Which Schools Offer Good Merit for these Stats? [TX resident, 3.8 GPA (home school), 32 ACT, civil engineering]

Paying for College
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Hi, Everyone! Child 3 of 8 graduates in 2026. We do not qualify for need based aid at any school, but need to keep cost down due to family size. Looking for schools that might offer full tuition or more for his stats.

We’re in Texas.

Our eldest got a half-tuition scholarship at UT.

2nd child got full ride at Ole Miss.

3rd child is homeschooled, 32 ACT, 3.8 unweighted gpa, 4.4 weighted, lots of dual credit classes

Major: civil engineering

He won a very competitive national award (1st place) in architecture and was featured on local news. Hopes to win again this summer.

Other honors: Phi Theta Kappa, College Board National African-American Scholar, National Organization of Minority Architects Conference Fellowship

Major ECs: varsity bball team captain, works as a referee (recently promoted to supervisor), ACE Mentors (engineering/arch program), a few selective summer camps, lots of volunteer hours playing piano for student ministry

Should have a really good letter of rec from his mentor who says his arch projects are collegiate level.

Safeties are U Alabama, Ole Miss, and local directional. He’ll be happy at any of these.

Our older kids had no luck at private schools. With no aid, they are out of our price range.

Any suggestions for public schools where he has a shot at full tuition or above?

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So Bama is almost full tuition - it’s $30,500 off of $33K with the 32.

For a smaller school, UAH will be very low tuition. Mississippi State is another.

At Louisiana Lafayette, looks like the LIve Oak scholarship will giving housing help.

That might be a few more ideas.

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Would University of New Mexico be of interest? @WayOutWestMom can explain their fabulous scholarships. I think this one might hit your price point.

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At UNM, he’d get the LUE Plus Scholarship (automatic) which gives instate tuition rates.

Instate COA is around $24/year $11,210 tuition & fees; $12,328 dorm (traditional) and meal plan.

Your son should also apply for the Regents’ Scholarship which is a true full ride for 4 years.(Covers tuition, fees, housing in the Scholar’s Wing of Hokona Hall, meal plan)

Regents Scholars get automatic admission to the Honors College and other perks like a personal faculty mentor in their are of interest.

The Regents’ requires admission to UNM and a separate scholarship application due by Dec 1, 2025.

UNM Scholarships

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Full ride at a school with civil engineering: University Scholarships - Office of Scholarship Services

Another one: Scholarships - Alabama A&M University

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Given the very strong architectural cred but desire for more of a structural engineering career path, has he considered architectural engineering as opposed to civil? Schools that offer both, and thus keep that option open (or just provide more arch-related electives if he chooses CivE), could be a plus. UT-Austin and TAMU are two that have both majors; Alabama, already on your list, is another.

Missouri S&T could be a good one to look it - it’s quite affordable for OOS students and also gives merit, and it has a top-notch reputation for engineering. Civil, Architectural, and Environmental engineering share a department.

If a co-op model would appeal, U of Cincinnati could be worth a look - they have some large scholarships. CivE, ArchE, and Construction Management share a department.

Flagships with ArchE that might give enough merit: Oklahoma, Wyoming, UNL. Kansas State is another that could be worth a look.

Of course, I’m filtering for a criterion that may not be important to your son after all; but I think it’s worth considering whether keeping ArchE in the mix would have value. @MaineLonghorn is our in-house resource on this topic :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the tag. Yes, I majored in Architectural Engineering at UT many moons ago. It’s an excellent major if you know you’re interested in the structural design of buildings. You take a couple of semesters of architectural design, another one on putting together a set of construction documents, plus classes in HVAC and construction methods. It means you don’t have to spend time studying areas of civil engineering you’re not interested in.

The major has been around a long time (my dad was an Arch E major at UT in the late '50s), but a lot of people don’t know about it. A very few people double major in Architecture and Arch E - honestly, I have no idea how that’s even possible when each major on its own is very challenging.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask! I met my husband in grad school and we’ve run our “Mom and Pop” company out of our home since 1999. It’s been a nice career for both of us.

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@aquapt @MaineLonghorn

Thank you for this info! I’ll share it with him.

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It’s a private, but Illinois Institute of Technology offers full tuition scholarships, for up to five years. They have architecture, archE, civil, structural engineering. My D is a grad (BS arch E, masters in Structural).

Wyoming is a good choice as well. Can be very affordable.

Also U Arizona, but I’m not sure whether it could hit your budget or not. They’ve made a lot of changes to scholarships in the last couple years.

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Below are two possibilities:

At Tuskegee your son would be eligible for a full ride, if he applies by December 1 (source). It also has NAAB-accredited architecture here. There are about 2400 undergrads at this HBCU. CORRECTION: It is ABET-accredited for multiple fields, but NOT civil engeering.

U. of St. Thomas (MN): About 6k undergrads at this school in the Twin Cities. I suspect he would be competitive for one of these full tuition scholarships: https://www.stthomas.edu/financial-aid/undergraduate/scholarships/science-math-engineering/index.html

Can you share more about what kind of an experience your son is hoping to have at school? Does he prefer big state schools, or are those the only ones for which affordability is a sure thing? What kind of vibe is he hoping for, or class sizes, or climate, etc? Also, room and board costs can vary significantly depending on the school. What’s the annual budget that you’re hoping to meet?

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Although I don’t know the answer to your question (though I was a civil engineering major once upon a time so good for him!) - I find myself fascinated by your planning to get eight children through college. I think you should write a book!

However, your username may need a revision :slight_smile: and it reminds me of this classic Sesame Street sketch where they have to revise similarly:

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Tuskegee does not have civil engineering, as listed on its own and ABET web sites.

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We visited University of Alabama when touring colleges with dd, and he loved it. We also have family near UA, which is nice. So UA is his first choice, and with auto merit, direct costs are about $20,000/yr. There’s also a competitive scholarship he can compete for that is free tuition and 1 year free room and board that would bring cost down to $45,000 total.

Ole Miss would be about $13,000/yr direct costs with auto merit. And he could compete for an $8,000 honors college scholarship that would bring cost down to $5,000/yr.

So to round out his list, we’re looking for schools that might come in under $20,000/year with competitive merit that possibly offer better opportunities in his field than the two options above. Since he is 100% happy with either Bama or Ole Miss, these would be shots at a “dream school” scenario similar to my daughter winning Stamps (which was a wonderful surprise)!

Big state schools are not a must, but he’d like a school with football/basketball. In terms of vibe, I don’t think he’d be a good fit at an extremely high stress/high pressure school.

Dh is an engineer, but we’re not as familiar with architecture or civil engineering. We’ve been repeatedly told by those in the industry that he’s “way ahead” and “very talented.”

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Which would give better ?

I think that’s ‘rank’ hype but not reflective of real life.

Both would be fine.

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The pathway to a civil engineering career starts with an ABET accredited bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Civil engineers commonly go for Professional Engineer (PE) licensing in order to sign off on designs of things used by the general public (e.g. buildings, bridges, roads, etc.).

The pathway to an architecture career starts with either a NAAB accredited BArch (5 year) bachelor’s degree program, or doing a NAAB accredited MArch program after a bachelor’s degree. An MArch usually takes 3 years, but some may be less if the student has a bachelor’s degree in an architecture-related major (e.g. 4 year non-NAAB accredited BA/BS in architectural studies).

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Architecture and structural engineering are SO different. I think it would be wise to shadow a couple of professionals to get a feel for it. I could never be an architect - I don’t have the eye for it. And I’ve worked with a lot of architects who THINK they understand structures but don’t. :joy:

I think architecture is a tough profession. You have to be artistic but also understand all the minute details of construction. And I imagine young architects are not the ones drawing pretty pictures - they’re spec’ing toilets and flooring. Generally, the pay is not as good for architects as engineers, if that matters.

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The prerequisite education for architecture (5 year BArch or BA/BS+MArch) is also lengthier and more expensive than that for civil engineering (4 year BS).

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Thanks…don’t know what I was looking at. I’ve corrected my original post.

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Very very true. The educational paths are also pretty different and it starts in year one. Shadowing a couple of professionals in the different fields before deciding what to start with in college is a pretty good idea.

The licensure process for civil/structural is no joke. Lots of very difficult exams requiring years of work experience, and a time commitment to study for them, well after college is over. You’re getting paid a real salary during those years of work experience though.

Architectural engineering is less a blend of architecture and engineering, and more a blend of several kinds of engineering (electrical, mechanical, civil/structural), all focused on buildings.

It’s interesting work though. With an ArchE bachelors and structural engineering masters, my D has worked in forensics— works on existing buildings doing condition assessments and repair design. She’s done some work with insurance and legal claims (expert witness stuff) , and historic preservation. She’s worked with other engineers (structural, civil, architectural) as well as architects, who are specialists in concrete, wood, other materials, building envelopes (everything that keeps the inside protected from the outside elements). Other civil engineers she knows work in structural design, on bridges, the tarmac at airports, other infrastructure. A friend of ours hires structural engineers to work in aerospace (satellite design).

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That’s cool! Yes, there are several different paths you can take as an Arch E. At UT, a lot of Arch E majors specialize in construction management. You can definitely go pure structural design if you want to, though.

My dad taught the first forensics course that UT offered, and one of his students started a forensics firm in Dallas that has done very well. For many years, my dad organized and hosted a two-day forensics engineering seminar. This will be the first year his health has been too poor to allow him to do it. :frowning:

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