I’m very into post-industrial cities as well, so Allentown is in fact worth checking out for that reason alone.
I also think the Lehigh Valley is very pretty when you get out into nature. And again not far from both Philly and NYC. So quite a nice blend from these perspectives.
If all this sounds good, then Lehigh University is probably worth visiting as well. Again it can be pretty tough for aid, but anecdotally it sometimes comes through. I also personally love the imposing Gothic campus on a hill thing.
I’ve passed through Albany a couple times, but I am really not in a position to comment on its relative merits. But I would definitely endorse a visit to Union/Schenectady given what you have been describing as possible wants.
ETA: Oh, and yes, I sing the Billy Joel song in my head whenever I am thinking about Allentown.
Speaking of cool post-industrial towns, I also really like Buffalo. And SUNY Buffalo is definitely known for engineering in my circles too.
I actually have a whole theory about how various post-industrial cities are getting popular again among younger people, for a combination of cost of living reasons and also a sort of authenticity vibe that is appealing to many younger people these days.
And then I think that is part of what is explaining the increasing OOS attention some relevant colleges and universities are getting. It isn’t new that these are excellent institutions academically, but their setting has turned from a pretty strong net negative (say back when I was looking at colleges in the late 1980s) to a positive for at least some college-bound students today.
Lehigh does meet full demonstrated need. And about 30% of students receive merit. Merit can be unpredictable, demonstrated interest necessary for sure.
But is Lehigh’s definition of “need” generous or not? “Meet full demonstrated need” can be an empty promise if the college’s definition of “need” is insufficient. So try the net price calculator.
Our issue is that what my kid wants to play is less than what schools that routinely include loans as part of their packages think he could pay. This is most dramatically true at schools that are FAFSA only, because they don’t account for the fact that we will have 3 kids in college for 4 years, but it’s true at schools like Lehigh too. So the question becomes will they stack the merit, or at least replace loans rather than grants?
Meeting 100% of every student’s demonstrated need is per se generous as fewer than 100 colleges do so. Generous even if Lehigh packages federal student loans, work study, and/or student self help in FA offers, or considers home equity, etc.
Running the NPCs has been mentioned many times on this thread.
This only makes sense if you have read my other thread about my other kid, but the two of them would love suggestions of pairs of schools that are reasonably close together. Other kid is going to be harder to match, I think.
We have run a lot of NPC’s including Lehigh. It comes in well over budget, but the calculator doesn’t ask for academic stats, so it’s hard to know whether they might make a different offer.
I also want to say that I agree that any school that meets full need, even if they don’t stack merit, and they require loans, is a generous school. We are not a low income family. We live a comfortable middle class lifestyle, and we have a great state school option. So, I’m not saying that Lehigh should give him more. There a families for whom Lehigh financial aid could make an enormous difference. But even if I think the price is reasonable for something, I might still choose to buy something less expensive if it works well for my family. It’s like walking into a Mercedes dealer, reading the window sticker, and walking out. I like Mercedeses (Is that the plural of Mercedes?). I recognize that they are well made and probably worth every penny. But I’m still choosing the Honda, because it aligns with my goals, and is more affordable.
If a school offers sufficiently large merit aid packages that can make a school affordable, and a student likes the school and would be interested in attending if it meets the desired budget, then I certainly think it merits an application. A student should not have an entire list of “maybes” for meeting the financial mark, as there needs to be some sure things on the list, but a school shouldn’t necessarily be eliminated if a school is a “maybe” and the student would be a legitimate contender for sufficient merit.
As the opposite of what I did on the other thread, here are some possibilities that your son may want to consider in order to be near his brother, though the Cornell/Ithaca option is hard to beat.
Rutgers – New Brunswick (NJ): 38m drive to Drew
Princeton (NJ): 1h2m drive to Drew
Cooper Union (NY): 1h3m drive to Drew
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ): 54m drive to Drew
Virginia Tech: 31m drive to Roanoke College
Lehigh (PA ): 9m drive to Moravian or 21m drive to Muhlenberg
Lafayette (PA ): 19m drive to Moravian or 28m drive to Muhlenberg
Villanova (PA ): 26m drive to Ursinus
Union (NY): 39m drive to Skidmore or 28m drive to Siena
Rensselaer Polytechnic (NY): 35m drive to Skidmore or 13m drive to Siena
U. at Buffalo (NY): 14m drive to Canisius
Cornell (NY): 29m drive to SUNY Cortland or 6m drive to Ithaca College
Worcester Polytechnic (MA): 7m drive to Clark
Western Michigan: 4m drive to Kalamazoo College
And though I specify drive times, several of the places are within walking/biking distance and/or have public transportation options.
In my experience merit just replaces need aid at meet need schools. Merit at those schools is designed to entice rich students who don’t qualify for need aid, not to make the school more affordable for students who are already receiving need aid, even if it would be really helpful for a lot of families. So sure go ahead and see but I think it’s unlikely you’ll get need plus merit to add up to more than need alone
That has been my understanding, which is why we’ve been crossing off schools like Lehigh where the NPC is unaffordable. The exception is schools like Lafayette or Villanova that offers some full ride or full tuition scholarships.
If this was a kid who wanted something very specific and rare in a school, I would feel differently. For example, I could see applying for WPI, which meets every single thing on his list, even though their NPC isn’t affordable. But Lehigh doesn’t stand out in that way. It’s not urban. It’s not a safe state.
It’s difficult to know for sure, but you are talking about such a small subset of schools…about 90 schools meet full need for all students, and only a proportion of those give both need and merit aid. To stick with Lehigh, we know from the 2025-26 CDS Section H2 that 835/2626 (~32%) students with need received any non-need aid. I agree with you that not many, if any, of those students received more FA than their level of calculated need. Colleges get to spend their money how they want, to yield the students they want.
Separately, it can be difficult for merit hunters to gauge how much in merit they might receive when a school’s NPC doesn’t include academic stats and merit estimates (which IMO is most NPCs). This is why some merit hunting families need to submit relatively more apps. The CDS section H can help with averages, but a given student really can’t know their FA package until they apply and are accepted.
As this family doesn’t want to consider Pennsylvania, it’s a moot point for this thread, but Lehigh does offer merit aid scholarships of up to full tuition: Lehigh Merit Scholarships | Lehigh University .
Is there a map or a list of states that your family considers safe? The resources I’ve viewed (such as this) for trans adults have shown Pennsylvania to not be one of the unsafe states. It would be helpful to make sure we’re on the same page about states so that schools aren’t suggested that don’t meet your family’s criteria.
On that map, both kids would prefer a bright blue state. I would say that bright blue is a requirement for my trans kid, but there might be some wiggle room for PA or VA for this kid, especially given that he wants to stay close to home. So, it’s not an automatic veto, but it makes it less appealing.
Note that there is a subtle difference between that map and the one at LGBTQ Equality Landing Page - Movement Advancement Project in that previously posted “risk” one involves a prediction of near future changes, while the one in this post gives a (more detailed) snapshot of the current state.
