Out-of-State Students Paying In-State Tuition

It is common knowledge that college tuition prices are skyrocketing. Every year, it becomes more and more expensive to earn your college degree.
If you go to a college that is in the state you live in, you qualify for in-state tuition, which is usually much cheaper than out-of-state tuition. At the University of California, out-of-state students pay almost $20,000 more each year for tuition than in-state students pay.

So, what if your dream school is in another state? Do you just have to crack open your piggy bank and resign yourself to paying off your college debts until you are 45? Not necessarily.
Some colleges are now offering in-state tuition to out-of-state students. Some schools are allowing students to attend classes and pay tuition as in-state students. After the first year of school, these students are considered state residents.
One school that is practicing this new approach is Southern Illinois University. Southern Illinois University is extending in-state tuition prices to students from Missouri, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Southern Illinois University isn’t the only school that offers this type of discounted tuition to out-of-state students. There are actually four major “exchange” groups throughout the country, and they are based off of geographical boundaries.
The Midwest Student Exchange program allows students from eight states in the Midwest to pick their dream school from more than 140 schools. The Academic Common Market offers similar opportunities to students in the South. The Western Undergraduate Exchange is based in the West, and for students in the Northeast, there is the New England Board of Higher Education Regional Student Program. These programs are relatively new concepts in the higher education field, and as a result, they are not highly advertised so students must do their own research if they are interested.
“There’s kind of a delicate balance here,” said Bruce Chaloux, a director at the Southern Regional Education Board. “We are not trying to promote getting a Georgian to go to a school in Tennesee. That’s not our objective. At the same time, we know that there are Georgians who want to go to school and do not have a program available in the state of Georgia, so we want to encourage them.”
So, if you live in New Jersey and want to attend classes in Maine, you might not have to pay up to three times as much for tuition as a native Mainer. Do a little research and you could end up saving thousands of dollars each semester.
Via USA Today and US News.