The Mississippi state legislature recently passed a bill that would allow public universities in the state to seek a waiver allowing them to offer in-state tuition rates to students from other states. The tuition waivers would only be permitted for students who are native Mississippians but moved to other states or to veterans of the United States military.
The legislation would allow Mississippi’s three historically Black state-operated universities to recruit students from nearby states with offers of low tuition. Currently, the average tuition cost for in-state students at public universities in Mississippi is $5,419. For students from other states, the average tuition is more than double the in-state rate at $13,637.
Mississippi’s three historically Black state-operated educational institutions are Alcorn State University, Jackson State University, and Mississippi Valley State University.
