University of Washington Out-of-State Tuition

Hey all,
My name is Dylan and I am currently a junior in high school. As of right now the University of Washington is at the top of my list, and it would be my dream to go there. However, sadly I’m from California and would have to pay the outrageously expensive out-of-state tuition if I am accepted and choose to attend UW. I am aware that you are able to gain residency after an arduous process to lower the cost of tuition to the in-state level, but is it possible to begin this process during my sophomore year? On the UW website I noticed it stated that you must change documents “within 30 days of arrival to Washington” but this is very vague and does not provide much description. The reason I ask this is because I wish to live in the dorms my freshman year, but obviously you can’t gain residency without a place of your own (but in my sophomore year I would be living in an apartment and working; essentially financially independent from my parents, which would coincide with the process of gaining residency). I am perfectly okay with paying out-of-state tuition freshman and even sophomore year, but I’m just wondering if I can go through the process my sophomore year rather than do it right away freshman year. Additionally, to anyone who is an out-of-state student attending UW or planning to, do you know of any ways to lower tuition besides third party scholarships? I know that UW doesn’t offer many scholarships and it really sucks, mostly because I know this is one of my top choices and I will be in a lot of debt. Sigh.

Very unlikely. Most often the residency for tuition purposes of those under 24 is that of their parents. If your parents live in California, you are a California resident for tuition purposes.

It may still be possible after a year or two at UW. You’ll have to cut your CA ties, i.e., relinquish your CA driver’s license, not have CA bank accounts, not be a dependent of your parents, stay in WA year-round, etc. It is difficult, especially if you are dependent from your parents for help with the college costs. UW college yearly costs are still quite a bit cheaper than a private college like USC. Son, a 5th year senior, after 4 years at UW, is about to graduate from UW. He had a great high tech job offer, when he graduates, in the Seattle area which he turned down.

In addition to the things UCBUSCalum mentioned, I believe that during the year that you are establishing residency you cannot be going to school. So the savings of in-state tuition would be somewhat offset by delaying graduation for a year. Presumably the salary you would make during this gap year would be less than what you would make after graduation. Not sure how you would get the year off cleared with the school to make sure they take you back afterwards.

It’s more complicated than that. As a college student, you’re considered a dependent of parents living in CA. Unless you got married, joined the military, or turned 24 and established residency in WA, you’re not going to get in-state tuition. There are plenty of great schools in CA.

Coolguy40 is absolutely right, and to make sure OP sees his comment I’m reposting the key point:

“Unless you got married, joined the military, or turned 24 and established residency in WA, you’re not going to get in-state tuition.”

People try to get around residency rules all the time. And discover that universities are full of very smart people, lawyers and admissions representatives who have seen every trick in the book.

Bottom line: it’s usually very expensive to go out of state to a public university. And certainly in the case of a Californian wanting to go to U Wash

Given that it is very difficult for CA students to change their WA residency, as mentioned, for Californians going to UW, the costs are still about 15 to 20K a year less than a private college like USC. UC’s are about 15 to 20K cheaper per year than UW. However, by attending UW, one is at a renowned research institution with many high ranked programs and UW is a “comprehensive university” with a wide broad range of majors. Also, UW is a big time university in a big time sports conference, the Pac 12 Conference. The only UC’s that match this are UC Berkeley and UCLA. The two CA private schools, Stanford and USC also match this. UCSD and the midtier UC’s (UCD, UCSB and UCI) are highly regarded and ranked, but they don’t match the diversity of opportunities that UW offers. You’ll have to weight in the costs and what you can afford and make your decision. Maybe the cost of UW is not worth it when you can attend a UC (other than UCB or UCLA, which are very difficult to get into even for the top high school students).

Also, if you are fortunate enough you may receive the Purple & Gold scholarship which will help reduce the cost. Good luck!

You should

  1. Do not plan on getting in-state status anywhere besides California. As noted in post #4, it's not just where you live, it's where your parents live unless you are 24, married, a veteran, or in grad school.
  2. Have a money talk with your parents so you clearly know what you can afford. Run the net price calculators on college websites to see if they are in that range.
  3. What is it that you like about UW? As noted in post #6, there are some universities in California that have UW's all around excellence. However, you personally will only have one major, sometimes two. When you expand your list to include schools that are good for what it is you actually want to do in college, as opposed to colleges that are good for everything you could think of, the list of possibilities in California will be longer.