Do Arkansas Residents Get In-State Tuition in Montana? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — Arkansas residents pay full non-resident undergraduate tuition in Montana, about $30,600 a year at University of Montana against $8,000 for residents. There is no exchange program between Arkansas and Montana; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Montana residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $30,600/yr
- Resident pays
- $8,000/yr
- Over 4 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.
Neither a regional compact nor a bilateral agreement links Arkansas and Montana. That leaves two routes to a lower rate: an institutional scholarship from the campus itself, or 12 months of Montana domicile.
13 other states offer Arkansas residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Mississippi at about $9,900. At home, in-state undergraduate tuition is $10,300 at University of Arkansas, so Montana works out at $20,300 a year more than staying home.
Worth checking before you accept the non-resident rate: whether the campus offers a border-county waiver, a legacy or alumni rate, or a merit award pegged to the residency gap. These are institutional decisions and they are not published centrally.
Every route from Arkansas to Montana
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at undergraduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Arkansas residents pay less
Staying home, an Arkansas resident pays $10,300 a year for in-state undergraduate tuition at University of Arkansas. The cheapest Montana option for you is $30,600 at University of Montana, which is $20,300 a year more than staying home, or $81,200 over 4 years.
Arkansas belongs to Academic Common Market (ACM) at undergraduate level, so 13 of 50 states offer Arkansas undergraduate students a reduced rate. Montana is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas to Mississippi | Academic Common Market · University of Mississippi | $9,900 |
| Arkansas to West Virginia | Academic Common Market · West Virginia University | $9,900 |
| Arkansas to Texas | Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver · The University of Texas at Austin | $11,700 |
| Arkansas to Maryland | Academic Common Market · University of Maryland, College Park | $11,900 |
| Arkansas to Louisiana | Academic Common Market · Louisiana State University | $12,000 |
Arkansas's neighboring states, compared
What an Arkansas resident pays for undergraduate tuition in each state that borders Arkansas, cheapest first:
- Mississippi$9,900/yr · Academic Common Market
- Texas$11,700/yr · Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver
- Louisiana$12,000/yr · Academic Common Market
- Oklahoma$12,000/yr · Academic Common Market
- Tennessee$14,100/yr · Academic Common Market
- Missouri$31,600/yr · non-resident
Compare all 50 states from Arkansas in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Montana residency, in brief
Montana grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Mont. Admin. R. 20.25.501), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Montana to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Montana residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Montana: $30,600 a year against $8,000 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: Montana requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Montana University System / 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 Arkansas residents get in-state tuition in Montana?
No. Arkansas residents pay the full non-resident rate of $30,600 at University of Montana. The only route to the $8,000 in-state rate is establishing Montana residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Montana?
Montana requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Mont. Admin. R. 20.25.501), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would undergraduate study in Montana actually cost an Arkansas resident?
About $30,600 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Montana, against $8,000 for a Montana resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Arkansas residents get reduced undergraduate tuition?
In 13 states at undergraduate level. Outside Montana, the lowest are Mississippi ($9,900), West Virginia ($9,900), Texas ($11,700). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Montana cheaper than staying in Arkansas?
No. Arkansas's in-state undergraduate rate is $10,300 a year at University of Arkansas, and the cheapest Montana option for an Arkansas resident is $30,600, so Montana costs about $20,300 more a year, or $81,200 over 4 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.
- Montana University System / Board of Regents — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Montana — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Arkansas — 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 Montana’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 Montana University System / Board of Regents, Mont. Admin. R. 20.25.501. 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.