@snoozn WUE seems like it could be a great deal for students in the Western US, and in many cases it can be. However, you’ll notice that many of the most attractive and popular state schools in the West aren’t included in the WUE program. For example, the non-eligible schools include UC Berkeley, UCLA, and most other UCs; popular CSUs like Cal Poly SLO, San Diego State, Long Beach State, SF State, and San Jose State; and top public schools in other Western states like Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, Colorado, and Colorado Mines.
In general, the most popular and prestigious schools – often located in cool metro areas – are the ones the most likely to attract students across long distances. And long-distance students can’t commute, so these schools are the ones most likely to have lots of residential students. Unfortunately, those are also the schools least likely to participate in the WUE program. Why offer discounted tuition to out-of-staters, if you get plenty of applications from out-of-staters willing to pay full price?
In California, the state schools that do participate in WUE tend to be the less popular or prestigious options – often located outside the cool metro areas. Such schools tend to primarily draw local students, which typically means lots of commuters. The exceptions are the more isolated schools that are not within commuting distance of major cities. I personally think that smaller California college towns like Chico, San Luis Obispo, Davis, or Arcata are great places for a traditional residential college experience, but not everyone sees it that way.
Alternatively, there are some metropolitan WUE schools outside of California that might be worth considering, Nevada-Reno, Nevada-Las Vegas, Arizona State (in Phoenix), New Mexico (in Albuquerque), Colorado-Denver, or Colorado-Colorado Springs.