My goodness this is so incredibly helpful! I had no idea that summer classes were charged the in state rate regardless of residency status. What a help this would be! I’m open to any and all information you have for tips and tricks of the trade. It’s remarkable how much I am learning from you and the other posters - I am so grateful!
Yes, unlike many other colleges, Utah runs a full semester during the summer, so it is possible to take a full lower level (particularly general Ed) course load (though few upper level courses are offered in some majors). It also helps demonstrate physical presence for residency as you are presumptively present during term time if you are taking in person classes. Even Utah organized study abroad counts as physical presence during the class period.
Also there is a military exception for residency! My son qualified immediately for in state tuition due to my husband’s service in the Army Reserves. Basically any veteran or current military that has a DD214 that shows at least 180 days of service and an honorable or general discharge. My son then was able to use his dorm contract and address for his intent to stay in Utah. The student also must be claimed on the parent’s taxes. It was a nice surprise in the July before he started!
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That is wonderful! My son’s grandfather served, but neither I nor his father did. I’m guessing that means we wouldn’t qualify. What a cool bonus for your family!!!
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Amazing! Thank you so much for the information!!!
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Do you know if the 12 credit requirement is also necessary the second semester? Are they actually going to remove you from the dorms? S21 did exactly this in Texas and it worked fine. Full schedule first semester then only part time the second semester. The key is to find a productive use of the free time…
It’s necessary to keep the scholarship, regardless of what housing does. A couple of semesters D was waiting for a registration code for performance credits after auditions and got a message saying her scholarship couldn’t be applied unless she had registered for at least 12 credits (giving a deadline roughly 2 weeks into the semester to resolve it - in one case I believe she registered for an extra PRT climbing class but only because it was free to her with a full scholarship).
If you don’t have a scholarship then I’m not sure what action HRE would take, but with a housing waiting list I wouldn’t take the risk.
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Not sure how closely they watch. Also usually there are requirements for at least 12 hours for scholarships and financial aid. Also for residency I believe they will check for at least 12 hours the first two semesters
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My son has been accepted for Fall 2023 and received the WUE scholarship. We are very excited and grateful that he is eligible for this significant discount but I can’t figure out how they calculated the amount. His award letter says the scholarship is $14,000 per year, deducted from out-of-state tuition of $31,100. So tuition would be around $17,000 per year. However, on the U website (and for all WUE schools) it says WUE tuition is supposed to be no more than 150% of in-state tuition. I haven’t been able to find the in-state amount for 2023-24 but it was $9,000 last year so that would put WUE tuition at $13,500 - a significant difference. Does anyone know how this is calculated? Does it have something to do with number of credits taken per semester?
Yes, the U charges by credit hour, the calculation is here for residents:
And here for non-residents:
For 12 hours, each semester residents pay $3784 in tuition and $559 in fees whereas non residents pay $13293 in tuition and $559 in fees. WUE will pay $5676 in tuition and $559 in fees, a saving of $7617. Double that for a full year (and expect an increase in tuition next fall).
For 15 hours (ie what’s needed for 120 credits in four years), each semester residents pay $4551 in tuition and $592 in fees whereas non residents pay $15931 in tuition and $592 in fees. WUE will pay $6826 in tuition and $592 in fees, a saving of $9105.
The saving amount is presumably calculated on a 12 credit per semester total, which is how the U used to (under)state its Cost of Attendance. The $31100 total is definitely still an understatement (especially as quite a lot of courses such as labs have supplementary fees, not included in the above numbers). I would budget on around $16000 or so per year for WUE, higher if studying business, unless you intend to take a minimum course load because you have lots of AP credit or are planning to take classes at resident rates over the summer.
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Congratulations!!! Go Utes!!!
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Thank you so much, @Twoin18 for that fantastic info and for doing a bunch of math for me! I am still having trouble figuring out how the net WUE tuition is OOS $31,100 - $14,000 WUE (figures taken from my son’s financial aid offer) = $17,100. Even calculated off 15 credits, the WUE tuition of “150% of in-state,” including fees, would only be $15,429.
Maybe I have been out of school too long and am not figuring this out correctly! Or maybe there is a “hidden cost” I am missing. I should call admissions and ask them how they calculate.
Thanks again! If he chooses U of U instead of our in-state university, I can tell you are a good person to go to with questions!
Those numbers are definitely only estimates, maybe they worked out an average of what everyone pays (some taking 12, others 13, 14, 15 credits etc). Except for business majors you shouldn’t get to $17000 total based on 2022-23 numbers. But note that tuition went up 4.8% last year and a similar increase in 2023 seems plausible:
Also look carefully at the class list for additional fees. The Fall 2023 class schedule should be out in a couple of weeks, but you can view Fall 2022 online:
https://student.apps.utah.edu/uofu/stu/ClassSchedules/main/1228/index.html
It’s easy to end up with a few hundred dollars in class fees each semester on top of the mandatory fees noted above.
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Also a parent of a new Ute. Something I am keeping in mind as we struggle to figure all this out is that if you’re student is going to try for residency for their sophomore year and beyond, your student will need to stay in state during the summer after Freshman year, and tuition for summer classes is charged at in-state rates (regardless of residency status) - so you could take fewer credits in Fall/Spring at the OOS/WUE rates, and then make up for it in Summer at the IS rates - and also be eligible for on-campus housing in the summer. Just something to keep in mind.
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You cannot establish residency and use WUE at the same time.
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This is such a helpful trick of the trade for so many reasons. In addition to it potentially lightening their load for the first 2 semesters, it makes those semesters cheaper since I believe they charge by the credit. So the only year they’d need to pay so much are lower load semesters. This is not something I would have considered before. Thank you and keep the tricks and tips coming!
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Correct - but if they are staying in-state for the summer and taking classes - regardless of whether it’s for establishing residency or otherwise, this is something to keep in mind.
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I tried to figure out how much savings there would be for my son to attend his first year with full OOS tuition and then establish residency to pay in-state tuition the next three years. It really didn’t end up being significantly less than paying WUE tuition (150% of in-state) for all four years. The small amount of savings would probably be offset by cost of housing for that summer after freshman year.
My son was accepted at Utah State and they offered him a $17k merit scholarship for freshman year only, presumably to enable him to decline WUE his first year and establish residency. Has anyone received a scholarship like this from U of U? Unfortunately he was not offered any merit aid from U of U. Not to complain - we are VERY grateful for WUE, as this is the only way U of U is within reach for our family.
If you are confident your son will graduate in four years and can maintain the gpa requirement for WUE then parents say WUE is better. If your son is majoring in engineering and it may take longer than four years then residency is better.
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Also worth considering that if he uses WUE but wants to stay and takes class with friends the first summer at instate rates, he could potentially graduate in 3.5 years, and save several thousand dollars of WUE premium.
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