In-State Tuition in North Dakota: Residency Rules and Out-of-State Rates (Graduate, 2026)

Verified 2026-08-072025–26 rates

North Dakota is in:WUE MSEPACMTuition Break

VerdictIn-state tuition

To get in-state tuition in North Dakota you need 12 months of North Dakota domicile before the term begins (N.D. Admin. Code 15-10-17.1). In-state graduate tuition is $12,700 a year at UND School of Graduate Studies, against $19,000 for non-residents. North Dakota participates in WUE, MSEP.

You would pay: $12,700/yr
Resident pays: $12,700/yr
Non-resident rate: $19,000/yr
Residency worth over 2 yrs: $12,600

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.

Coming to North Dakota from a specific state?Pick your home state and the checker returns your exact route and the dollar difference.

North Dakota charges $12,700 a year for in-state graduate study at UND School of Graduate Studies and $19,000 for everyone else. North Dakota takes part in WUE and MSEP, which is the only route to a lower rate that does not require moving.

North Dakota classifies a student as a resident after 12 months of domicile. 12 months of continuous physical presence in North Dakota together with abandonment of your previous state's domicile; presence for the purpose of attending school does not count toward the clock on its own. 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 North Dakota resident pays elsewhere is a different question from what an arriving student pays here, and the two are rarely symmetric.

What North Dakota charges, and who pays less

Routes into North Dakota at UND School of Graduate Studies, graduate level — 2025–26 rates
Route	What it gives you	Per year	Saving	Guaranteed?
North Dakota residency	You pay the published resident rate once you meet the state's residency test.	$12,700	$6,300	Yes, if eligible

North Dakota residency requirements

Residency for tuition purposes in North Dakota, verified 2026-08-07
Durational requirement	12 months of domicile before the term begins
Domicile test	12 months of continuous physical presence in North Dakota together with abandonment of your previous state's domicile; presence for the purpose of attending school does not count toward the clock on its own.
Dependent students	A financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile. If your parents are not North Dakota 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	Active-duty military stationed in North Dakota and their dependents
Authority	North Dakota University System ↗(N.D. Admin. Code 15-10-17.1)

Step by step

Confirm you meet the North Dakota domicile test: 12 months of continuous physical presence in North Dakota together with abandonment of your previous state's domicile; presence for the purpose of attending school does not count toward the clock on its own.
Gather the documents the North Dakota University System 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 — North Dakota assigns a dependent student the parents' domicile, so the parents must qualify.

Official links

North Dakota University System ↗UND School of Graduate Studies tuition ↗North Dakota residency ↗

Coming to North Dakota from another state

Direction matters. These cover the exact move into North Dakota at graduate level:

Alabama → North Dakota Alaska → North Dakota Arizona → North Dakota Arkansas → North Dakota California → North Dakota Colorado → North Dakota Connecticut → North Dakota Delaware → North Dakota District of Columbia → North Dakota Florida → North Dakota Georgia → North Dakota Hawaii → North Dakota Idaho → North Dakota Illinois → North Dakota Indiana → North Dakota Iowa → North Dakota

All 50 origin states

Kansas → North Dakota Kentucky → North Dakota Louisiana → North Dakota Maine → North Dakota Maryland → North Dakota Massachusetts → North Dakota Michigan → North Dakota Minnesota → North Dakota Mississippi → North Dakota Missouri → North Dakota Montana → North Dakota Nebraska → North Dakota Nevada → North Dakota New Hampshire → North Dakota New Jersey → North Dakota New Mexico → North Dakota New York → North Dakota North Carolina → North Dakota Ohio → North Dakota Oklahoma → North Dakota Oregon → North Dakota Pennsylvania → North Dakota Rhode Island → North Dakota South Carolina → North Dakota South Dakota → North Dakota Tennessee → North Dakota Texas → North Dakota Utah → North Dakota Vermont → North Dakota Virginia → North Dakota Washington → North Dakota West Virginia → North Dakota Wisconsin → North Dakota Wyoming → North Dakota

Leaving North Dakota to study elsewhere

What a North Dakota resident pays in each of the other 50 states:

North Dakota → Alabama North Dakota → Alaska North Dakota → Arizona North Dakota → Arkansas North Dakota → California North Dakota → Colorado North Dakota → Connecticut North Dakota → Delaware North Dakota → District of Columbia North Dakota → Florida North Dakota → Georgia North Dakota → Hawaii North Dakota → Idaho North Dakota → Illinois North Dakota → Indiana North Dakota → Iowa

All 50 destination states

North Dakota → Kansas North Dakota → Kentucky North Dakota → Louisiana North Dakota → Maine North Dakota → Maryland North Dakota → Massachusetts North Dakota → Michigan North Dakota → Minnesota North Dakota → Mississippi North Dakota → Missouri North Dakota → Montana North Dakota → Nebraska North Dakota → Nevada North Dakota → New Hampshire North Dakota → New Jersey North Dakota → New Mexico North Dakota → New York North Dakota → North Carolina North Dakota → Ohio North Dakota → Oklahoma North Dakota → Oregon North Dakota → Pennsylvania North Dakota → Rhode Island North Dakota → South Carolina North Dakota → South Dakota North Dakota → Tennessee North Dakota → Texas North Dakota → Utah North Dakota → Vermont North Dakota → Virginia North Dakota → Washington North Dakota → West Virginia North Dakota → Wisconsin North Dakota → Wyoming

North Dakota at other levels

North Dakota — Undergraduate North Dakota — Community College

Asked and answered

›What are the residency requirements for in-state tuition in North Dakota?

12 months of continuous physical presence in North Dakota together with abandonment of your previous state's domicile; presence for the purpose of attending school does not count toward the clock on its own. The durational requirement is 12 months, administered by the North Dakota University System under N.D. Admin. Code 15-10-17.1. Classification is made by the institution you enroll at, not centrally.

›How much is out-of-state tuition in North Dakota?

$19,000 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at UND School of Graduate Studies for 2025–26, against $12,700 for a resident — a gap of $6,300. Rates differ by campus and by college within a campus.

›Which tuition exchange programs does North Dakota belong to?

North Dakota participates in WUE, MSEP at graduate 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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.

North Dakota University System — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
University of North Dakota — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
UND School of Graduate Studies — 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 UND School of Graduate Studies’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, MHEC). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against North Dakota University System, N.D. Admin. Code 15-10-17.1. 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.