Do Louisiana Residents Get In-State Tuition in Massachusetts? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — Louisiana residents pay full non-resident undergraduate tuition in Massachusetts, about $40,100 a year at University of Massachusetts Amherst against $17,400 for residents. There is no exchange program between Louisiana and Massachusetts; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Massachusetts residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $40,100/yr
- Resident pays
- $17,400/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.
Louisiana and Massachusetts sit in different compact regions, so nothing connects them. A Louisiana resident at University of Massachusetts Amherst pays $40,100 a year against $17,400 for a Massachusetts resident — a gap of $22,700.
The comparison that matters is with home: Louisiana State University charges a Louisiana resident $12,000 a year. 13 other states offer Louisiana residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Mississippi at about $9,900.
The discount most often missed here is institutional. Individual public universities run their own non-resident scholarships, and several effectively convert a strong out-of-state applicant to something near the in-state rate. Those sit outside every state agreement and are invisible on comparison sites.
Every route from Louisiana to Massachusetts
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at undergraduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Louisiana residents pay less
Staying home, a Louisiana resident pays $12,000 a year for in-state undergraduate tuition at Louisiana State University. The cheapest Massachusetts option for you is $40,100 at University of Massachusetts Amherst, which is $28,100 a year more than staying home, or $112,400 over 4 years.
Louisiana belongs to Academic Common Market (ACM) at undergraduate level, so 13 of 50 states offer Louisiana undergraduate students a reduced rate. Massachusetts is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana to Mississippi | Academic Common Market · University of Mississippi | $9,900 |
| Louisiana to West Virginia | Academic Common Market · West Virginia University | $9,900 |
| Louisiana to Arkansas | Academic Common Market · University of Arkansas | $10,300 |
| Louisiana to Texas | Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver · The University of Texas at Austin | $11,700 |
| Louisiana to Maryland | Academic Common Market · University of Maryland, College Park | $11,900 |
Louisiana's neighboring states, compared
What a Louisiana resident pays for undergraduate tuition in each state that borders Louisiana, cheapest first:
- Mississippi$9,900/yr · Academic Common Market
- Arkansas$10,300/yr · Academic Common Market
- Texas$11,700/yr · Texas Border-County Tuition Waiver
Compare all 50 states from Louisiana in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Massachusetts residency, in brief
Massachusetts grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (610 CMR 5.00), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Massachusetts to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Massachusetts residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Massachusetts Amherst: $40,100 a year against $17,400 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: Massachusetts requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Massachusetts Department of Higher 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 Louisiana residents get in-state tuition in Massachusetts?
No. Louisiana residents pay the full non-resident rate of $40,100 at University of Massachusetts Amherst. The only route to the $17,400 in-state rate is establishing Massachusetts residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (610 CMR 5.00), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would undergraduate study in Massachusetts actually cost a Louisiana resident?
About $40,100 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Massachusetts Amherst, against $17,400 for a Massachusetts resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Louisiana residents get reduced undergraduate tuition?
In 13 states at undergraduate level. Outside Massachusetts, the lowest are Mississippi ($9,900), West Virginia ($9,900), Arkansas ($10,300). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Massachusetts cheaper than staying in Louisiana?
No. Louisiana's in-state undergraduate rate is $12,000 a year at Louisiana State University, and the cheapest Massachusetts option for a Louisiana resident is $40,100, so Massachusetts costs about $28,100 more a year, or $112,400 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.
- Massachusetts Department of Higher Education — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Massachusetts Amherst — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- Louisiana State University — 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 Massachusetts Amherst’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 (SREB, NEBHE). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, 610 CMR 5.00. 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.