Do Hawaii Residents Get In-State Tuition in Tennessee? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — Hawaii residents pay full non-resident undergraduate tuition in Tennessee, about $33,700 a year at University of Tennessee, Knoxville against $14,100 for residents. There is no exchange program between Hawaii and Tennessee; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Tennessee residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $33,700/yr
- Resident pays
- $14,100/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.
Hawaii and Tennessee sit in different compact regions, so nothing connects them. A Hawaii resident at University of Tennessee, Knoxville pays $33,700 a year against $14,100 for a Tennessee resident — a gap of $19,600.
Seen from Hawaii, this is one option among 50. 14 other states offer Hawaii residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Wyoming at about $10,050, against $12,600 for in-state study at University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
One more angle: some public universities charge non-resident rates that are lower than another state's in-state rate. Comparing Tennessee's $33,700 against your home options on absolute cost, rather than on residency status, occasionally changes the answer.
Every route from Hawaii to Tennessee
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at undergraduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Hawaii residents pay less
Staying home, a Hawaii resident pays $12,600 a year for in-state undergraduate tuition at University of Hawai'i at Manoa. The cheapest Tennessee option for you is $33,700 at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, which is $21,100 a year more than staying home, or $84,400 over 4 years.
Hawaii belongs to Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) at undergraduate level, so 14 of 50 states offer Hawaii undergraduate students a reduced rate. Tennessee is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii to Wyoming | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Wyoming | $10,050 |
| Hawaii to Montana | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Montana | $12,000 |
| Hawaii to Nevada | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Nevada, Las Vegas | $13,350 |
| Hawaii to New Mexico | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of New Mexico | $13,350 |
| Hawaii to South Dakota | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of South Dakota | $13,600 |
Compare all 50 states from Hawaii in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Tennessee residency, in brief
Tennessee grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0240-02-02), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Tennessee to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Tennessee residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Tennessee, Knoxville: $33,700 a year against $14,100 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: Tennessee requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Tennessee Higher Education Commission 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 Hawaii residents get in-state tuition in Tennessee?
No. Hawaii residents pay the full non-resident rate of $33,700 at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The only route to the $14,100 in-state rate is establishing Tennessee residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Tennessee?
Tennessee requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0240-02-02), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would undergraduate study in Tennessee actually cost a Hawaii resident?
About $33,700 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, against $14,100 for a Tennessee resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Hawaii residents get reduced undergraduate tuition?
In 14 states at undergraduate level. Outside Tennessee, 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 Tennessee cheaper than staying in Hawaii?
No. Hawaii's in-state undergraduate rate is $12,600 a year at University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and the cheapest Tennessee option for a Hawaii resident is $33,700, so Tennessee costs about $21,100 more a year, or $84,400 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.
- Tennessee Higher Education Commission — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Hawai'i at Manoa — 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 Tennessee, Knoxville’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 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.