Do North Dakota Residents Get In-State Tuition in Arkansas? (Undergraduate, 2026)
No — North Dakota residents pay full non-resident undergraduate tuition in Arkansas, about $29,700 a year at University of Arkansas against $10,300 for residents. There is no exchange program between North Dakota and Arkansas; the only route to the in-state rate is establishing Arkansas residency, which takes 6 months.
- You would pay
- $29,700/yr
- Resident pays
- $10,300/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 North Dakota and Arkansas. That leaves two routes to a lower rate: an institutional scholarship from the campus itself, or 6 months of Arkansas domicile.
North Dakota residents start from $11,100 a year, the in-state undergraduate rate at University of North Dakota. Measured against that, Arkansas costs $18,600 a year more than staying home. 21 other states offer North Dakota residents a reduced undergraduate rate, the lowest being Wyoming at about $10,050.
If the gap decides the question, price the alternative honestly — two years at a North Dakota public institution followed by transfer is the route that most often closes a $19,400 annual difference.
Every route from North Dakota to Arkansas
No exchange program or bilateral agreement connects these two states at undergraduate level, so the route table is empty.
Where North Dakota residents pay less
Staying home, a North Dakota resident pays $11,100 a year for in-state undergraduate tuition at University of North Dakota. The cheapest Arkansas option for you is $29,700 at University of Arkansas, which is $18,600 a year more than staying home, or $74,400 over 4 years.
North Dakota belongs to Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) and Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) at undergraduate level, so 21 of 50 states offer North Dakota undergraduate students a reduced rate. Arkansas is not one of them.
| State | Route | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota to Wyoming | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Wyoming | $10,050 |
| North Dakota to Montana | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Montana | $12,000 |
| North Dakota to Nevada | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of Nevada, Las Vegas | $13,350 |
| North Dakota to New Mexico | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of New Mexico | $13,350 |
| North Dakota to South Dakota | Western Undergraduate Exchange · University of South Dakota | $13,600 |
North Dakota's neighboring states, compared
What a North Dakota resident pays for undergraduate tuition in each state that borders North Dakota, cheapest first:
- Montana$12,000/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
- South Dakota$13,600/yr · Western Undergraduate Exchange
- Minnesota$16,500/yr · Minnesota-Dakotas Tuition Reciprocity
Compare all 50 states from North Dakota in the checker. Each figure is one reference campus per state, not a state average.
Arkansas residency, in brief
Arkansas grants in-state tuition after 6 months of domicile before the term begins (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-60-204), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile. Moving to Arkansas to enroll does not by itself start the clock.
Arkansas residency requirements in full · how long every state requires
Step by step
- Budget for the non-resident rate at University of Arkansas: $29,700 a year against $10,300 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: Arkansas requires 6 months of domicile, and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile, so the family would need to move.
- Read the Arkansas Division 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 North Dakota residents get in-state tuition in Arkansas?
No. North Dakota residents pay the full non-resident rate of $29,700 at University of Arkansas. The only route to the $10,300 in-state rate is establishing Arkansas residency.
›How long does it take to get in-state tuition in Arkansas?
Arkansas requires 6 months of domicile before the term begins (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-60-204), and a financially dependent student takes the parents' domicile.
›How much would undergraduate study in Arkansas actually cost a North Dakota resident?
About $29,700 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Arkansas, against $10,300 for an Arkansas resident. Figures are compiled 2025–26 published rates and exclude housing, books and course-specific differentials.
›Where can North Dakota residents get reduced undergraduate tuition?
In 21 states at undergraduate level. Outside Arkansas, 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 Arkansas cheaper than staying in North Dakota?
No. North Dakota's in-state undergraduate rate is $11,100 a year at University of North Dakota, and the cheapest Arkansas option for a North Dakota resident is $29,700, so Arkansas costs about $18,600 more a year, or $74,400 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.
- Arkansas Division of Higher Education — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Arkansas — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of North Dakota — 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 Arkansas’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, MHEC, SREB). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Arkansas Division of Higher Education, Ark. Code Ann. § 6-60-204. 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.