Do South Dakota Residents Get In-State Tuition in Missouri? (Graduate, 2026)
No — South Dakota residents pay full non-resident graduate tuition in Missouri, about $26,600 a year at University of Missouri Graduate School against $11,300 for residents. There is no exchange program between South Dakota and Missouri; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Missouri residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $26,600/yr
- Resident pays
- $11,300/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.
The two states belong to different regional systems, and the regional systems do not interoperate. Expect the published non-resident rate at University of Missouri Graduate School: $26,600.
South Dakota residents start from $10,300 a year, the in-state graduate rate at USD Graduate School. Measured against that, Missouri costs $16,300 a year more than staying home. 15 other states offer South Dakota residents a reduced graduate rate, the lowest being Wyoming at about $7,000.
If the gap decides the question, price the alternative honestly — two years at a South Dakota public institution followed by transfer is the route that most often closes a $15,300 annual difference.
Every route from South Dakota to Missouri
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at graduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where South Dakota residents pay less
Staying home, a South Dakota resident pays $10,300 a year for in-state graduate tuition at USD Graduate School. The cheapest Missouri option for you is $26,600 at University of Missouri Graduate School, which is $16,300 a year more than staying home, or $32,600 over 2 years.
South Dakota belongs to Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) at graduate level, so 15 of 50 states offer South Dakota graduate students a reduced rate. Missouri is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota to Wyoming | Western Regional Graduate Program · University of Wyoming graduate programs | $7,000 |
| South Dakota to Montana | Western Regional Graduate Program · University of Montana Graduate School | $8,000 |
| South Dakota to New Mexico | Western Regional Graduate Program · UNM Graduate Studies | $8,000 |
| South Dakota to Nevada | Western Regional Graduate Program · UNLV Graduate College | $9,000 |
| South Dakota to Utah | Western Regional Graduate Program · University of Utah Graduate School | $9,300 |
South Dakota's neighboring states, compared
What a South Dakota resident pays for graduate tuition in each state that borders South Dakota, cheapest first:
- Wyoming$7,000/yr · Western Regional Graduate Program
- Montana$8,000/yr · Western Regional Graduate Program
- North Dakota$12,700/yr · Western Regional Graduate Program
- Minnesota$20,000/yr · Minnesota-Dakotas Tuition Reciprocity
- Nebraska$28,300/yr · non-resident
- Iowa$31,600/yr · non-resident
Compare all 50 states from South Dakota in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Missouri residency, in brief
Missouri grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Mo. Code Regs. tit. 6, § 10-3.010), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Missouri to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Missouri residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Missouri Graduate School: $26,600 a year against $11,300 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: Missouri requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development 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 South Dakota residents get in-state tuition in Missouri?
No. South Dakota residents pay the full non-resident rate of $26,600 at University of Missouri Graduate School. The only route to the $11,300 in-state rate is establishing Missouri residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Missouri?
Missouri requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Mo. Code Regs. tit. 6, § 10-3.010), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would graduate study in Missouri actually cost a South Dakota resident?
About $26,600 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Missouri Graduate School, against $11,300 for a Missouri resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can South Dakota residents get reduced graduate tuition?
In 15 states at graduate level. Outside Missouri, the lowest are Wyoming ($7,000), Montana ($8,000), New Mexico ($8,000). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Missouri cheaper than staying in South Dakota?
No. South Dakota's in-state graduate rate is $10,300 a year at USD Graduate School, and the cheapest Missouri option for a South Dakota resident is $26,600, so Missouri costs about $16,300 more a year, or $32,600 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.
- Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Missouri Graduate School — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- USD 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 University of Missouri 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 (WICHE, MHEC). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, Mo. Code Regs. tit. 6, § 10-3.010. 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.