So I live in the Midwest US in the Great Plains area and I am looking to find research schools in the Great Plains with an average cost after aid of under (Family makes 52k/year) 12.5k/year including housing. Does anyone know of a website I can sort by average cost post aid?
What state are you actually in? I don't know of any resources that will rank schools by average cost after aid in a way that's accessible—primarily because it's not a very useful metric (because it's an average, the results would vary widely). You're better off checking specific schools and using their net calculators to see your approximate price. But you can try this article, if you haven't seen it yet: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/paying-for-college-infographic.
But realistically, if you need a school that will be less than 12.5K/year and you're dead-set on public schools, you need to look either entirely within your own state or at schools that are part of MSEP. There's very little chance you would be able to go to an out-of-state school for anywhere near that cost without some kind of tuition reciprocity, and out-of-state public schools that don't have a reciprocity program will rarely award enough aid to get you close to that point.
For context as well, 12.5k per year including housing more or less means you're looking for a tuition bill of $0.00 and a room-and-board cost that's partially covered by scholarships, because room-and-board is usually something like $14-15k/yr. Might be less in the Midwest because of lower cost of living, but it would still at least be around that amount. By that, any school that does not already have very low tuition and/or would not give you a full-tuition scholarship is more or less out of reach.
Also, while you're just over the eligibility limit for Pell Grants (zeroes out at 50k/yr), you should look into your state's grant, funding, or scholarship programs. Most states have their own grant programs that are worthwhile if you're planning on attending an in-state public school. For example, here's Nebraska's: https://ccpe.nebraska.gov/nebraska-opportunity-grant-nog. If that's not your state (was my best guess), google "[state name] college grant programs"
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Ah thanks it doesn’t have to be public but besides ultra selective schools they are not cheap after aid. I generally want post aid to be under 18k ish and then I can do work coops etc.
Most schools I looked at housing is just around 10k and other expenses are 2.5k ish. I have a few scholarships in mind and will apply to May on portals but after work study and other things I want to pay just about under 12k/year
Thank you!