Do Missouri Residents Get In-State Tuition in South Carolina? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — Missouri residents pay full non-resident undergraduate tuition in South Carolina, about $36,300 a year at University of South Carolina against $13,700 for residents. There is no exchange program between Missouri and South Carolina; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing South Carolina residency, which takes 12 months.
- You would pay
- $36,300/yr
- Resident pays
- $13,700/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.
There is no agreement between these two states at undergraduate level. The full non-resident rate applies: $36,300 at University of South Carolina, where a resident pays $13,700.
9 other states offer Missouri residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Iowa at about $10,201. At home, in-state undergraduate tuition is $12,400 at University of Missouri, so South Carolina works out at $23,900 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 Missouri to South Carolina
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at undergraduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Missouri residents pay less
Staying home, a Missouri resident pays $12,400 a year for in-state undergraduate tuition at University of Missouri. The cheapest South Carolina option for you is $36,300 at University of South Carolina, which is $23,900 a year more than staying home, or $95,600 over 4 years.
Missouri belongs to Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) at undergraduate level, so 9 of 50 states offer Missouri undergraduate students a reduced rate. South Carolina is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Missouri to Iowa | UNI Neighboring State Rate · University of Northern Iowa | $10,201 |
| Missouri to Kentucky | Kentucky Regional Reciprocity Agreements · University of Kentucky | $13,700 |
| Missouri to Nebraska | Midwest Student Exchange Program · University of Nebraska-Lincoln | $15,450 |
| Missouri to North Dakota | Midwest Student Exchange Program · University of North Dakota | $16,650 |
| Missouri to Wisconsin | Midwest Student Exchange Program · University of Wisconsin-Madison | $17,400 |
Missouri's neighboring states, compared
What a Missouri resident pays for undergraduate tuition in each state that borders Missouri, cheapest first:
- Iowa$10,201/yr · UNI Neighboring State Rate
- Kentucky$13,700/yr · Kentucky Regional Reciprocity Agreements
- Nebraska$15,450/yr · Midwest Student Exchange Program
- Kansas$18,000/yr · Midwest Student Exchange Program
- Arkansas$29,700/yr · non-resident
- Oklahoma$29,800/yr · non-resident
- Tennessee$33,700/yr · non-resident
- Illinois$38,000/yr · non-resident
Compare all 50 states from Missouri in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
South Carolina residency, in brief
South Carolina grants in-state tuition after 12 months of domicile before the term begins (S.C. Code Ann. § 59-112-20), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to South Carolina to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
South Carolina residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of South Carolina: $36,300 a year against $13,700 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: South Carolina requires 12 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the South Carolina Commission on 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 Missouri residents get in-state tuition in South Carolina?
No. Missouri residents pay the full non-resident rate of $36,300 at University of South Carolina. The only route to the $13,700 in-state rate is establishing South Carolina residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in South Carolina?
South Carolina requires 12 months of domicile before the term begins (S.C. Code Ann. § 59-112-20), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would undergraduate study in South Carolina actually cost a Missouri resident?
About $36,300 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of South Carolina, against $13,700 for a South Carolina resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can Missouri residents get reduced undergraduate tuition?
In 9 states at undergraduate level. Outside South Carolina, the lowest are Iowa ($10,201), Kentucky ($13,700), Nebraska ($15,450). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in South Carolina cheaper than staying in Missouri?
No. Missouri's in-state undergraduate rate is $12,400 a year at University of Missouri, and the cheapest South Carolina option for a Missouri resident is $36,300, so South Carolina costs about $23,900 more a year, or $95,600 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.
- South Carolina Commission on Higher Education — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of South Carolina — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Missouri — 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 South Carolina’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 South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, S.C. Code Ann. § 59-112-20. 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.