beeegee

when schools say that their "in-state price" is something like $38,000 and their "out-of-state" price is $50,000, what exactly does that mean?

mom2collegekids

Not a dumb question....

Public state-owned universities are subsidized by that state's taxpayers. Therefore, the residents of that state get to pay the lower "in-state" rate for tuition. Students who come from other states, must pay the out-of-state (OOS) rate.

Pay close attention to these details. Some colleges list the OOS as one big price...and some list one OOS price that must be ADDED to the "in-state rate" (UC's do this). Sometimes attending a state U as an OOS student can be just as expensive as going to a private school (UMich and UTexas come to mind). But, some states don't charge OOS that much, and a FEW will waive the extra tuition if your stats are high.


Private schools generally don't have these differing rates. Cornell is an exception because NY gave it some land, so NY residents get a bit of a discount.