web site.

7

Alabama has a good reputation in STEM fields, strongest in engineering (and rising) although not as well known for CS as UMass.

8

UofSC has a break down of merit scholarships available if you are in-state or OOS. I suspect many public colleges do the same.

9

Thanks everyone!

10

While you are looking at the in-state vs out-of-state scholarships, you need to note

  1. Application deadlines to be considered for scholarships. Many places require an early application.
  2. Whether merit or honors admission includes an OOS tuition waiver. We saw a couple where the merit scholarship was relatively small, but anyone who got one also got in-state tuition, which made it more valuable than the raw dollar amount.
11

@AroundHere Noted! Thank you SO much for the tips!