In-State or Out-of-State?

You absolutely could get aid for out of state schools. It depends on the schools and how much funding they have. If you have decent grades, are a first-gen student, lower-income, etc., then many schools may have financial aid available. You should check out the Questbridge program and in general top-tier schools have a lot of funds, though the downside is that they are very selective. It's worth your time to look into.

Beyond that, you should utilize the net price calculator for each school you're interested in to see if it's affordable. Many of them try to give you a rough estimate of the aid they could provide, but some seem like they aren't very accurate so be aware, and treat it as a rough estimate. My son and I keep a spreadsheet of colleges to make it easy to compare them, and net price calculator is a column. Also, be price savvy. Think outside the box and look at schools that are priced well, but still provide great academics. Public schools are usually cheaper versus private.

A probably last resort option-take a gap year and go live/work/intern in the state you want to go to for school to get a jump on becoming a resident so you can get in-state pricing. Be sure to check out the school's definition of what a resident is so you qualify asap along with any other rules they may have in order to qualify for in-state pricing. Good luck!

That's a very valid concern- I'm currently a senior and it's a decision I also struggled with. I would recommend doing research about the out-of-state colleges you would be interested in applying to. Many colleges (especially the more selective ones) have good financial aid and merit scholarships (which you can definitely get even if you're not a resident). What I ended up doing was choosing to apply to several out-of-state schools as well as my in-state school. My intention once I know which ones I've been accepted to is to compare the scholarships/aid that each one will offer me and go from there, although I expect I'll most likely end up out-of-state. I hope that's helpful!