Yes, the similarly named majors have different emphases. Criminology is a subarea of sociology with a research and policy emphasis. Criminal justice is more of a pre professional major aimed at those going into police work and similar.
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Hartwick College is a SLAC in upstate NY (Oneonta) on par with some of the schools you mention in terms of selectivity and vibe, that recently lowered their tuition to 22k/year and they still do some aid on top of that. IDK where in the “donut” you are but you might be able to get to 20k there, almost definitely down to 25k. They have both CJ and public health programs, I believe.
Additionally, a bunch of SUNY campuses are doing a flagship match with several other states, including PA (but Penn State might be expensive enough that it might not help).
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Several SUNYs also have special scholarships for out of state students - some of which are automatic. Geneseo, Cortland, and Oneonta specifically.
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I’d look at Loyola Maryland, which is know for being very generous with merit aid. They also have an interdisciplinary forensic science undergraduate major.
Another option is Mary Washington University in Virginia. Reasonable tuition and offers a major in criminal justice. One more idea is Shenandoah University in Virginia, which has a criminology/criminal justice program, as well as a lot of health care sciences degrees.
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Thank you! She is now narrowing things down to schools that have both program options she is interested in, as she is still undecided and wants to be able to explore classes in both fields if possible. Unfortunately that rules out Loyola and Mary Washington, as well as several other schools she has already applied to. She is very interested in Shenandoah and working on her application. She was excited to hear that the foreign language requirement would be waived there since she is currently in Spanish 5 in HS (she really does not want to take more foreign language in college).
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Yes, I did see that SUNY schools will match Penn State main campus, but that is not a very cheap option (considering they don’t give much merit aid, not sure about the SUNYs). I looked at Hartwick’s site (that one is new to me) for a net price calculator but can only find their tuition fees and that they give scholarships, but I can’t see a way to see what scholarships she would be eligible for to drop the net price. Will keep digging to see if I can find more info.
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Has anyone mentioned Mary Washington?
Yes, Penn State tuition is so high that it isn’t of much help in a tuition match state.
However, 3 SUNY campuses have special scholarship programs for out of state students - Geneseo, Cortland, and Oneonta. The Geneseo scholarship is based on merit, so the amount varies, but the other two are automatic. If you are accepted, you get the money - $7500 at Cortland and $8000 at Oneonta.
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Just curious, were these offers for freshman start in September of ‘24 or ‘25? Did you have to wait till close to Acceptance Day to get the higher offers? Thank you for clarifying and congrats to your talented child!
All of the offers came with acceptance or soon after, none added anything after the first offer.
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So, where are you with your prospects and decision at this point?
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Thank you for asking. I went too long in replying. But after all that searching, he ended up deciding on St. Joe’s!
I really appreciate everyone’s help.
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The Hawk will never die!
Gotta love St. Joe’s. 
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