Every public university quotes a resident tuition and a nonresident one, and the gap is usually larger than the whole first year looks. Pick your state and a campus to see both — and to see which of the published numbers is actually about your family.
Published by Taspara Solutions LLC, maker of Bloom · Published · Updated
300 public universities, both tuitions, and the caveat that goes with them.
The caveat nobody prints
A public college's published price describes its residents.
Both of the published figures in the federal data — the average net price and the income-bracket net prices — come from a survey that, at a public institution, reports on in-state students only. That is not a footnote. It is the difference between a real number and a number about a family that isn't yours.
Bloom learned this the expensive way. A Texas family read the University of Michigan at $4,895 a year and saw it ranked among the most affordable schools on their list. The figure was accurate; it just belonged to Michigan residents. Since then one function decides whether a published price is allowed to appear next to a family's name, and this page calls the same one.
In-state price, in-state studentsNo sticker for an undetermined rowOne rule, everywhere
Before you count on residency
Three things families get wrong.
The surcharge above is worth four or five figures a year, which makes it the most attractive thing on a college budget to wish away.
Enrolling is not moving
Nearly every state excludes time spent in the state primarily to attend college. Living in the dorm for a year is the classic plan and the classic denial.
The rules are the state's
Domicile periods, financial independence tests and documentation all differ by state and sometimes by system. The registrar's residency office is the authority, not the admissions brochure.
Reciprocity is real but narrow
Regional exchange programs and neighbouring-state agreements can cut the surcharge sharply — usually only for named programs at named campuses. Check the specific pairing, not the region.
Tuition, room and board and net price figures come from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard. Confirm every number with the college before you plan around it.
Inside a family account Bloom prices every college on your student's list in the right residency frame, with your income and aid eligibility already applied.