Civil engineering for less than $35K

[Anonymous]

My very high stats kid likes UMD, which is probably a match for him, so he doesn't see the point in paying more to go somewhere else, but he'd still like to apply to a few more schools, plus some safeties since nothing is guaranteed these days.

What are some good schools for civil engineering that are either affordable as is, or offer merit that could bring the price down?

[Anonymous]

Clarkson

[Anonymous]

Virginia Tech is affordable in state, and not bad out of state (compared to privates).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech is affordable in state, and not bad out of state (compared to privates).

We're in Maryland, which is why UMD is affordable for us. VT full tuition, room and board is $62K which is more than we can afford. Does anyone know how they are with merit aid?

[Anonymous]

I would have him look at schools that offer merit to high stats. Civil Engineering is found at most all engineering programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My very high stats kid likes UMD, which is probably a match for him, so he doesn't see the point in paying more to go somewhere else, but he'd still like to apply to a few more schools, plus some safeties since nothing is guaranteed these days.

What are some good schools for civil engineering that are either affordable as is, or offer merit that could bring the price down?

DS24 had UMD in-state as top target. Primarily interested in D1 schools for marching band. 1550, 4.0 U/W. CS not civil, but same menu of schools. Safeties which he got into were UMBC, VT, Penn State, NC State. Received merit at UMD ($4500 x 2 yrs, honors college) & UMBC ($7k x 4 yrs). Nothing from the OOS options. Though in fairness, a couple required extra merit or honors college applications, which he blew off. DS didn't apply to OOS schools that would have definitely offered significant merit liks S. Carolina, WVU, or Bama because they are not as strong in STEM as the group he applied to. We found there was no realistic way to compete with UMD from a cost/quality standpoint, particularly in CS and engineering. Higher (perceived) quality was much more expensive and to match in-state tuition or get down to your $35k target requires $20-$30k in merit from an OOS school, which can only be done with a big step-down in academic quality. He is having an excellent freshman year at UMD.

[Anonymous]

University of Alabama's flagship campus in Tuscaloosa has some very generous scholarships for good stats.

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Also might consider University of Alabama-Huntsville since they have so much tech industry in the city: https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshmen/freshman-out-of-state-academic-scholarships

[Anonymous]

Union college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Union college

Wow, I just ran the net price calculator there with my kids stats and our finances, and it came out as he'd get an estimated 64,7000 in grant/merit aid.

I would not have thought Union was an option, given their 91K price tag, but that certainly changes things.

-- OP

[Anonymous]

Gmu, even oos, is relatively affordable
Alabama offers great merit
If he’s relatively high stats, South Carolina has good merit scholarships

My dc is at one of these schools for stem and is getting a great education and is being challenged academically

[Anonymous]

Dayton

[Anonymous]

University of Tennessee and University of Central Florida

[Anonymous]

SUNY Buffalo if you can get it to in state prices.

[Anonymous]

Olin College of Engineering.
Fabulous school.
(I say this as an MIT educated civil engineer)
https://www.olin.edu/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Olin College of Engineering.
Fabulous school.
(I say this as an MIT educated civil engineer)
https://www.olin.edu/

I have heard wonderful things about them, but the section about money on their website is super confusing. I will definitely add it to the list.