Is she being recruited for lacrosse?
What is her class rank? (approximate it even if the school doesn’t divulge that info)
What draws her to the east coast?
Generally, students can take out $27K ($5.5K yr 1, then $6.5K/$7.5K/$7.5K) in total undergrad loans from the government (accessed by filing FAFSA.) Loans above that will be on the parents, either directly or as co-signers. Some companies will give un-cosigned loans to undergrads, but interest rates are often in the mid-teens for those.
How much debt a student/their parents take is unique to their situation. For a poli sci major, especially one who wants to go to law school, it likely makes sense to minimize loans. You can run some loan repayment scenarios here: Student Loan Repayment Calculator - Mapping Your Future
Why apply to these schools if they are not potentially affordable without huge loans?
For the schools on the list, run the Net price calculator at each (accessed on each school’s financial aid page.) Some NPCs don’t show merit, so you have to apply before you know if the school could be affordable. Here’s Bryn Mawr’s: Net Price Calculator
Regarding the current list, I don’t think many schools are going to get to $38K.
Is she interested in Michigan State? MSU has very good poli sci and is near the state capital.
I don’t disagree that Lawrence is a safety academically, but because affordability is not assured, it can’t be a safety (although I do think this school may very well be affordable.) She needs an assured safety (highly like admit plus affordable…maybe that’s Mich State?)
Some of the schools on the list are what I call ‘fit’ schools, and I wouldn’t recommend applying unless she visits. These include Bard and Oberlin…I would hesitate to send a CIS athletic female who is not playing a sport to either of those schools (not sure if all of that describes your D.)
Other ideas (many may not hit budget, all are not in East):
-Wheaton Mass
-Brandeis
-Simmons
-Elon
-Kalamazoo
-Willamette (In Oregon, but in the state capital of Salem, across the street from the Capitol building)
-Drake U (In Iowa capital of Des Moines)
You can look on this chart to see what the average FA is for students without financial need. The source data is the CDS, and these data are for the class of 2027, not this year’s class of 2029…meaning it’s a couple of years old. Once you narrow the list, you can look at the recent CDS section H to get the more current numbers.