Do New York Residents Get In-State Tuition in Washington? (Community College, 2026)
No — New York residents pay full non-resident community college tuition in Washington, about $9,700 a year at Washington community and technical colleges against $4,700 for residents. There is no exchange program between New York and Washington; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Washington residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $9,700/yr
- Resident pays
- $4,700/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. Washington charges New York residents its full non-resident community college rate of $9,700, and no regional program bridges the two states.
The comparison that matters is with home: SUNY community colleges charges a New York resident $5,900 a year. No compact or state agreement in our data reaches New York residents at community college level in any state.
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 New York to Washington
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at community college level, so the route table is empty.
Where New York residents pay less
Staying home, a New York resident pays $5,900 a year for in-state community college tuition at SUNY community colleges. The cheapest Washington option for you is $9,700 at Washington community and technical colleges, which is $3,800 a year more than staying home, or $7,600 over 2 years.
New York belongs to none of the four regional tuition compacts at community college level, and no state or campus agreement in our data reaches New York residents at this level.
| State | Reference campus | Non-resident, per year |
|---|---|---|
| New York to Nebraska | Nebraska community colleges | $4,300 |
| New York to Kansas | Kansas community colleges | $5,100 |
| New York to Arkansas | Arkansas two-year colleges | $5,600 |
| New York to Minnesota | Minnesota State colleges | $6,100 |
| New York to New Mexico | New Mexico community colleges | $6,300 |
New York's neighboring states, compared
What a New York resident pays for community college tuition in each state that borders New York, cheapest first:
- New Jersey$10,600/yr · non-resident
- Massachusetts$12,300/yr · non-resident
- Pennsylvania$12,500/yr · non-resident
- Connecticut$14,800/yr · non-resident
- Vermont$16,300/yr · non-resident
Compare all 50 states from New York in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Washington residency, in brief
Washington grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (RCW 28B.15.012), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Washington to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Washington residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at Washington community and technical colleges: $9,700 a year against $4,700 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: Washington requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Washington Student Achievement Council 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 New York residents get in-state tuition in Washington?
No. New York residents pay the full non-resident rate of $9,700 at Washington community and technical colleges. The only route to the $4,700 in-state rate is establishing Washington residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Washington?
Washington requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (RCW 28B.15.012), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would community college study in Washington actually cost a New York resident?
About $9,700 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at Washington community and technical colleges, against $4,700 for a Washington resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can New York residents get reduced community college tuition?
Nowhere through a compact or state agreement: none reaches New York residents at community college level in our data. The lowest published non-resident rates are in Nebraska ($4,300), Kansas ($5,100), Arkansas ($5,600), and campus scholarships remain worth checking.
›Is studying in Washington cheaper than staying in New York?
No. New York's in-state community college rate is $5,900 a year at SUNY community colleges, and the cheapest Washington option for a New York resident is $9,700, so Washington costs about $3,800 more a year, or $7,600 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 2026-08-07.
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.
- Washington Student Achievement Council — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- Washington community and technical colleges — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- SUNY community 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 2026-08-07.
- Compiled from published rate pages
- The in-state and non-resident figures are tuition and mandatory fees for one full-time year, read from Washington community and technical 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 Washington Student Achievement Council, RCW 28B.15.012. 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.