Poster is not seeking to hit 35k.
UConn also has an international engineering program that my S23 found interesting when he was applying. International Engineering Programs | Experiential Education Program
Arabic isn’t an option in this specific program… but UConn does offer Arabic language and a major.
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I’m mixed on that - at first it came up, then it didn’t - and OP said we can go higher but our son is looking for lower cost or to equal state flagship.
Then after all this went down and the $35K was removed from the title, OP wrote the following two posts I put below - so maybe $35K isn’t hard and fast but it’s still there in the back of OP’s mind - they can spend more but maybe their child won’t want to- and more might not be WUSTL more - although I noted the Danforth and Ervin make it possible.
In essence, it seems like the state flagship is in the lead - but who can be a better experience/alignment with the goals and at a good/fair price.
Thanks
Post 70 - Cost of attendance, OOS, would be about $58K. So, to bring it down to our flagship’s level he’d need $23K in merit aid.
Post 97 - He has had schools that give athletic scholarships express interest. He’s not sure that any of them are academic fit, or would give enough money to get tuition to where he wants it to be.
URI does too - just not in the International Engineering program - but that’s why I thought maybe a conversation can bring that exception - sort of the self made aspect since the school offers Arabic.
If Uconn does too, that’s another great option!! On their international engineering page, they note it’s only for French, German, Spanish.
So like URI, would be worth having a discussion with the head of the program to see if there’s a way for Arabic to work.
In my mind, the flagship schools and program makes a lot of sense - they are Ole Miss (under budget), UGA (close to budget if gets 1/2 OOS) and Arizona (low 40s) - but all would probably be less given the flagship programs get federal money to support the students.
Why a home run - double major in the flagship - you have CivE and Arabic - these are the three schools the government has said - these are our strong Arabic school/partners.
There will be “additional funding” because the feds back it - and there will be employment - thanks to the feds - which may end up being with firms/agencies going overseas to do work.
Honestly, the language flagship program seems a home run for this student in all they want - to me anyway.
It will likely hit costs with extra funding, it will be heavily Arabic and heavy Civil, and employment perhaps with a federal agency, potentially doing work abroad.
I don’t see sports fitting in though.
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Correct about not easy to get with a US engineering degree - mainly because of funding from what I understand. Much of that work is either volunteer through Engineers without Borders or similar, or prioritizes engineers from other countries simply because they can get them to do the work cheaper or hire multiple engineers with the same budget as it would take a US trained engineer. Definitely look into humanitarian engineering. If that is something he is interested in.
One of my kids works for a global fortune 500 company with a humanitarian arm that deals with that sort of stuff. Apparently it is is not their US based engineers that are typically doing the engineering for the volunteer work/natural disaster recovery. They have a large engineering presence in Asia where engineering labor is cheaper.
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I am looking for three things.
One is schools that are likely to come in around the cost, or under the cost of our flagship, so that he has choices even if he continues to feel strongly about this.
Another is schools that will probably give merit aid that will bring the cost down but not to be he cost of the flagship, but will have specific things that I can point to that might make it worth it to pay more. For example, WPI looks like a potentially great fit. It might be worth more to me, but I don’t know if it would for him, and not sure how much more.
Finally, the Hail Mary schools, as someone called them, where there are big scholarships.
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I wanted to add that I have now run some net price calculators and I may be making incorrect assumptions about financial aid. So, that might be in the mix too.
I also reread my OP, and realized I said this:
That was a typo. What I mean to write was that he doesn’t like academic competitions. He only likes athletic ones. But that’s not really accurate either, because he likes robotics competitions. He like robotics competitions, and team sports. I think what he really doesn’t like is individual academic competition – things like a math competition.
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The Hail Mary types, WUSTL, Vandy, SMU, and there’s others will full ride. Emory, Rice, and Miami too. There’s others too with a small volume full ride like OSU you mentioned.
Many schools offer Stamps Foundation Scholarships but of course all these above are hard to get.
Many would say W&L but their engineering isn’t ABET accredited. Looking at their website I don’t see Civil but your son could certainly speak with someone there. It’s the ultimate Hail Mary because about 10% of enrollees get.
Because your son is value conscious and a great tester, if National merit happens, he’ll have assured offers that crush the flagship.
Personally, from what I’ve seen, I think the Flagships (UGA/Arizona/Ole Miss), International Engineering which is at least UCONN and URI and maybe more (UCF has something, can’t tell if it includes Civil), and the School of Mines program sounded great.
Wondering if this might be a future Peace Corp kid?
https://www.peacecorps.gov/connect/blog/how-stem-careers-can-be-boosted-by-peace-corps-service/
Your son isn’t graduating from high school until 2028. The net price calculators are currently set up for students graduating in 2026, and that’s not you.
The 2028-2029 academic year financial aid will use 2026 tax year income information, and that year hasn’t even started yet.
Please use these NPCs as a very gross estimate for a 2028 grad. Financial aid policies and awarding formulas do sometimes change.
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neither of my kids had a clue as sophomores what kind of colleges they would like..
If the highest rigor, all As and high test scores, they will have tons of choices and can get lots of merit if they choose…
I wouldn’t stress about it until at least this coming spring, if not next fall.
To be clear, I think visiting schools now is great, just don’t expect them to be crystal clear what they want, or not yet.
And honestly, wanting engineering at least limits options, some. Be glad they don’t want to be a math major, which every school has;)
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A couple more options that your son may want to consider:
U. of Wyoming: About 8300 undergrads and, in today’s costs, he would probably receive the $12k/year merit award which would then make this school about $26k/year, so below the flagship cost (source). It offers a minor in Chinese, has an Engineers without Borders chapter, and offers a minor in international engineering which incorporates a lot of things that your son indicates he may be interested in.
We already mentioned Ohio State upthread which I suspect would provide at least enough merit to meet your flagship, and where your son could perhaps be competitive for one of the full ride scholarships. What wasn’t mentioned, however, was the Global Option in Engineering which includes much of what your son is interested in, as well as its minor in humanitarian engineering. Among the languages it offers majors in are Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
U. of St. Thomas (MN) has about 6k undergrads and is very generous with merit aid. It has some global engineering options (the most robust in Germany, but it does have a January term in South Korea available). Its minor in peace engineering sounds right up your son’s alley as, “Peace engineers work on projects such as developing energy and water resources, bringing technology to areas of conflict or natural disaster, advocating for public safety in engineering decisions and implementing agricultural tools to fight poverty and hunger. These examples are just the beginning of what you might accomplish as a peace engineer.” It also offers a minor in sustainability. It’s D1 sports, but because it’s a smaller school, perhaps it might be more flexible for athletes?
I’d also reach out to U. of Tulsa to see if it has any plans to become ABET-accredited for engineering (i.e., is it already in process). It’s already ABET-accredited for petroleum engineering, which I suspect would have definite overlap with civil engineering, but I am not an engineer. Not only is Tulsa of interest because it can mean a full ride for NMF students, but it also offers an international engineering program (mainly with western languages, but students interested in Chinese or Russian are told to speak with the director). And with about 2500 undergrads, the D1 sports teams may be more flexible about having an engineer student-athlete.
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Because I also have a ‘26 kid I have run a lot of NPC’s, most of them for schools that S26 is considering. Even at those schools, I have looked at the numbers with skepticism because our situation is complicated. So, I have run them with different sets of numbers.
But S26 and S28 want very different kinds of schools. Last night, I ran NPC’s for some of the schools that have expressed interest, and they came back with need based aid, even when I put in #’s that I was sure wouldn’t have led to aid.
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A year ago, I would have thought Peace Corps was a great choice for him. We know people who were posted abroad with USAID when their safety nets were abruptly turned off by the US Government.
My son is willing to walk into danger to save people. He talks about that goal, but the idea that that danger might be caused by his own government is a hard one for me to swallow.
Maybe my trust will be restored by 2032, or maybe he will ignore my feelings. Who knows?
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I wanted to say thank you for everyone who has suggested schools! I will investigate all of them!
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Since you said he might be recruitable by the Ivies, take a look at Princeton’s NPC. They are known as the most generous of the Ivies.
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Don’t know if this is still true, but when my daughter went (not my engineer) the engineering dept also gave everyone an additional $2500, plus there are scholarships granted by departments, and even subdepartments (like civil engineering rather than just engineering). The engineering department is environmentally focused. The current acting dean was my daughter’s hockey coach for 7 years.
It is a beautiful school, but very religious.
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That’s Bama too- with a 30 ACT. $28k normal merit goes to $30.5k.
Other schools like Purdue and UMN are the other way. They have surcharges for the high paid majors like engineering.
Interesting. My impression was that it was more along the lines of the Jesuits/St. Olafs of the world in terms of the religious atmosphere, meaning that people of many religious backgrounds (or no religious background) would feel comfortable on campus, and that the focus was more about social justice and the common good.
From the university’s About Us page:
Our founding was inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, a 2,000-year-old practice of uniting faith and reason to explore the world. Rooted in this Catholic identity, we are committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I); our convictions call us to protect and enhance the dignity of every human and to work for a more just and equitable society. At the University of St. Thomas, we develop future leaders of all faiths looking to make a positive impact on the world.
@fiftyfifty1, what have been your observations of U. of St. Thomas?
My ‘25 kid, with much lower stats (though a well-regarded HS) came in between 40-45K with merit (no FinAid) at the following, which have at least some abet engineering (not sure about civil)
| Scranton |
|---|
| Wentworth |
| Roger Williams Univ. |
| Merrimack |
| Quinnipiac |
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It was actually the first school I ran last night, because I had heard it is the most generous. I have been using standardized answers for his brother, and I entered those, but then I went back and changed the number of siblings in college and was surprised how much more aid it predicted for him. I thought colleges were no longer giving credit for siblings in college.
But I also ran for some other schools, and was pleasantly surprised.
I hear a lot of complaining about how “middle class” families are in a donut hole where they are asked to pay enormous amounts. I am now wondering if those people complaining have different definitions of “middle class” than I do.
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