In-State Tuition in Tennessee: Residency Rules and Out-of-State Rates (Graduate, 2026)
To get in-state tuition in Tennessee you need 12 months of Tennessee domicile before the term begins (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0240-02-02). In-state graduate tuition is $14,000 a year at UT Knoxville Graduate School, against $33,000 for non-residents. Tennessee participates in ACM.
- You would pay
- $14,000/yr
- Resident pays
- $14,000/yr
- Non-resident rate
- $33,000/yr
- Residency worth over 2 yrs
- $38,000
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.
Tennessee charges $14,000 a year for in-state graduate study at UT Knoxville Graduate School and $33,000 for everyone else. Tennessee takes part in ACM, which is the only route to a lower rate that does not require moving.
Tennessee classifies a student as a resident after 12 months of domicile. 12 months of continuous physical presence in Tennessee 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 Tennessee resident pays elsewhere is a different question from what an arriving student pays here, and the two are rarely symmetric.
What Tennessee charges, and who pays less
| Route | What it gives you | Per year | Saving | Guaranteed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee residency | You pay the published resident rate once you meet the state's residency test. | $14,000 | $19,000 | Yes, if eligible |
Tennessee residency requirements
| Durational requirement | 12 months of domicile before the term begins |
|---|---|
| Domicile test | 12 months of continuous physical presence in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 |
|
| Authority | Tennessee Higher Education Commission ↗(Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0240-02-02) |
Step by step
- Confirm you meet the Tennessee domicile test: 12 months of continuous physical presence in Tennessee 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 Tennessee Higher Education Commission 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 — Tennessee assigns a dependent student the parents' domicile, so the parents must qualify.
Official links
Coming to Tennessee from another state
Direction matters. These cover the exact move into Tennessee at graduate level:
All 50 origin states
Leaving Tennessee to study elsewhere
What a Tennessee resident pays in each of the other 50 states:
All 50 destination states
Tennessee at other levels
Asked and answered
›What are the residency requirements for in-state tuition in Tennessee?
12 months of continuous physical presence in Tennessee 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 Tennessee Higher Education Commission under Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0240-02-02. Classification is made by the institution you enroll at, not centrally.
›How much is out-of-state tuition in Tennessee?
$33,000 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at UT Knoxville Graduate School for 2025–26, against $14,000 for a resident — a gap of $19,000. Rates differ by campus and by college within a campus.
›Which tuition exchange programs does Tennessee belong to?
Tennessee participates in ACM 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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.
- Tennessee Higher Education Commission — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Board of Regents community colleges — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- UT Knoxville 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 UT Knoxville 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). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0240-02-02. 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.