Do Louisiana Residents Get In-State Tuition in Wisconsin? (Graduate, 2026)
No — Louisiana residents pay full non-resident graduate tuition in Wisconsin, about $26,000 a year at UW-Madison Graduate School against $12,400 for residents. There is no exchange program between Louisiana and Wisconsin; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Wisconsin residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $26,000/yr
- Resident pays
- $12,400/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. Wisconsin charges Louisiana residents its full non-resident graduate rate of $26,000, and no regional program bridges the two states.
Seen from Louisiana, this is one option among 50. 14 other states offer Louisiana residents a reduced graduate rate, the lowest being Arkansas at about $9,500, against $10,300 for in-state study at LSU Graduate School.
One more angle: some public universities charge non-resident rates that are lower than another state's in-state rate. Comparing Wisconsin's $26,000 against your home options on absolute cost, rather than on residency status, occasionally changes the answer.
Every route from Louisiana to Wisconsin
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at graduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Louisiana residents pay less
Staying home, a Louisiana resident pays $10,300 a year for in-state graduate tuition at LSU Graduate School. The cheapest Wisconsin option for you is $26,000 at UW-Madison Graduate School, which is $15,700 a year more than staying home, or $31,400 over 2 years.
Louisiana belongs to Academic Common Market (ACM) at graduate level, so 14 of 50 states offer Louisiana graduate students a reduced rate. Wisconsin is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana to Arkansas | Academic Common Market · University of Arkansas Graduate School | $9,500 |
| Louisiana to Mississippi | Academic Common Market · University of Mississippi Graduate School | $9,800 |
| Louisiana to Oklahoma | Academic Common Market · OU Graduate College | $10,300 |
| Louisiana to Texas | Academic Common Market · UT Austin Graduate School | $12,000 |
| Louisiana to West Virginia | Academic Common Market · WVU graduate programs | $12,000 |
Louisiana's neighboring states, compared
What a Louisiana resident pays for graduate tuition in each state that borders Louisiana, cheapest first:
- Arkansas$9,500/yr · Academic Common Market
- Mississippi$9,800/yr · Academic Common Market
- Texas$12,000/yr · Academic Common Market
Compare all 50 states from Louisiana in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Wisconsin residency, in brief
Wisconsin grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Wis. Stat. § 36.27), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Wisconsin to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Wisconsin residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at UW-Madison Graduate School: $26,000 a year against $12,400 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: Wisconsin requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Universities of Wisconsin 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 Louisiana residents get in-state tuition in Wisconsin?
No. Louisiana residents pay the full non-resident rate of $26,000 at UW-Madison Graduate School. The only route to the $12,400 in-state rate is establishing Wisconsin residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Wis. Stat. § 36.27), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would graduate study in Wisconsin actually cost a Louisiana resident?
About $26,000 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at UW-Madison Graduate School, against $12,400 for a Wisconsin resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Louisiana residents get reduced graduate tuition?
In 14 states at graduate level. Outside Wisconsin, the lowest are Arkansas ($9,500), Mississippi ($9,800), Oklahoma ($10,300). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Wisconsin cheaper than staying in Louisiana?
No. Louisiana's in-state graduate rate is $10,300 a year at LSU Graduate School, and the cheapest Wisconsin option for a Louisiana resident is $26,000, so Wisconsin costs about $15,700 more a year, or $31,400 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.
- Universities of Wisconsin — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- UW-Madison Graduate School — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- LSU 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 UW-Madison Graduate School’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 (MHEC, SREB). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Universities of Wisconsin, Wis. Stat. § 36.27. 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.