My son considered attending becoming a Cyclone when he graduated HS in 2009. As an Illinois resident, ISU was offering what was called an "Excellence in Academics" scholarship, for which they had two levels. The lower level required an ACT of 26, and a number of specific course requirements, and earned you a $4500/year scholarship (for 4 years). The higher lever required a ACT of 28 plus additional course requirements (4 years of math, science, etc..) and earned you a $6000/year scholarship (for 4 years). He qualified for the higher amount. ISU then offered an additional $1000/year as the child of an ISU grad. So his total was $7K/year. At the time ISU's out of state tuition was +/- $18K, for a net of about $11K. He ended up at University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana), which has the highest tuition rate of all the Illinois state schools. At the time, his in-state tuition was between $12 and $13K. But then he ended up in the College of Business, where they add a $4500 annual surchange (same for engineering, and less for other science majors). So ISU would have been a lower cost option for him. Not sure they continue to offer these scholarships but they helped offset the out of state penalty for Illinois kids. UIUC engineering and business schools are also have very strict admission requirements (especially for kids from the Chicago suburbs) so if you interested in those fields, ISU is a great alternative. (and a more beautiful campus with a better football and basketball team).