I go back to the previous post - the first thing you need to do is to fill out a net price calculator. You had W&L on your first list and they meet full need.
Now need is different at every school- Rice is different than Cornell which is different than W&L. But a school like W&L will provide you some funds - and they also have the Johnson which is a full ride. You can look it up.
At $135K, at most schools, you won’t get much if any aid. You’ll likely be in the donut hole but at the tops you will. Another mentioned Dennison and they also meet need and have journalism.
I’m attaching all the schools that meet need. You’ll see in doing the NPC for a few if they work for your budget or not.
English and Journalism aren’t social sciences but Sociology is. Some schools, like Macalester, don’t have journalism but media studies. I mention it because while Dennison and W&L are great schools, they’re not what I would consider great college towns.
Finally, short of insane merit (W&L??) and need based - hence you need to fill out a few net price calculators - your best bets will be taking advantage of her 4.0. That’s Arizona, Alabama, MS. State, Arkansas maybe…you can take a flyer at Miami of Ohio and South Carolina…you can check Bradley and Hofstra but I think they’ll be too much. The publics I mentioned are all too big but you can use the Honors colleges to get smaller for a part of it.
It’s a trade off - mom is healthy (I hope) and so the dream colleges may be out!! She’ll understand for sure!!
As for taking loans or worse, digging into your hubby’s annuity - debt isn’t your friend. Obviously, college has some expense and it’s actually more than you think - late night pizza, ubers, weekend trips, etc. etc. The majors you’re looking at are typically low paying…so in this case, I think you’re smart to go for the lower cost - whether in-state or otherwise. Yes, we all want to send our kids to where they want to go - but you need to look ahead toward your life, including retirement, so resist the temptation to make your child ultra happy if it’s going to impact your financially in the long run.
Good luck.
Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid (prepscholar.com)