By many accounts Northern Arizona University has a very credible degree program in industrial and emerging technologies. It attracts students from all across the land, and out of state residents are paying a $28,650 tuition. Californians are in luck here, because a program available to students in select western states caps their tuition at participating publicly operated schools at no more than 150 percent of their in-state rate. A Californian, in this instance, would pay tuition of $17,532. That’s a discount of 40 percent over what out of staters typically would pay.
This program is called the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), and is managed by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). It was set up in 1987 to make college more affordable and accessible to students in the West. Find them at wiche.edu/tuition-savings/wue.
Through WUE, students from the WICHE region can choose from hundreds of undergraduate programs across the West. More than 160 public colleges and universities offer reduced tuition rates through WUE to qualifying students. Participating schools offer these discounted rates to help students avoid the full cost of pursuing higher education outside their home state and minimize the impact of student loan debt.
Not all public schools in the region participate in WUE. And among those who do, some exclude certain fields of study. Some offer the program only at select campuses. The University of Colorado, for instance, does not participate in WUE at its main campus in Boulder but does in Colorado Springs and Denver, as well as at its Anschutz Medical Campus.
Transfer students typically are welcomed. And many two-year schools participate.
Not an undergraduate? You still can work this program with the WRGP graduate school program, which is a cousin to the WUE process. And there is a special program nicknamed PSEP for students enrolling in health science programs.
All in all, this is a pretty simple process. Here are some steps to follow if you’re interested:
Check eligibility. You must be a resident of the WICHE region, and applying for a school in it. The school must offer a WUE rate.
Check schools and degrees. WUE rates may not apply to every major offered at a school. At the University of Arizona, for instance, WUE is available only for mining and natural resources programs.
Meet your school’s WUE requirements. Each school administers WUE differently. They may require a minimum GPA, exclude majors, or limit the number of students awarded the WUE rate.
Apply for admission. Admission deadlines vary by school and there may be early deadlines for WUE students. Contact the school’s admissions, financial aid or scholarship office to let them know you want the WUE rate. There may be separate application forms for WUE students.
WUE-eligible locations include 15 U.S. states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai’i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming) and three U.S. territories (the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa).
For more information, visit www.wiche.edu/our-region.
By Steve Dinnen
