Do Montana Residents Get In-State Tuition in Tennessee? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — Montana 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 Montana 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.
Neither a regional compact nor a bilateral agreement links Montana and Tennessee. That leaves two routes to a lower rate: an institutional scholarship from the campus itself, or 12 months of Tennessee domicile.
14 other states offer Montana residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Wyoming at about $10,050. At home, in-state undergraduate tuition is $8,000 at University of Montana, so Tennessee works out at $25,700 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 Montana to Tennessee
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at undergraduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where Montana residents pay less
Staying home, a Montana resident pays $8,000 a year for in-state undergraduate tuition at University of Montana. The cheapest Tennessee option for you is $33,700 at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, which is $25,700 a year more than staying home, or $102,800 over 4 years.
Montana belongs to Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) at undergraduate level, so 14 of 50 states offer Montana undergraduate students a reduced rate. Tennessee is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Montana to Wyoming | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Wyoming | $10,050 |
| Montana to Nevada | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Nevada, Las Vegas | $13,350 |
| Montana to New Mexico | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of New Mexico | $13,350 |
| Montana to South Dakota | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of South Dakota | $13,600 |
| Montana to Alaska | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Alaska Fairbanks | $13,950 |
Montana's neighboring states, compared
What a Montana resident pays for undergraduate tuition in each state that borders Montana, cheapest first:
- Wyoming$10,050/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
- South Dakota$13,600/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
- Idaho$14,100/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
- North Dakota$16,650/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
Compare all 50 states from Montana 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 Montana residents get in-state tuition in Tennessee?
No. Montana 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 Montana 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 Montana residents get reduced undergraduate tuition?
In 14 states at undergraduate level. Outside Tennessee, the lowest are Wyoming ($10,050), Nevada ($13,350), New Mexico ($13,350). Each figure is one reference campus, and awards are made campus by campus.
›Is studying in Tennessee cheaper than staying in Montana?
No. Montana's in-state undergraduate rate is $8,000 a year at University of Montana, and the cheapest Tennessee option for a Montana resident is $33,700, so Tennessee costs about $25,700 more a year, or $102,800 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 Montana — 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.