What is the Academic Common Market and how does the tuition benefit work?

The Academic Common Market (ACM) is a Southern Regional Education Board program that lets students pay in-state tuition at a participating out-of-state public university when their major is not offered at a public institution in their home state. When approved, the host school bills at the in-state rate for that program.

Do all schools in participating states offer ACM for every major?

No. Even if a state participates, ACM eligibility is campus- and program-specific. Check the SREB ACM program search for your exact major title and state, then verify with the university.

Who qualifies for ACM?

You must live in an ACM state, be admitted to an ACM-approved major at the participating campus, and your major must not be offered at a public university in your home state. State certification is required before the in-state rate is applied.

Is ACM automatic or do I have to apply?

ACM is not automatic. After admission to the eligible major, apply through your state’s higher-education office for ACM certification. Once approved, send the certification to the university so they can bill you at the in-state rate.

How much can we save with ACM?

Savings are typically the full difference between a campus’s out-of-state rate and in-state rate. For example, if out-of-state tuition is $21,000 and in-state is $10,000, that’s about $11,000 per year before other aid.

Can ACM stack with other scholarships or aid?

Usually yes. ACM sets tuition to the in-state rate, then merit and need-based aid can stack on top. Always confirm stacking rules with the university.

Will ACM last all four years?

In most cases, yes—if you remain in the approved major, maintain your home-state residency, and stay in good academic standing. Changing majors or losing residency can end eligibility.

What if my major is removed from ACM after I enroll?

Existing students are typically grandfathered for the approved major. Keep your approval letter and confirm details with your state ACM coordinator and the university bursar before making program changes.

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Academic Common Market (ACM): A Plain-English Guide for Parents

Of the four regional tuition programs, ACM is the only one that pays the full in-state rate, not a capped percentage of it. The catch is narrow eligibility: it works only when your home state’s public universities don’t offer your student’s major. When it fits, nothing else in the South comes close.

On this page

Two questions, not one
What it saves
States that can send
Campuses that host
Who qualifies
How to certify
Common mistakes
vs. WUE, MSEP, NEBHE
FAQ

Two questions, not one

Most ACM guides blur these together, and it’s the reason families get confused. There are two separate facts to check, and they don’t move together:

1. Can your state send you?

Determined by where you live. Fifteen states participate. Thirteen let residents use ACM for undergraduate study. Two of them, Florida and Texas, participate at the graduate level only.

If your state is graduate-only, ACM won’t help an undergraduate no matter which campus you pick.

2. Will that campus host you?

A separate question about the receiving university. Not every public in an ACM state accepts incoming ACM students, and a few accept them only into graduate programs.

Both answers have to be yes, and then the specific major has to be approved on top of that.

Why this matters concretely: Florida State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, and North Florida all host undergraduate ACM students from other states, but a Florida resident can only use ACM for graduate study. Same state, opposite answers, depending on which direction you’re travelling.

What ACM actually saves

Take a Southern public charging $10,000 in-state and $21,000 out-of-state.

What you pay	Tuition	Saved per year	Over four years
Full out-of-state rate	$21,000	–	–
Under a 150% cap (what WUE or MSEP would give)	$15,000	$6,000	$24,000
ACM rate: the actual in-state price	$10,000	$11,000	$44,000

The middle row is the point. A Western or Midwestern family with the same profile would still be paying half again the resident rate. ACM drops you all the way down.

Tuition only. ACM sets the tuition rate and nothing else. Housing, meals, and mandatory fees stay at the standard price and commonly run $12,000–$15,000 a year. Compare total net price with the cost estimator, not the tuition line.

The 15 states whose residents can use ACM

You must be a resident of one of these. Florida and Texas participate at the graduate level only, so their residents cannot use ACM for a bachelor’s degree.

North Carolina is the one that catches people. It is a full member of the Southern Regional Education Board, which administers ACM, but it does not participate in the Academic Common Market. North Carolina families should look at individual college out-of-state waivers instead. See the reciprocity index for the alternatives.

The campuses that host ACM students

These are the public universities in our database flagged as accepting incoming ACM students: 56 at the undergraduate level, plus 18 that take ACM students into graduate programs only. ACM is public-institution only, so no private college participates. Nationally SREB counts more than 100 institutions and over 2,200 approved programs, so this is the slice we have verified guides for rather than the full inventory.

Every Florida and Texas campus below is graduate-only, because those two states participate at the graduate level in both directions. That is a state rule, not a campus decision, and it applies to all of their public universities.

Alabama 4 undergrad

Arkansas 6 undergrad

Delaware 2 undergrad

Florida 0 undergrad

University of FloridaGrad only
Florida State UniversityGrad only
University of Central FloridaGrad only
Florida International UniversityGrad only
Florida Atlantic UniversityGrad only
University of North FloridaGrad only

Georgia 6 undergrad

Kentucky 4 undergrad

Louisiana 10 undergrad

Maryland 2 undergrad

Mississippi 5 undergrad

Oklahoma 2 undergrad

South Carolina 4 undergrad

Tennessee 7 undergrad

Texas 0 undergrad

University of Texas at AustinGrad only
Texas State UniversityGrad only
University of Texas at El PasoGrad only
University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyGrad only
Lamar UniversityGrad only
Tarleton State UniversityGrad only
University of Texas Permian BasinGrad only

Virginia 4 undergrad

West Virginia 0 undergrad

West Virginia UniversityGrad only

Louisiana is the deepest ACM state. All ten of its public universities in our database host undergraduate ACM students, more than any other state. Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee follow with six or seven each. If you are hunting for an undergraduate major your home state doesn’t offer, start with those four and skip Florida and Texas entirely.

Campus participation and approved majors change during the year. Verify your exact major in the SREB program search and with your state coordinator before committing, and tell us if you spot something we’ve got wrong.

Who qualifies

Residency. You live in one of the 15 states above, and you keep that residency throughout the degree.
The major. Your intended major is not offered by a public university in your home state, and it is ACM-approved for your state at the receiving campus. The exact program title matters, sometimes down to the CIP code.
Admission. You’re admitted to that specific major, not just to the university.
Level. Undergraduate or graduate in thirteen states. Graduate only if you live in Florida or Texas, and graduate only at certain campuses regardless of where you live.

How to get certified

This is the step that separates ACM from the other three programs, and the one families discover too late. You do not apply to the college for ACM. You apply to your own state.

Verify the exact major is ACM-approved for your state in the SREB program search. Titles are literal: “Marine Biology” and “Marine Science” are not interchangeable.
Apply and get admitted to that specific major at the participating university.
Apply through your home state’s coordinator for ACM certification. Each state runs its own process and its own forms.
Send the approval to the university so the bursar switches your billing to the in-state rate.

Step	What happens	Typical window
Verify major	Confirm the exact major title is ACM-eligible for your state	Same day
Get admitted	Apply and gain admission to that major at the campus	Varies by campus
State certification	Submit your state’s ACM application and documents	About 4–8 weeks in peak season
Billing updates	Send approval to the university; bursar applies the in-state rate	1–2 billing cycles

Allow one to three months end to end, and start before spring of senior year. Many states require ACM approval to be in place before enrollment, and a certification that arrives in August won’t fix a bill due in July.

Five ways families lose ACM

Applying to the college instead of the state. The most common error. The university cannot certify you; only your home state can.
Assuming the major counts. If any public in your state offers something close, you’re likely ineligible, and the approved title has to match exactly.
Switching majors. Move to a non-approved program and the in-state rate disappears. Changing catalog year, campus, or concentration can also require a fresh certification, so ask first.
Starting the paperwork in July. Certification takes weeks and peak season is slow.
Losing residency. ACM is tied to your home state. A family that moves mid-degree can lose the rate.

Can’t find your major? Some states will consider adding a program. Email your state’s ACM coordinator with the exact major title and campus and ask whether there’s a petition or review process this cycle. It costs an email.

Stacking usually works in your favour here. ACM sets tuition to the in-state rate first; merit and need-based awards can then generally stack on top, which is not true of WUE at most campuses. Still confirm each school’s policy, and run the comparison both ways: an ACM major at in-state pricing versus a non-ACM major with a large automatic scholarship can land closer than you expect.

ACM vs. WUE, MSEP, and NEBHE

Program	Region	What it pays	Guide
ACM	South	Full in-state rate for approved majors; state certification required	You’re on it
WUE	West	Up to 150% of in-state at participating publics	WUE guide
MSEP	Midwest	Up to 150% of in-state at publics; a discount at some privates	MSEP guide
NEBHE	New England	Discounted rate for majors your home state doesn’t offer	NEBHE guide

Not sure which covers you? Start at the tuition reciprocity index.

Academic Common Market FAQ

Which colleges accept Academic Common Market students?

We track 56 public universities that host incoming ACM students at the undergraduate level, plus 18 that accept ACM students into graduate programs only. Louisiana has the most undergraduate hosts, with all ten of its public universities participating, followed by Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee. Every public campus in Florida and Texas is graduate-only, because those two states participate at the graduate level in both directions. ACM is limited to public institutions, so no private college participates.

Does ACM really give you in-state tuition?

Yes, and that makes it the most generous of the four regional programs. WUE in the West and MSEP in the Midwest cap nonresident tuition at roughly 150% of the resident rate, so students still pay half again what a local pays. ACM drops you to the actual in-state price. On a college charging $10,000 in-state and $21,000 out of state, that is about $11,000 saved per year rather than $6,000.

Which states participate in the Academic Common Market?

Fifteen: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Florida and Texas participate at the graduate level only, which applies in both directions: their residents cannot use ACM for a bachelor’s degree, and every public university in those two states hosts incoming ACM students only in graduate programs. North Carolina belongs to the Southern Regional Education Board but withdrew from ACM following state legislation in 2011, which surprises many families.

Do I apply for ACM through the college?

No, and this is the single most common mistake. You apply through your home state’s ACM coordinator, who certifies that your intended major is not offered by a public university in your state. The university cannot do this for you. Once your state issues the certification, you send it to the university so the bursar can bill you at the in-state rate.

How long does ACM certification take?

Plan for one to three months from start to finish. State certification alone commonly runs four to eight weeks during peak season, and the university then needs a billing cycle or two to apply the new rate. Many states require approval to be in place before enrollment, so beginning the paperwork in the summer before a fall start is usually too late.

What happens if my major is removed from ACM after I enroll?

In most cases the benefit continues as long as you stay in the exact certified major, keep residency in your home state, and remain in good academic standing. Program lists typically change for new applicants while existing students are grandfathered. Keep your approval letter, and confirm with both your state coordinator and the university’s bursar rather than assuming.

Can any campus in a participating state host me?

No, and this trips families up twice over. First, whole states can be restricted: every public university in Florida and Texas offers ACM only at the graduate level. Second, individual campuses inside full-participation states set their own limits. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville moved to graduate-only participation in Spring 2025, West Virginia University hosts only graduate programs, and the University of Georgia admits ACM undergraduates only at junior and senior standing with about 60 credit hours completed. Always confirm the specific campus and the specific program rather than assuming statewide participation covers it.

Can ACM be combined with scholarships?

Usually yes, and this is an advantage over WUE. ACM sets your tuition to the in-state rate, and merit or need-based awards can generally stack on top of that, whereas most Western campuses apply either WUE or a scholarship but not both. Confirm each campus’s stacking policy, and compare both scenarios: an ACM-approved major at in-state pricing against a non-ACM major with a larger automatic award.

Bottom line

ACM is narrow and deep. It won’t help most students, because most majors are offered somewhere in their home state. But when a student wants something genuinely unavailable at home, it is worth more than any other regional program: the full resident rate, stackable with merit aid, at any of the 56 campuses that host undergraduates. It is also the only one requiring you to file with your own state, so the families who benefit are the ones who started early enough to get certified.

If you’re first-generation, rural, or in a district with limited course offerings, bring this page to your counselor and ask them to help verify eligibility and deadlines. This is exactly the program that goes unused because nobody mentions it.

Last reviewed August 6, 2026 · 56 undergraduate host campuses and 18 graduate-only from the CollegeReadyParent scholarship database · Participation, approved majors, and state processes change annually, so verify with SREB and your state coordinator before making financial decisions. See our data methodology.

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