Do California Residents Get In-State Tuition in Florida? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — California residents pay full non-resident undergraduate tuition in Florida, about $28,700 a year at University of Florida against $6,400 for residents. There is no exchange program between California and Florida; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Florida residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $28,700/yr
- Resident pays
- $6,400/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.
California and Florida sit in different compact regions, so nothing connects them. A California resident at University of Florida pays $28,700 a year against $6,400 for a Florida resident — a gap of $22,300.
Seen from California, this is one option among 50. 14 other states offer California residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Wyoming at about $10,050, against $15,900 for in-state study at University of California, Berkeley.
One more angle: some public universities charge non-resident rates that are lower than another state's in-state rate. Comparing Florida's $28,700 against your home options on absolute cost, rather than on residency status, occasionally changes the answer.
Every route from California to Florida
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at undergraduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where California residents pay less
Staying home, a California resident pays $15,900 a year for in-state undergraduate tuition at University of California, Berkeley. The cheapest Florida option for you is $28,700 at University of Florida, which is $12,800 a year more than staying home, or $51,200 over 4 years.
California belongs to Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) at undergraduate level, so 14 of 50 states offer California undergraduate students a reduced rate. Florida is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| California to Wyoming | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Wyoming | $10,050 |
| California to Montana | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Montana | $12,000 |
| California to Nevada | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Nevada, Las Vegas | $13,350 |
| California to New Mexico | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of New Mexico | $13,350 |
| California to South Dakota | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of South Dakota | $13,600 |
California's neighboring states, compared
What a California resident pays for undergraduate tuition in each state that borders California, cheapest first:
- Nevada$13,350/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
- Arizona$20,400/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
- Oregon$22,650/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
Compare all 50 states from California in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Florida residency, in brief
Florida grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Fla. Stat. § 1009.21), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Florida to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Florida residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Florida: $28,700 a year against $6,400 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: Florida requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Florida Department 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 California residents get in-state tuition in Florida?
No. California residents pay the full non-resident rate of $28,700 at University of Florida. The only route to the $6,400 in-state rate is establishing Florida residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Florida?
Florida requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Fla. Stat. § 1009.21), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would undergraduate study in Florida actually cost a California resident?
About $28,700 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Florida, against $6,400 for a Florida resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can California residents get reduced undergraduate tuition?
In 14 states at undergraduate level. Outside Florida, the lowest are Wyoming ($10,050), Montana ($12,000), Nevada ($13,350). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Florida cheaper than staying in California?
No. California's in-state undergraduate rate is $15,900 a year at University of California, Berkeley, and the cheapest Florida option for a California resident is $28,700, so Florida costs about $12,800 more a year, or $51,200 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.
- Florida Department of Education — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Florida — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of California, Berkeley — 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 Florida’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). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Florida Department of Education, Fla. Stat. § 1009.21. 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.