<p>when schools say that their "in-state price" is something like $38,000 and their "out-of-state" price is $50,000, what exactly does that mean?</p>
<p>Not a dumb question…</p>
<p>Public state-owned universities are subsidized by that state’s taxpayers. Therefore, the residents of that state get to pay the lower “in-state” rate for tuition. Students who come from other states, must pay the out-of-state (OOS) rate. </p>
<p>Pay close attention to these details. Some colleges list the OOS as one big price…and some list one OOS price that must be ADDED to the “in-state rate” (UC’s do this). Sometimes attending a state U as an OOS student can be just as expensive as going to a private school (UMich and UTexas come to mind). But, some states don’t charge OOS that much, and a FEW will waive the extra tuition if your stats are high.</p>
<p>Private schools generally don’t have these differing rates. Cornell is an exception because NY gave it some land, so NY residents get a bit of a discount.</p>