Elon was my first thought when reading the original post. Mid-sized (around 6K undergrads), small classes, liberal arts + pre-professional, lots of honors/merit opportunities. Farther from NJ but still within an 8 hr drive. And they have multiple types of merit scholarships, which can stack. (They do have a MT BFA program, though, so it could be hard to break into MT as a non-major, if that’s important to her.)
Not all honors programs/colleges are created equal. It’s important to look at whether honors classes will be the majority of the courseload, or just a sprinkling on top of mostly regular classes. Separate honors housing, and registration priority, are both potentially important features that some schools offer, and others don’t.
UDelaware has several programs within its Honors college that might appeal to a social-sciences kid - seems like an appropriate distance and vibe, and they do give merit.