Do Minnesota Residents Get In-State Tuition in Montana? (Community College, 2026)
No — Minnesota residents pay full non-resident community college tuition in Montana, about $12,700 a year at Montana two-year colleges against $4,300 for residents. There is no exchange program between Minnesota and Montana; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Montana residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $12,700/yr
- Resident pays
- $4,300/yr
- Over 2 yrs
- No saving available
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.
This is the common case, and the honest answer is no. Montana charges Minnesota residents its full non-resident community college rate of $12,700, and no regional program bridges the two states.
The comparison that matters is with home: Minnesota State colleges charges a Minnesota resident $6,100 a year. 4 other states offer Minnesota residents a reduced community college rate, the lowest being North Dakota at about $5,200.
The discount most often missed here is institutional. Individual public universities run their own non-resident scholarships, and several effectively convert a strong out-of-state applicant to something near the in-state rate. Those sit outside every state agreement and are invisible on comparison sites.
Every route from Minnesota to Montana
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at community college level, so the route table is empty.
Where Minnesota residents pay less
Staying home, a Minnesota resident pays $6,100 a year for in-state community college tuition at Minnesota State colleges. The cheapest Montana option for you is $12,700 at Montana two-year colleges, which is $6,600 a year more than staying home, or $13,200 over 2 years.
Minnesota belongs to none of the four regional tuition compacts at community college level, but 4 states offer Minnesota residents a reduced rate through a state or campus agreement. It does take part in Midwest Student Exchange Program at undergraduate and graduate level.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota to North Dakota | Minnesota-Dakotas Tuition Reciprocity · North Dakota two-year colleges | $5,200 |
| Minnesota to Wisconsin | Minnesota-Wisconsin Tuition Reciprocity · Wisconsin Technical College System | $5,700 |
| Minnesota to Iowa | Minnesota-Iowa Tuition Reciprocity · Iowa community colleges | $6,000 |
| Minnesota to South Dakota | Minnesota-Dakotas Tuition Reciprocity · South Dakota technical colleges | $6,300 |
Minnesota's neighboring states, compared
What a Minnesota resident pays for community college tuition in each state that borders Minnesota, cheapest first:
- North Dakota$5,200/yr · Minnesota-Dakotas Tuition Reciprocity
- Wisconsin$5,700/yr · Minnesota-Wisconsin Tuition Reciprocity
- Iowa$6,000/yr · Minnesota-Iowa Tuition Reciprocity
- South Dakota$6,300/yr · Minnesota-Dakotas Tuition Reciprocity
Compare all 50 states from Minnesota in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Montana residency, in brief
Montana grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Mont. Admin. R. 20.25.501), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Montana to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Montana residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at Montana two-year colleges: $12,700 a year against $4,300 for residents.
- Check whether the specific campus you want offers its own non-resident scholarship or a border-county waiver — those are institutional, sit outside the state agreements, and are the most commonly missed discount.
- If you plan to stay, price the residency route: Montana requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Montana University System / Board of Regents rules in full before you enroll — classification is decided once, and re-classification later in a degree is the hardest version of this problem.
Official links
Related
Asked and answered
›Do Minnesota residents get in-state tuition in Montana?
No. Minnesota residents pay the full non-resident rate of $12,700 at Montana two-year colleges. The only route to the $4,300 in-state rate is establishing Montana residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Montana?
Montana requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Mont. Admin. R. 20.25.501), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would community college study in Montana actually cost a Minnesota resident?
About $12,700 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at Montana two-year colleges, against $4,300 for a Montana resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Minnesota residents get reduced community college tuition?
In 4 states at community college level. Outside Montana, the lowest are North Dakota ($5,200), Wisconsin ($5,700), Iowa ($6,000). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Montana cheaper than staying in Minnesota?
No. Minnesota's in-state community college rate is $6,100 a year at Minnesota State colleges, and the cheapest Montana option for a Minnesota resident is $12,700, so Montana costs about $6,600 more a year, or $13,200 over 2 years, in tuition and fees alone.
Sources
Every eligibility rule on this page is checked against the operating compact commission or the state's own residency authority. Last verified 2026-09-27.
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.
- Montana University System / Board of Regents — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- Minnesota State colleges — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
How this page was made
Compiled and checked by Billy Reiner, editor of In-State Check. Last verified 2026-09-27.
- Compiled from published rate pages
- The in-state and non-resident figures are tuition and mandatory fees for one full-time year, read from Montana two-year 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). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Montana University System / Board of Regents, Mont. Admin. R. 20.25.501. 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.