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Cost of in-state vs out-of-state tuition

Public universities often offer substantial discounts to in-state students, making them an affordable option. However, out-of-state tuition can be costly, especially as public schools may meet less of your demonstrated financial need and offer more loans than grants. Surprisingly, private colleges can sometimes be a cheaper alternative than out-of-state public schools.

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  • leaf green style avatar for user Jon Dough
    Why is out-of-state (and international) tuition more? I see many colleges claiming they support diversity, but this isn't making them more diverse by being "affordable" to just in-state students.
    (3 votes)
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    • duskpin sapling style avatar for user E-Ann
      Hi Jon,
      In-state tuition is offered at state-run universities. The simple answer as to why it is cheaper because it is only available to residents (people who live in the state in question). Residents are assumed to pay taxes, therefore they (and/or their parents) are seen as having already paid part of the tuition through past years taxes. Another way of looking at it is that the taxpayers of a certain state want to help pay for the educations of their own children, but not children from out of state (since they think the people from that other state should pay for those children).
      Hope that helps explain it!
      (9 votes)
  • blobby green style avatar for user redcars181
    "Consorshum" is a word?
    (2 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user Avishek Ghimire
    At the ending of the video, what private is she referring to like in state or out ?
    (3 votes)
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  • male robot hal style avatar for user Greg L
    Some states have programs to allow citizens go to colleges in neighboring states at reduced rates, how common is that and how does it work?
    (2 votes)
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  • mr pink green style avatar for user 2045687
    What about in-town or out-of-town tuitions?
    (0 votes)
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    • aqualine tree style avatar for user David Alexander
      That may apply to things like a community college (if these are not covered in a larger "state-based" system). When I was a community college student in Los Angeles many decades ago, I learned that residents of cities that did not "pay into" the Los Angeles Community College district were not admitted, or had to pay market rate tuition. In a similar way, because Los Angeles is surrounded by many independent cities, I could not attend the community colleges in those areas for free. BUT, in some other states, the community colleges are funded by the state government, not the city one. So, check the nature of funding of the college to which you intend to apply. Then you'll know.
      (2 votes)
  • duskpin seedling style avatar for user melodymoy
    It costs a lot to do out of state tuition nowadays if you're planning on going to college far away
    (0 votes)
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    • aqualine tree style avatar for user David Alexander
      It costs a lot to do in-state tuition now, too. If you're from a "little state" (like Rhode Island), everyplace is near. If you're from Texas or California, there is a lot of stuff far away without leaving the state.
      When cost is the concern, you might want to consider starting at a community college, to keep your costs down for the initial two years. You might also want to consider an accredited online program available through the University of the People or Saylor.org These would not offer you the "4-years-of-life-in-the-dormitory" experience, though.
      (1 vote)

Video transcript

- So, for a lot of students, public universities and colleges within their state are going to be the cheapest schools for them because states are going to give substantial discounts to students who reside within their state. And in addition, there are a number of consortiums of public universities within various regions in the United States, so there's, for instance, the Western Undergraduate Exchange which is a consortium of public schools in the west that give students in that entire region good price discounts. However, one thing you have to be really careful about is that if you are looking at public universities or colleges outside of your state, you will not get these price discounts for in-state tuition. Therefore, public schools out of state can actually be the most expensive schools for students, because number one, you're paying out-of-state prices. Number two, public schools are the schools, often, that are going to meet a lesser percentage of your demonstrated financial need. And number three, often, public schools are the schools that are gonna give more of their money away in the form of loans that you have to pay back at interest instead of money in the form of grants and scholarships, which you don't have to pay back. So what's interesting is that sometimes, private colleges and universities can be a cheaper alternative for students than public out-of-state schools.