State Guides

Start with where you will study, then check the exact university and program. Your residence, the college’s location, your tuition classification and your intended practice state answer different questions. Use these guides to organize the evidence before applying or paying a deposit.

Choose a resident guide

Our first guides cover New York, Florida and California. Each addresses decisions a resident needs to make, including institutions located elsewhere. They explain the relevant state resources and questions to ask; they do not certify that every listed institution can enroll every resident.

Keep four state questions separate

• Study location: where will you physically be while taking classes, including during your initial enrollment period? Give the institution an accurate answer and ask how its location policy applies if you move.
• College location: where is the awarding institution based? This can help with campus visits or local connections, but it does not establish permission to enroll from another state.
• Tuition residence: has the institution classified you for its resident rate, and does that classification affect the particular graduate program’s price? A mailing address alone does not settle the question.
• Professional destination: if you want a licensed or certified occupation, which state’s requirements and which exact credential are you investigating? Enrollment permission and eventual professional eligibility are separate checks.

The distinction between location and professional-program enrollment matters under the Department of Education’s certification procedures guidance. For tuition, consult the relevant public system or institution rather than assuming the same residency definition applies nationwide.

Use residence as a research context

Open the default program finder with New York, Florida or California as your residence context. It searches federal college and master’s-level field records, which can group several named degrees. Residence is context only: it does not restrict this federal list or confirm permission to enroll.

The separate college-location choice answers a different search question. For example, Florida residence with a New York college location lets you investigate that combination. Clear the college-location choice to compare institutions elsewhere without changing where you plan to study. Verify current offerings, exact degree titles, prerequisites and attendance with the college.

For a separate set of named program profiles, switch to Reviewed online programs. That view supplies program-level research and state-availability labels. A Confirm with university label means availability for the selected residence context remains unconfirmed. Neither a federal result nor a reviewed-program listing is an enrollment clearance.

Check authorization and the exact activity

SARA is a reciprocity framework for participating institutions’ interstate distance education. The current participating-institution directory distinguishes participants from provisional participants. Check the actual institution and ask which authorization route covers your location and planned activity. State membership does not mean that every institution participates or that every activity is covered.

The state guides address differences that a national badge cannot answer. New York’s education department specifically flags clinical placements in licensed professions. California residents need the separate approach explained in NC-SARA’s California guidance and the BPPE registration and exemption information. Do not infer that a registration list’s absence proves either approval or a violation.

For professional programs, check before initial enrollment

Here, covered professional study means a Title IV-eligible program designed or advertised to meet the educational requirements for a specific state license or certification required for employment. For interstate distance education or correspondence study, the institution must determine that the program meets those educational requirements in the student location at initial enrollment. A negative or unresolved determination can prevent enrollment; disclosure alone does not supply permission. See the 2026–27 FSA Handbook academic-program disclosures.

The Department’s LDR-A6 and LDR-A7 guidance describes a limited alternative for a student with concrete plans to move to one intended employment state where the program meets the educational requirements. The attestation must be student-initiated and handled case by case; it is not a general waiver or a substitute for professional eligibility. Ask the institution for its written determination and applicable process, and use the relevant board’s current resources. This hub makes no individual enrollment or licensing decision.

Compare the price for your actual route

Ask for the tuition classification and an itemized estimate for the exact degree, entry term and course load. Separate tuition from mandatory fees, required equipment, visits and placement travel. Ask whether prerequisite courses or a longer sequence change the estimate. A public institution’s general graduate rate may not describe every program: Florida, for example, has separate self-supporting and market-rate graduate program categories.

A useful comparison records the remaining unknown beside each estimate. If one school has confirmed all required visits and another has not, do not compare their travel costs as though both were complete. Use the planning tools to organize your scenarios, then ask the institution to correct the assumptions before making a commitment.

Send one precise request

Use this request as a starting point: I plan to begin the named degree in the stated term while physically located in this state. Please confirm whether the program can enroll me there, any required visits or placements, the tuition classification and complete required charges, and the effect of a move. If the program prepares students for a state credential, please provide its educational-requirements determination for my location and intended professional destination.

Save the response, the date, the person or office responsible and the specific program version. A general admissions answer about the university is less useful than a response tied to the curriculum and entry term you would enter. Recheck changed facts before enrollment, especially if your location, program or plans change.

Sources and scope

Primary sources were checked November 2, 2026. These are resident decision guides, not a national census of state law, a guarantee of admission or an assessment of personal professional eligibility. Follow the state guide and current institutional resources for your actual circumstances.