Of the recommendations provided so far, I give a strong second to:
- Appalachian State
- Brandeis (if MA is temperate enough)
- Conn College (as CT is temperate enough with the inclusion of Wesleyan)
- Delaware
- Dickinson
- Furman
- James Madison
- Lewis & Clark
- Trinity (TX)
- UNC-Asheville (which just had a nice write-up the other day here: Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that moved up on the list. Why? (NO REPLIES) - #7524 by gam)
Seeing Tulane on the list as well as a couple of Jesuit universities, I can’t help but think of Loyola New Orleans (about 3k undergrads) which is literally right next door to Tulane.
Some other possibilities your family may want to consider include:
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Baylor (TX): About 14k undergrads and about 3h40m to the Galveston beaches.
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Christopher Newport (VA): About 4400 undergrads at this school that is the easier admission (and lower cost) William & Mary. Lots of water nearby, with Virginia Beach 45 minutes away (with some other beaches even closer).
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College of New Jersey: About 7400 undergrads at this school that’s about one hour from the beach.
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Mercer (GA): About 4500 undergrads and about 3 hours to Tybee Island or Hilton Head.
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Monmouth (NJ): About 3800 undergrads and less than 10 minutes from the beach.
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Pepperdine (CA): About 3600 undergrads at this Malibu school that’s about 5 minutes from the beach. I’m not as confident about this one hitting budget.
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Rollins (FL): About 2600 undergrads, about an hour to Dayton Beach, and high likelihood of direct flights to wherever you live due to the Orlando airport.
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Salisbury (MD): About 6100 undergrads and about 45 minutes to Ocean City, MD (and lots of other water opportunities all around it as it’s part of the eastern shore of Maryland). It’s one of the top Master’s level universities at producing Fulbright Scholars (at least it was #1 the other year).
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Samford (AL): About 4600 undergrads at this college that’s about 4h15m from Destin Beach.
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Southern Methodist (TX): About 7300 undergrads, and about 4.5 hours from Galveston. High likelihood of direct flights to wherever you live due to DFW airport.
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Texas Christian: About 11k undergrads, right at about 5 hours from Galveston. High likelihood of direct flights to wherever you live due to DFW airport.
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U. of North Carolina-Wilmington: About 15k undergrads and less than 15 minutes from the nearest beach.