Residency For Tuition Purposes

Washington residency law is codified in RCW 28B.15 and further explained in WAC 250-18. A student's eligibility for resident classification for tuition purposes often depends on how their circumstance corresponds with Washington law at the time of admission for their most current or upcoming enrollment. Residency requirements vary from one purposes to another. An individual may be considered a Washington resident for voting or identification purposes, but still not qualify for in-state tuition (or vice versa).

The Admissions Office determines your residency classification at time of admission. Your residency classification generally will remain the same throughout your continued enrollment at Western and determines the tuition and fee rate each academic term.

If you wish to have your residency classification re-evaluated, you must complete the Residency Questionnaire and submit it with the indicated documentation to the Registrar's Office in person or by email.  Email is the preferred method of submission at this time.

Filing Timeline

The time required to review a petition varies, depending on time of year, term for which the petition is being submitted, completeness of documentation, etc. In most cases, initial reviews for current-term petitions are completed within 10 business days of filing.

Students are strongly encouraged to submit petitions at least 3-4 weeks in advance of the academic quarter for which they are requesting reclassification. Under Washington law, any petition received more than 30 days after the first day of classes in a given term is by default considered for the following term (WAC 250-18-025). Petitions submitted before the filing deadline for a given quarter but with missing/incomplete documentation must be fully completed prior to the end date for the quarter (last day of Finals) in order to still apply for that term.

Petitions may be approved up to 60 days prior to when the residency/domicile requirement is met if other documentation is supportive of resident classification. Petitions filed more than 60 days before the residency/domicile requirement is complete may be put on hold or may require resubmission at a later date.

Filing a petition before the recommended period often results in a significant processing delay, as current-term residency reviews are given first priority.

Please contact our office with any questions.

Active duty service members, veterans, and their dependents and spouses are often eligible for resident tuition rates while attending Western. This includes most individuals who:

• Are eligible for military-related educational benefits (G.I. Bill, DEA, VR&E, etc.), regardless of current home state
• Currently are stationed in Washington or who were stationed in WA within the last three years (or a spouse or dependent), regardless of current home state
• Separated in the last 3 years with at least 10 years honorable service (or spouse or dependent), regardless of current home state
• Entered service as a WA resident and are stationed out of state, but have retained WA domicile--WA tax state on LES, WA license, WA voter registration, etc. (or spouse or dependent)

In most cases, your eligibility for military-related residency must be documented before you can be classified as a resident. Students are responsible for notifying the university if they believe they are eligible for reclassification as a resident by filing a petition with the Veteran Services Office.

For more information on veteran status concerning Washington State Residency, please visit Veterans Services. 

Filing deadlines for military/veteran residency are the same as for all other residency petitions.

American Indian students who meet the following two conditions are eligible to pay resident tuition at colleges and universities in Washington State:

1. They are a member of a federally recognized tribe whose traditional and customary tribal boundaries included portions of the state of Washington, or whose tribe was granted reserved lands within the state of Washington.
    
2. For a period of one year immediately prior to enrollment at a state institution of higher education, they must have been domiciled in one of, or a combination of, the following states: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington.

Please email the Registrar's Office residency mailbox if you think you may be eligible for resident tuition rates based on tribal membership.

Western does not have residency reciprocity agreements that extend in-state tuition to students from neighboring states.

Western is a participant in the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program. This program provides funding to offset the non-resident cost for qualifying students. WUE recipients still remain classified as non-residents for tuition purposes, but the scholarship reduces the non-resident tuition cost significantly (to about 150% of the resident rate). 

• Not every student from a WUE-eligible state will receive a WUE waiver.
• Western's WUE program is our most prestigious non-resident scholarship and is highly competitive.
• WUE is available only to first-year, fall-admit students from certain Western states, territories, or participating nations. 

Other programs to reduce costs for select out-of-state students are available at WWU and are open to students from all states.

More information on WUE and other WWU scholarship programs for first-year, out-of-state students can be found on the Admissions website.