Do Massachusetts Residents Get In-State Tuition in California? (Graduate, 2026)
No — Massachusetts residents pay full non-resident graduate tuition in California, about $29,600 a year at UC Berkeley Graduate Division against $14,300 for residents. There is no exchange program between Massachusetts and California; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing California residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $29,600/yr
- Resident pays
- $14,300/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. California charges Massachusetts residents its full non-resident graduate rate of $29,600, and no regional program bridges the two states.
Seen from Massachusetts, this is one option among 50. 5 other states offer Massachusetts residents a reduced graduate rate, the lowest being Maine at about $17,500, against $17,300 for in-state study at UMass Amherst Graduate School.
One more angle: some public universities charge non-resident rates that are lower than another state's in-state rate. Comparing California's $29,600 against your home options on absolute cost, rather than on residency status, occasionally changes the answer.
Every route from Massachusetts to California
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at graduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Massachusetts residents pay less
Staying home, a Massachusetts resident pays $17,300 a year for in-state graduate tuition at UMass Amherst Graduate School. The cheapest California option for you is $29,600 at UC Berkeley Graduate Division, which is $12,300 a year more than staying home, or $24,600 over 2 years.
Massachusetts belongs to New England Regional Student Program (Tuition Break) (Tuition Break) at graduate level, so 5 of 50 states offer Massachusetts graduate students a reduced rate. California is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts to Maine | New England Regional Student Program · University of Maine Graduate School | $17,500 |
| Massachusetts to Rhode Island | New England Regional Student Program · URI Graduate School | $26,250 |
| Massachusetts to New Hampshire | New England Regional Student Program · UNH Graduate School | $29,750 |
| Massachusetts to Connecticut | New England Regional Student Program · UConn Graduate School | $32,550 |
| Massachusetts to Vermont | New England Regional Student Program · UVM Graduate College | $33,250 |
Massachusetts's neighboring states, compared
What a Massachusetts resident pays for graduate tuition in each state that borders Massachusetts, cheapest first:
- New York$25,000/yr · non-resident
- Rhode Island$26,250/yr · New England Regional Student Program
- New Hampshire$29,750/yr · New England Regional Student Program
- Connecticut$32,550/yr · New England Regional Student Program
- Vermont$33,250/yr · New England Regional Student Program
Compare all 50 states from Massachusetts in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
California residency, in brief
California grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Cal. Educ. Code § 68017), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to California to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
California residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at UC Berkeley Graduate Division: $29,600 a year against $14,300 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: California requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the University of California / California State University 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 Massachusetts residents get in-state tuition in California?
No. Massachusetts residents pay the full non-resident rate of $29,600 at UC Berkeley Graduate Division. The only route to the $14,300 in-state rate is establishing California residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in California?
California requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Cal. Educ. Code § 68017), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would graduate study in California actually cost a Massachusetts resident?
About $29,600 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at UC Berkeley Graduate Division, against $14,300 for a California resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Massachusetts residents get reduced graduate tuition?
In 5 states at graduate level. Outside California, the lowest are Maine ($17,500), Rhode Island ($26,250), New Hampshire ($29,750). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in California cheaper than staying in Massachusetts?
No. Massachusetts's in-state graduate rate is $17,300 a year at UMass Amherst Graduate School, and the cheapest California option for a Massachusetts resident is $29,600, so California costs about $12,300 more a year, or $24,600 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.
- University of California / California State University — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- UC Berkeley Graduate Division — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- UMass Amherst 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 UC Berkeley Graduate Division’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, NEBHE). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against University of California / California State University, Cal. Educ. Code § 68017. 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.