In-State Tuition in Washington: Residency Rules and Out-of-State Rates (Community College, 2026)
To get in-state tuition in Washington you need 12 months of Washington domicile before the term begins (RCW 28B.15.012). In-state community college tuition is $4,700 a year at Washington community and technical colleges, against $9,700 for non-residents. Washington participates in WUE.
- You would pay
- $4,700/yr
- Resident pays
- $4,700/yr
- Non-resident rate
- $9,700/yr
- Residency worth over 2 yrs
- $10,000
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.
For community college students, Washington prices residency at $5,000 a year — $4,700 against $9,700 at Washington community and technical colleges. Washington takes part in WUE, which is the only route to a lower rate that does not require moving.
Washington classifies a student as a resident after 12 months of domicile. Domicile in Washington for 12 months or more before the first day of classes, with the burden on you to rebut the state's presumption that a student who arrives to enroll is present only for educational purposes. Classification is decided by the institution you enroll at, and a financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile.
This page covers all 50 origin states. Direction matters: what a Washington resident pays elsewhere is a different question from what an arriving student pays here, and the two are rarely symmetric.
What Washington charges, and who pays less
| Route | What it gives you | Per year | Saving | Guaranteed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington residency | You pay the published resident rate once you meet the state's residency test. | $4,700 | $5,000 | Yes, if eligible |
Washington residency requirements
| Durational requirement | 12 months of domicile before the term begins |
|---|---|
| Domicile test | Domicile in Washington for 12 months or more before the first day of classes, with the burden on you to rebut the state's presumption that a student who arrives to enroll is present only for educational purposes. |
| Dependent students | A financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile. If your parents are not Washington residents, you are not one either, regardless of where you live. |
| Independent students | A financially independent adult can establish domicile on their own record. |
| Named exceptions |
|
| Authority | Washington Student Achievement Council ↗(RCW 28B.15.012) |
Step by step
- Confirm you meet the Washington domicile test: Domicile in Washington for 12 months or more before the first day of classes, with the burden on you to rebut the state's presumption that a student who arrives to enroll is present only for educational purposes.
- Gather the documents the Washington Student Achievement Council asks for — a driver's license, voter registration, vehicle registration and a 12-month record of physical presence are the usual set.
- File the residency classification form with the campus registrar before the term's deadline; classification is decided by the institution, not by the state.
- If you are financially dependent, check whose domicile counts — Washington assigns a dependent student the parents' domicile, so the parents must qualify.
Official links
Coming to Washington from another state
Direction matters. These cover the exact move into Washington at community college level:
All 50 origin states
Leaving Washington to study elsewhere
What a Washington resident pays in each of the other 50 states:
All 50 destination states
Washington at other levels
Asked and answered
›What are the residency requirements for in-state tuition in Washington?
Domicile in Washington for 12 months or more before the first day of classes, with the burden on you to rebut the state's presumption that a student who arrives to enroll is present only for educational purposes. The durational requirement is 12 months, administered by the Washington Student Achievement Council under RCW 28B.15.012. Classification is made by the institution you enroll at, not centrally.
›How much is out-of-state tuition in Washington?
$9,700 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at Washington community and technical colleges for 2025–26, against $4,700 for a resident — a gap of $5,000. Rates differ by campus and by college within a campus.
›Which tuition exchange programs does Washington belong to?
Washington participates in WUE at community college level. Membership is a state-level commitment; each campus then decides whether to offer the program and which majors it opens.
›Can I get in-state tuition in Washington after one year of living there?
12 months of domicile is the requirement, but time alone is not enough. You have to show you moved to live in Washington rather than to attend college there — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and state tax filing are the evidence campuses ask for. A financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile regardless.
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
- University of Washington — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- Washington community and technical colleges — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Washington Graduate School — 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.