(For the USA) Why is in-state tuition usually a lot cheaper then out-of-state tuition, do they not want people from different states to go to their university, and is this limited to state universities or any universities.

Question

(For the USA) Why is in-state tuition usually a lot cheaper then out-of-state tuition, do they not want people from different states to go to their university, and is this limited to state universities or any universities.

In: Other

Answer 1

Basically its the same idea as public vs private schools for K-12. By virtue of being a resident of that state, a benefit is that taxpayer dollars are pooled together to help subsidize your undergrad some. But if you elect to go to a private college or go out of state you just forfeit that benefit.

Going to an out of state public school is basically the cost of going to a private school. You don’t get any special subsidies other than scholarships.