I would recommend looking into UMN (U Minnesota) Twin Cities. Their formula SAE team is excellent!!! Check it out: https://gophermotorsports.com
If he visits UMN, he could contact the team beforehand, and ask to visit their facility and talk with them during his visit. My son visited Formula SAE teams at each school he visited, and this was one that impressed him a lot. They are friendly and welcoming to new members, well managed, have great support from the university and have a great team space in the center of campus. They have been increasingly successful in competition!
UMN has better merit aid than Oregon State and many other schools. Your son can apply right now and they have rolling admissions in the fall. He would apply to the CSE (College of Science and Engineering) and although there is secondary admission to majors, it is not an overly competitive process. The majors for astrophysics, physics, aerospace engineering, and mechanical engineering are all in this same college, so he could explore his interests. https://cse.umn.edu
I can recommend other schools with Formula SAE teams, but this is the one that comes to mind based on the strength of their team, overall quality and value of the university, and your budget.
I just ran the NPC with 3.97 GPA and 1540 SAT and no financial aid eligibility, and the estimated OOS cost after merit scholarship came out just below $40k. When my son applied a couple of years ago, he actually received a slightly higher merit scholarship than estimated, so it may work out the same for your son.
