Do Massachusetts Residents Get In-State Tuition in Louisiana? (Graduate, 2026)
No — Massachusetts residents pay full non-resident graduate tuition in Louisiana, about $27,000 a year at LSU Graduate School against $10,300 for residents. There is no exchange program between Massachusetts and Louisiana; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Louisiana residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $27,000/yr
- Resident pays
- $10,300/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.
There is no agreement between these two states at graduate level. The full non-resident rate applies: $27,000 at LSU Graduate School, where a resident pays $10,300.
Massachusetts residents start from $17,300 a year, the in-state graduate rate at UMass Amherst Graduate School. Measured against that, Louisiana costs $9,700 a year more than staying home. 5 other states offer Massachusetts residents a reduced graduate rate, the lowest being Maine at about $17,500.
If the gap decides the question, price the alternative honestly — two years at a Massachusetts public institution followed by transfer is the route that most often closes a $16,700 annual difference.
Every route from Massachusetts to Louisiana
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 Louisiana option for you is $27,000 at LSU Graduate School, which is $9,700 a year more than staying home, or $19,400 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. Louisiana 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.
Louisiana residency, in brief
Louisiana grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (La. Admin. Code tit. 28, Pt V), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Louisiana to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Louisiana residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at LSU Graduate School: $27,000 a year against $10,300 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: Louisiana requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Louisiana Board of Regents 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 Louisiana?
No. Massachusetts residents pay the full non-resident rate of $27,000 at LSU Graduate School. The only route to the $10,300 in-state rate is establishing Louisiana residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Louisiana?
Louisiana requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (La. Admin. Code tit. 28, Pt V), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would graduate study in Louisiana actually cost a Massachusetts resident?
About $27,000 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at LSU Graduate School, against $10,300 for a Louisiana 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 Louisiana, 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana option for a Massachusetts resident is $27,000, so Louisiana costs about $9,700 more a year, or $19,400 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.
- Louisiana Board of Regents — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- LSU Graduate School — 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 LSU 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 (SREB, NEBHE). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Louisiana Board of Regents, La. Admin. Code tit. 28, Pt V. 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.