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Approved program

A specific degree an exchange program has cleared for reduced tuition, usually because your home state's public colleges do not offer it.

The Academic Common Market, WRGP and NEBHE Tuition Break all gate eligibility on the degree rather than on the student. The program has to appear on a published inventory, and that inventory is specific to your home state.

Approval is per degree program, not per field. A marine biology degree being approved does not make general biology at the same campus eligible, and the lists are revised annually.

Changing your major after enrollment normally ends eligibility from the following term, at which point the non-resident rate applies.

See also

Regional tuition compactNon-resident tuitionAll termsResidency rules by state

Asked and answered

›What does "approved program" mean for in-state tuition?

A specific degree an exchange program has cleared for reduced tuition, usually because your home state's public colleges do not offer it.

›Why does approved program matter?

Approval is per degree program, not per field. A marine biology degree being approved does not make general biology at the same campus eligible, and the lists are revised annually.

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
Every dollar figure on this site is tuition and mandatory fees for one full-time year, read from the named reference institution’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 is checked against the commission that runs each program (WICHE, MHEC, SREB and NEBHE), and every residency rule against the issuing state authority or statute. 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.