The SIU Board of Trustees (BOT) approved a change in the SIU Carbondale undergraduate tuition structure that went into effect starting with the 2017-2018 school year.

What is the Undergraduate Tuition Structure for Fall 2017 and beyond?

There is a significant change in undergraduate tuition for those domestic students who are not Illinois residents:  Out-of-state domestic undergraduate students are now being charged the resident (in-state) tuition rate starting Fall 2017.  This change to undergraduate tuition applies not only to incoming domestic undergraduates who start Fall 2017 or later, but also to continuing and re-entering domestic undergraduates who started prior to Fall 2017.

This change also affects the use of various Alternate Tuition Rates (ATRs) that some undergraduates would otherwise have qualified for prior to this change.  Please see the ATR pages for more information.

International undergraduate students continue to be subject to paying a tuition rate that is 2.5 times that of domestic undergraduate students.  Undergraduate students within the College of Business continue to pay their appropriate differential tuition surcharge as well.

This change does not alter the tuition rates for graduate or professional students.  They continue to be charged the appropriate tuition rate that they would have been charged if this change had not gone into effect.

What exactly is a "Domestic" student?

A U.S. citizen or a U.S. national of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or an applicable U.S. territory – Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa – is a domestic student.  Also, one who is designated as a Permanent Resident, one who holds Temporary Protected status, one who holds Asylee status, or one who holds an H4 or K4 visa will be considered a domestic student for the purposes of tuition assessment once all necessary documentation is received to establish this eligibility.  Finally, a DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) or Undocumented student may be considered a domestic student for the purposes of tuition assessment once a completed affadavit and an official U.S. high school transcript is on file showing proof of high school graduation (or GED completion) and at least three years of attendance at that high school while living with a parent or guardian.

The Bottom Line about this Undergraduate Tuition Structure.

A.  Domestic undergraduates who are non-Illinois residents are paying an in-state equivalent tuition rate starting Fall 2017.

B.  Yes, this applies to incoming, continuing, and re-entering non-resident domestic undergraduates.

C.  Yes, there really is nothing additional that the non-resident domestic undergraduate has to do in order for this to happen.

D.  No, this will not automatically make the non-resident domestic undergraduate be considered an Illinois resident.¹

E.  No, this change does not apply to international undergraduates or to domestic or international non-undergraduate students.

¹ The BOT policies concerning Illinois residency status have not changed.  There may be certain advantages to having Illinois residency status, and non-residents would have to go through the process of qualifying for and applying for that status (more information about that is here).