A kid studying engineering--and who will actually graduate!--doesn't need to come out of school debt-free. $20K-40K in fed debt wouldn't worry me there.

OP, a smart move may be to send your kids to community college for two years, then transfer into a Virginia in-state school

Anonymous wrote:I anticipate having saved approximately $75,000 per child in college funds by the time they graduate from high school in three years from now. In practical terms, if they choose to pursue a STEM field such as engineering or science, which colleges should I consider as a Virginia resident, taking into account affordability, both in-state and out-of-state options?

Don’t forget you will have an additional 3 years of stuffing the fund beyond 75k at start of freshman year. Coupled with the potential of lowered costs living off campus, your student pursuing a part time job during school year, summer jobs etc, I think most VA colleges might be manageable.

Look beyond the official cost of attendance but parse through it and deduct expenses that might not apply.

Anonymous wrote:Something within commuting distance of your house, and allow them to still live at your home while going to college?
George Mason is excellent (and rising!) for STEM fields.

The Virginia public schools average at least $25k/year when you include housing/meal costs.

GMU and UVA are both more. UVA is now $37K for College of Arts & Sciences (UVA's largest college), all in. That's in-state. We received no merit aid and no financial aid (other than $5700 unsubsidized federal loan) at both. So at least $148K. Virginia Tech is less but increasingly a difficult school to get into if you are not first-gen or URM

Agree with all said before. Definitely consider housing costs beyond first year on campus.
UMW and VCU are very generous with merit. UMW has good science facilities but not engineering.
And wondering about VCU room and board beyond that.