Do Arkansas Residents Get In-State Tuition in Texas? (Community College, 2026)
Yes — Arkansas and Texas run Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver, so Arkansas residents can pay the Texas in-state community college rate of about $3,300 a year instead of the $8,300 non-resident rate at Texas public community colleges. Check the current terms before you apply.
- You would pay
- $3,300/yr
- Resident pays
- $3,300/yr
- Non-resident rate
- $8,300/yr
- Saved over 2 yrs
- $10,000
Conditional: Limited to students living in counties along the shared border — check the county list first.
Tuition and mandatory fees only, compiled from published rates and rounded. Excludes housing, books and course differentials. Eligibility is decided by the institution, not by this page.
Open this pair in the checker to switch level, compare other states, or copy a link to the result.
Bilateral agreements are rarer than students assume, and this is one of them. Under Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver, an Arkansas resident at Texas public community colleges pays about $3,300 rather than the $8,300 non-resident rate.
Arkansas residents start from $3,900 a year, the in-state community college rate at Arkansas two-year colleges. Measured against that, Texas costs $600 a year less than staying home. Texas is the only state where Arkansas residents have a reduced community college rate.
Treat the figure below as a planning number rather than a quote. Rates are set per campus and per college within the campus, and a program in engineering or nursing frequently carries a differential the headline rate does not include.
Every route from Arkansas to Texas
| Route | What it gives you | Per year | Saving | Guaranteed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver | Texas statute lets designated public institutions waive non-resident tuition for students from specified counties in the four bordering states. It flows one way — into Texas — and it is a waiver granted by the institution, not a reciprocal exchange. | $3,300 | $5,000 | Conditional |
Where Arkansas residents pay less
Staying home, an Arkansas resident pays $3,900 a year for in-state community college tuition at Arkansas two-year colleges. The cheapest Texas option for you is $3,300 at Texas public community colleges, which is $600 a year less than Arkansas's own in-state rate at Arkansas two-year colleges.
Arkansas belongs to none of the four regional tuition compacts at community college level, but one state offers Arkansas residents a reduced rate through a state or campus agreement. It does take part in Academic Common Market at undergraduate and graduate level.
Arkansas's neighboring states, compared
What an Arkansas resident pays for community college tuition in each state that borders Arkansas, cheapest first:
- Texas$3,300/yr · Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver
- Mississippi$6,900/yr · non-resident
- Missouri$7,300/yr · non-resident
- Louisiana$8,600/yr · non-resident
- Oklahoma$11,300/yr · non-resident
- Tennessee$19,300/yr · non-resident
Compare all 50 states from Arkansas in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Texas residency, in brief
Texas grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Tex. Educ. Code § 54.052), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Texas to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Texas residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Read the current terms of Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver — bilateral agreements are renegotiated and can narrow to specific campuses or majors between academic years.
- Apply through the channel the agreement specifies; several are administered by the home state's higher-education agency, not by the receiving campus.
- Provide proof of Arkansas residency in the form the agreement requires.
- If you fall outside the agreement's scope, fall back to the residency route: 12 months of Texas domicile.
Official links
Related
Asked and answered
›Do Arkansas residents get in-state tuition in Texas?
Effectively yes, through Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver, but it is not residency. You pay the in-state rate of about $3,300 while remaining an Arkansas resident for every other purpose, and the benefit ends if you leave the approved program.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Texas?
Texas requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Tex. Educ. Code § 54.052), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would community college study in Texas actually cost an Arkansas resident?
About $3,300 a year in tuition and mandatory fees under Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver, against $8,300 at the published non-resident rate and $3,300 for a Texas resident. Over 2 years that is roughly $10,000 saved. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Arkansas residents get reduced community college tuition?
Only in Texas, through Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver, at about $3,300 a year.
›Is studying in Texas cheaper than staying in Arkansas?
On tuition, yes. The cheapest Texas option for an Arkansas resident is $3,300 a year, which is $600 below Arkansas's own in-state rate of $3,900 at Arkansas two-year colleges. Housing and travel are not included.
Sources
Every eligibility rule on this page is checked against the operating compact commission or the state's own residency authority. Last verified 2026-08-07.
Tuition figures on this page are compiled 2025–26 published rates (basis: published compiled), rounded to the nearest $100 and refreshed each June. Eligibility rules are checked against the cited compact commission or residency authority.
- Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- Arkansas Division of Higher Education — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
How this page was made
Compiled and checked by Billy Reiner, editor of In-State Check. Last verified 2026-08-07.
- Compiled from published rate pages
- The in-state and non-resident figures are tuition and mandatory fees for one full-time year, read from Texas public community colleges’s own 2025–26 rate page and rounded to the nearest $100. Housing, books, travel and course-specific differentials are not included in them.
- Checked against the administering body
- Compact membership at this level was checked against the commission that runs the program (WICHE, MHEC, SREB and NEBHE). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Tex. Educ. Code § 54.052. Nothing here is taken from another comparison site.
Not advice. In-State Check is independent of every college, compact and state agency named here. Residency classification and award decisions are made by the institution you apply to. Found an error? Send the page URL and the source that contradicts it to [email protected], and the page is corrected and re-dated. Full methodology.