Do Arkansas Residents Get In-State Tuition in Wisconsin? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — Arkansas residents pay full non-resident undergraduate tuition in Wisconsin, about $42,100 a year at University of Wisconsin-Madison against $11,600 for residents. There is no exchange program between Arkansas and Wisconsin; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Wisconsin residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $42,100/yr
- Resident pays
- $11,600/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.
This is the common case, and the honest answer is no. Wisconsin charges Arkansas residents its full non-resident undergraduate rate of $42,100, and no regional program bridges the two states.
Seen from Arkansas, this is one option among 50. 13 other states offer Arkansas residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Mississippi at about $9,900, against $10,300 for in-state study at University of Arkansas.
One more angle: some public universities charge non-resident rates that are lower than another state's in-state rate. Comparing Wisconsin's $42,100 against your home options on absolute cost, rather than on residency status, occasionally changes the answer.
Every route from Arkansas to Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin option for you is $42,100 at University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is $31,800 a year more than staying home, or $127,200 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. Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin residency, in brief
Wisconsin grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Wis. Stat. § 36.27), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Wisconsin to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Wisconsin residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Wisconsin-Madison: $42,100 a year against $11,600 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: Wisconsin requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Universities of Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin?
No. Arkansas residents pay the full non-resident rate of $42,100 at University of Wisconsin-Madison. The only route to the $11,600 in-state rate is establishing Wisconsin residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Wis. Stat. § 36.27), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would undergraduate study in Wisconsin actually cost an Arkansas resident?
About $42,100 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Wisconsin-Madison, against $11,600 for a Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin, 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 Wisconsin cheaper than staying in Arkansas?
No. Arkansas's in-state undergraduate rate is $10,300 a year at University of Arkansas, and the cheapest Wisconsin option for an Arkansas resident is $42,100, so Wisconsin costs about $31,800 more a year, or $127,200 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.
- Universities of Wisconsin — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Wisconsin-Madison — 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 Wisconsin-Madison’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 (MHEC, SREB). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Universities of Wisconsin, Wis. Stat. § 36.27. 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.