Of course, you can use http://www.collegedata.com/cs/search/college/college_search_tmpl.jhtml to search for colleges with specified criteria and cost below $35,000. Since state universities will be shown if their resident cost is under the limit, you can then sort by non-resident cost so that you can ignore those in the higher end of the non-resident cost range.
Depends on your stats. With high enough stats, Alabama is a lock, and Utah has good aid with the proviso that the student has to become a Utah state resident (which is more easily possible there than in most states). We’ve also found that Ohio has scholarships designed to bring high-stats OOS students in. Those are all I have off the top of my head, but there are a handful more.
As far as base tuition, in addition to your mention of Minnesota, the flagships of Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming have quite inexpensive OOS tuition, Massachusetts, Arkansas, and Idaho a bit less so but still quite reasonable. There are probably others that should be on this list, but I’m in a bit of a rush.
If your stats are very, very good, Ohio schools offer a lot, in conjunction with a relatively low base price. Remember, though, that they market it that you only need 3.5GPA plus and something like ACT 28/SAT 1300 (old SAT) to be “eligible”, but the reality is that you must be quite a bit higher in order to actually receive the max aid packages. Although frankly I’m sure all of the high achievers who frequent CC would be in no danger of missing this boat… OSU and Miami University (Ohio) do a LOT of marketing to OOS students. Miami U is very expensive to start with (even with a tuition freeze the day you start) and they actively market to upper middle class preppy people in affluent suburbs around the Midwest and northeast, who may have good stats but are willing to pay full price also. Ohio University is looking to build its brand by offering relatively low base tuition and a LOT of aid to high stats OOS kids. My money is on them to boost their brand with these high stats kids transforming their USNWR student composite and getting more word of mouth about the school. Only problem is they are remote from a large city (besides Columbus) which may inhibit recruiting. Although Miami U. Is remote too, and they seem to do an excellent job getting recruiters to campus.
Ohio U offered my D, a low-end B+ student, but with a higher ACT score, way more merit money than we expected. We were pleasantly surprised. She basically would have paid in-state tuition there…
It ended up being about 7-8k cheaper than our flagship in IL.
Like I said, she is a B student - I can only imagine what students with higher GPAs and test scores than hers would be offered, likely close to full tuition. Pretty good deal, and the campus and town are beautiful. The school itself seems to have a lot to offer.
Alas, she has decided to attend another school (another OOS public, about the same size and price) but Ohio U was a very close second.
People pick an OOS Public because:
-They like the school better
-The students wants a break from their state, & wants a new state in orfer to learn to adapt,etc.
-The OOS school has a better environment for them(urban or rural)
-The OOS school is better for their major/better academically
-The OOS school has a bigger/smaller campus
-The OOS school is bigger on sports &/or greek life
-In-State didn’t give them good financial aid
-Their state is very limited in the amount of public schools/schools
-They really hate being in-state for some reason, & would rather risk value for a more preferable school for themselves
-Some in-state publics aren’t that great
Overall In-State Publics are still cheaper though.
On average, & In-State Public will cost around $10K, while an OOS will cost around $23K, while a private school will cost around $32K.
In some situations the OOS is a better value, in other situations it doesn’t.
I know people that are paying the same for OOS whereas others are paying the full OOS price.
I’ll show you 3 examples
An NJ student gets accepted to Stockton & West Carolina University. The prices are around the same & she prefers NC. She chooses WCU. In this situation WCU would be the better pick.
An NJ student gets accepted to Rutgers NB & George Mason. He gets no merit aid from both. Rutgers is $30K while GMU is $40K. He chooses GMU. In this situation the In-State would be better, although the OOS is not to far off.
An NJ student gets a small amount of aid from publics & a large amount of aid from privates.
Rutgers Newark-$17.5K
OOS Public-$32K
Hofstra-$35K
Other Privates-$36K-$30K
In this situation the In-State would be better, as he would be paying nearly twice the amount for the other schools.
Public costs vary on location, as more expensive publics will be in locations where salaries are higher, & vice versa.
Whether an In State or OOS is a better value depends on where the student is at the school’s average grades, financial aid, & overall ranking.
@ASJackson923 you basically described my own situation to a T, lol! Although the only in-state school I applied to was private. And even with all the money they threw at me, the value still couldn’t have come close to that of my school.