Do you live outside of Tennessee? You could be exempt from out-of-state fees based on one of the criteria below:

• You live in one of these counties bordering Tennessee:
  • Alabama - Jackson County
  • Georgia - Catoosa, Dade, Murray, Walker, Whitfield, or Fannin County
     
• Military personnel and their spouses stationed in the State of Tennessee because of military orders are not required to pay out-of-state tuition, as long as they are stationed in Tennessee for a reason other than seeking an education.
• Students who work full-time in Tennessee and attend class part-time will be charged in-state tuition. These students must provide an employer verification form (available online) when paying their fees each semester.
• Lawfully present students who are only taking online classes (and who do not qualify for a better tuition rate because of one of the classifications explained above) may qualify for a special tuition eRate. Information is available on the bursar's web site.

How to Determine your Residency Status

The following determines in-state and out-of-state status for fees and tuition purposes:

• Everyone domiciled* in Tennessee is classified in-state for fee, tuition, and admission purposes.
• Everyone not domiciled in Tennessee is classified out-of-state for said purposes.
• The domicile of an "unemancipated person"** is that of his or her parent (i.e., father or mother, or non-parental guardian or legal custodian provided the guardianship or custodianship was not created primarily to create in-state status).
• Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) students who are out-of-state residents do not pay additional fees because of residency.
• Unemancipated students of divorced parents are in-state when one parent, regardless of custodial status, is domiciled in Tennessee.
• A graduate of any out-of-state high school must prove Tennessee residency before receiving in-state tuition status.
• The spouse of a student classified as in-state shall also be classified as in-state.
• International students will pay out-of-state tuition and cannot establish Tennessee residency.
• Students classified by Immigration as a Permanent Resident, Resident Alien, Refugee, or Immigrant may be charged in-state fees if domiciled in Tennessee.
• Part-time students who are not domiciled in Tennessee but who are employed full-time in Tennessee are classified out-of-state but are not required to pay out-of-state tuition. The student must provide proper documentation each semester.

* Domicile—a person's true, fixed, and permanent home and place of habitation; it is the place where he or she intends to remain, and to which he or she expects to return when he or she leaves without intending to establish a new domicile elsewhere.
** Emancipated person—a person who is eighteen years old, and whose parents have entirely surrendered the right to his/her care, custody, and earnings and are no longer under any legal obligation to support or maintain him/her.