Do Virginia Residents Get In-State Tuition in Idaho? (Graduate, 2026)
No — Virginia residents pay full non-resident graduate tuition in Idaho, about $28,300 a year at University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies against $9,700 for residents. There is no exchange program between Virginia and Idaho; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Idaho residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $28,300/yr
- Resident pays
- $9,700/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. Idaho charges Virginia residents its full non-resident graduate rate of $28,300, and no regional program bridges the two states.
Seen from Virginia, this is one option among 50. 14 other states offer Virginia residents a reduced graduate rate, the lowest being Arkansas at about $9,500, against $20,000 for in-state study at UVA Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
One more angle: some public universities charge non-resident rates that are lower than another state's in-state rate. Comparing Idaho's $28,300 against your home options on absolute cost, rather than on residency status, occasionally changes the answer.
Every route from Virginia to Idaho
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at graduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Virginia residents pay less
Staying home, a Virginia resident pays $20,000 a year for in-state graduate tuition at UVA Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. The cheapest Idaho option for you is $28,300 at University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies, which is $8,300 a year more than staying home, or $16,600 over 2 years.
Virginia belongs to Academic Common Market (ACM) at graduate level, so 14 of 50 states offer Virginia graduate students a reduced rate. Idaho is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia to Arkansas | Academic Common Market · University of Arkansas Graduate School | $9,500 |
| Virginia to Mississippi | Academic Common Market · University of Mississippi Graduate School | $9,800 |
| Virginia to Louisiana | Academic Common Market · LSU Graduate School | $10,300 |
| Virginia to Oklahoma | Academic Common Market · OU Graduate College | $10,300 |
| Virginia to Texas | Academic Common Market · UT Austin Graduate School | $12,000 |
Virginia's neighboring states, compared
What a Virginia resident pays for graduate tuition in each state that borders Virginia, cheapest first:
- West Virginia$12,000/yr · Academic Common Market
- Kentucky$14,000/yr · Academic Common Market
- Tennessee$14,000/yr · Academic Common Market
- Maryland$16,000/yr · Academic Common Market
- District of Columbia$19,000/yr · non-resident
- North Carolina$30,000/yr · non-resident
Compare all 50 states from Virginia in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Idaho residency, in brief
Idaho grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Idaho Code § 33-3717B), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Idaho to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Idaho residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies: $28,300 a year against $9,700 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: Idaho requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Idaho State Board of Education 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 Virginia residents get in-state tuition in Idaho?
No. Virginia residents pay the full non-resident rate of $28,300 at University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies. The only route to the $9,700 in-state rate is establishing Idaho residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Idaho?
Idaho requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Idaho Code § 33-3717B), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would graduate study in Idaho actually cost a Virginia resident?
About $28,300 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies, against $9,700 for an Idaho resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Virginia residents get reduced graduate tuition?
In 14 states at graduate level. Outside Idaho, the lowest are Arkansas ($9,500), Mississippi ($9,800), Louisiana ($10,300). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Idaho cheaper than staying in Virginia?
No. Virginia's in-state graduate rate is $20,000 a year at UVA Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and the cheapest Idaho option for a Virginia resident is $28,300, so Idaho costs about $8,300 more a year, or $16,600 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.
- Idaho State Board of Education — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- UVA Graduate School of Arts & Sciences — 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 Idaho College 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, SREB). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Idaho State Board of Education, Idaho Code § 33-3717B. 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.