@Mom2aphysicsgeek But I’m guessing that your son was an incoming freshman. There are a lot more large scholarships open to freshman then there are large transfer scholarships. Even if OP transfers to a state school, she is not likely to get a full tuition or full ride scholarship based merely on academics. She’ll have to get a lot of financial aid, which I think is what she is trying to sort out, and some debt may be inevitable unless the amount is low enough that she can work it off during college. Is it easier to get higher amounts of financial aid from public universities than private?