I will repeat what was said upthread about the University of New Mexico. Daughter attended as an OS student with the Amigo scholarship. She graduated with highest honors and had a FANTASTIC time. She too had an IEP in K-8 but no longer had it in place for high school. She did not have the high ACT scores your son has but brought other things to the table.
https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html
She did have many other options but UNM was very affordable and provided something outside her comfort zone. We are NC residents so like I said many affordable in-state options. She majored in a boutique Classics degree with a Latin minor as a pre/med/dental student. She had wonderful research opportunities since UNM has a large medical school and some great part-time jobs on the medical campus.
Beyond the hard academics (physics, chem, bio, organic+ classics) she also took electives in Navajo, flamenco dance, softball, and Hip Hop. As a D1 athlete she was hard pressed to join many other clubs based on her schedule (pre-med+classics) but she was able to attend nationals for another sport because UNM offered it while some here did not. She was able to join a snow boarding club and did enjoy that during her time at UNM.
ABQ is just a few exits away from UNM so easy in and out of the airport. Southwest flies in everyday. It is a large campus and very southwest. Again she was able to take so many different classes and do so much out of her comfort zone which enabled her to grow not just as a student but as a person. She like her siblings is still best friends with her undergrad buddies.
Engineering schools are ABET certified having to keep to a certain standard. My son attended NC A&T with a mechE degree from their SOE also ABET, which I rave about over in the Parent’s Forum under posts #39 and #88
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/2044698-pros-and-cons-of-hbcus-p6.html
Son is not AA and he fit in fine. They do offer merit and OOS tuition is $20,000 per year. I am sure with his scores he would receive a great deal of merit.
http://www.ncat.edu/admissions/financial-aid/aid/scholarships/fresh-students.html
They do offer http://www.ncat.edu/coe/departments/cbbe/Files/undergraduate-bioengineering.html bioengineering as a major through their SOE:
“Bioengineering is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve healthcare diagnosis and treatment. Bioengineering has only recently emerged as its own discipline, compared to many other engineering fields; such an evolution is common as a new field transitions from being an interdisciplinary specialization among already-established fields, to being considered a field in itself. Much of the work in bioengineering consists of research and development, spanning a broad array of subfields. Prominent bioengineering applications include the development of biocompatible prostheses, various diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices ranging from clinical equipment to micro-implants, common imaging equipment such as MRIs and EEGs, biotechnologies such as regenerative tissue growth, and pharmaceutical drugs and biopharmaceuticals.”
Hope this helps.
Kat