Out-of-state tuition at flagship universities for 2026-27 ranges from $13,616 at the University of South Dakota to $67,096 at the University of Michigan. Across all 50 state flagships, the median out-of-state student pays $38,800 a year in tuition and fees -- about three times the median in-state rate of $12,835. Every figure below comes from the school's own published 2026-27 rate schedule (or its governing board's approved schedule), not a third-party estimate.
Flagship out-of-state tuition, 2026-27: the key numbers
- Median out-of-state tuition and fees: $38,800 (in-state median: $12,835)
- Median out-of-state premium: $23,162 a year over the in-state rate
- Over $50,000: only three flagships -- Michigan ($67,096), Virginia ($62,054) and UC Berkeley ($57,484)
- Under $30,000: six -- South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Idaho and LSU
- Biggest multiple: University of Florida charges out-of-state students 5.4 times its in-state rate ($34,616 vs. $6,436), and UNC Chapel Hill 5.3 times ($49,593 vs. $9,351)
For the full ranked lists, see the cheapest out-of-state flagships and the biggest in-state vs. out-of-state gaps.
Out-of-state tuition at all 50 flagships (2026-27)
Annual tuition plus mandatory fees for a full-time first-year undergraduate, fall plus spring. New York lists two schools because SUNY designates both Buffalo and Stony Brook as flagships.
| State | University | In-state | Out-of-state | Out-of-state premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | University of Alabama | $12,718 | $36,724 | $24,006 (2.9x) |
| Alaska | University of Alaska Fairbanks | $11,730 | $30,450 | $18,720 (2.6x) |
| Arizona | University of Arizona | $13,906 | $44,338 | $30,432 (3.2x) |
| Arkansas | University of Arkansas | $10,916 | $33,184 | $22,268 (3.0x) |
| California | UC Berkeley | $18,214 | $57,484 | $39,270 (3.2x) |
| Colorado | CU Boulder | $15,014 | $46,058 | $31,044 (3.1x) |
| Connecticut | UConn | $21,574 | $44,242 | $22,668 (2.1x) |
| Delaware | University of Delaware | $18,290 | $45,020 | $26,730 (2.5x) |
| Florida | University of Florida | $6,436 | $34,616 | $28,180 (5.4x) |
| Georgia | University of Georgia | $11,628 | $33,298 | $21,670 (2.9x) |
| Hawaii | University of Hawaii at Manoa | $12,674 | $34,706 | $22,032 (2.7x) |
| Idaho | University of Idaho | $9,824 | $29,300 | $19,476 (3.0x) |
| Illinois | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | $16,682 | $39,358 | $22,676 (2.4x) |
| Indiana | Indiana University Bloomington | $12,144 | $42,703 | $30,559 (3.5x) |
| Iowa | University of Iowa | $11,971 | $34,247 | $22,276 (2.9x) |
| Kansas | University of Kansas | $12,909 | $32,844 | $19,935 (2.5x) |
| Kentucky | University of Kentucky | $14,177 | $35,846 | $21,669 (2.5x) |
| Louisiana | LSU | $12,966 | $29,643 | $16,677 (2.3x) |
| Maine | University of Maine | $14,300 | $39,410 | $25,110 (2.8x) |
| Maryland | University of Maryland | $12,835 | $44,086 | $31,251 (3.4x) |
| Massachusetts | UMass Amherst | $19,212 | $43,299 | $24,087 (2.3x) |
| Michigan | University of Michigan | $18,896 | $67,096 | $48,200 (3.6x) |
| Minnesota | University of Minnesota Twin Cities | $18,371 | $42,407 | $24,036 (2.3x) |
| Mississippi | University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) | $10,378 | $31,168 | $20,790 (3.0x) |
| Missouri | University of Missouri (Mizzou) | $16,162 | $39,324 | $23,162 (2.4x) |
| Montana | University of Montana | $9,750 | $34,894 | $25,144 (3.6x) |
| Nebraska | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | $11,472 | $31,542 | $20,070 (2.7x) |
| Nevada | University of Nevada, Reno | $11,079 | $31,268 | $20,189 (2.8x) |
| New Hampshire | University of New Hampshire | $20,172 | $41,864 | $21,692 (2.1x) |
| New Jersey | Rutgers-New Brunswick | $19,389 | $40,839 | $21,450 (2.1x) |
| New Mexico | University of New Mexico | $11,575 | $34,724 | $23,149 (3.0x) |
| New York | University at Buffalo | $11,036 | $33,036 | $22,000 (3.0x) |
| New York | Stony Brook University | $10,930 | $34,910 | $23,980 (3.2x) |
| North Carolina | UNC Chapel Hill | $9,351 | $49,593 | $40,242 (5.3x) |
| North Dakota | University of North Dakota | $12,289 | $17,479 | $5,190 (1.4x) |
| Ohio | Ohio State University | $14,050 | $44,271 | $30,221 (3.2x) |
| Oklahoma | University of Oklahoma | $10,485 | $29,163 | $18,678 (2.8x) |
| Oregon | University of Oregon | $17,475 | $47,466 | $29,991 (2.7x) |
| Pennsylvania | Penn State | $21,518 | $45,214 | $23,696 (2.1x) |
| Rhode Island | University of Rhode Island | $18,080 | $39,746 | $21,666 (2.2x) |
| South Carolina | University of South Carolina | $12,988 | $38,800 | $25,812 (3.0x) |
| South Dakota | University of South Dakota | $9,916 | $13,616 | $3,700 (1.4x) |
| Tennessee | University of Tennessee, Knoxville | $14,024 | $34,478 | $20,454 (2.5x) |
| Texas | UT Austin | $10,858 | $42,554 | $31,696 (3.9x) |
| Utah | University of Utah | $11,166 | $36,368 | $25,202 (3.3x) |
| Vermont | University of Vermont | $19,996 | $49,713 | $29,717 (2.5x) |
| Virginia | University of Virginia | $20,782 | $62,054 | $41,272 (3.0x) |
| Washington | University of Washington | $14,340 | $46,256 | $31,916 (3.2x) |
| West Virginia | West Virginia University | $11,564 | $32,756 | $21,192 (2.8x) |
| Wisconsin | UW-Madison | $12,416 | $45,932 | $33,516 (3.7x) |
| Wyoming | University of Wyoming | $8,532 | $25,392 | $16,860 (3.0x) |
How these out-of-state tuition figures were built
Each number is the school's own 2026-27 sticker price, checked against its bursar, registrar, financial aid office or board-approved rate schedule in October 2026. To keep the schools comparable:
- Tuition plus mandatory fees, for a full-time first-year student in a general (base-rate) program.
- Left out: student health insurance that can be waived, one-time new-student fees, and extra charges for specific majors. Those surcharges can be large -- UIUC, Maryland, CU Boulder and Penn State all charge engineering or business majors more -- so each school's own page here notes them.
- Where a school charges by the credit, the figure assumes 15 credits a term (UND caps tuition at 12).
- A few schools publish only a combined figure (Florida, Michigan, Idaho, Montana, LSU, UT Austin), so no tuition-vs-fees split is shown for them.
- Some rates are locked by entering class. UC, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio State and others freeze the rate you start with -- see which flagships guarantee tuition.
These are prices before financial aid. Many flagships also give out-of-state merit scholarships, and some cut the out-of-state rate entirely for certain students.
Ways to pay less than the out-of-state rate
The listed out-of-state rate isn't always what out-of-state students actually pay:
- Regional exchanges. Through the Western Undergraduate Exchange, students from Western states pay no more than 150% of in-state tuition at participating schools -- Idaho's published WUE rate is $13,538, less than half its regular $29,300. The Midwest, South and New England have their own programs -- see tuition exchange programs explained and which one your state can use.
- In-state rate for some out-of-state students. South Dakota charges its in-state rate to new students from 11 states, and Texas A&M and other Texas publics can waive out-of-state tuition for competitive-scholarship winners. See public universities that charge out-of-state students in-state tuition.
- Admissions odds matter too. Some flagships cap nonresident enrollment, so the out-of-state applicant pool is far tougher -- see in-state vs. out-of-state acceptance rates.
For California's other campuses, see UC out-of-state tuition by campus.