Are online students considered in-state or out-of-state? That classification can make all the difference. Take the University of Rhode Island for example. An in-state student will pay around 8K for one year of school while an out-of-state student will be saddled with a bill for more than 23K for the same education. The cost difference can be staggering. So which side of the fence do online students fall on?

Simply put it varies from school to school. Some schools consider any student enrolled online to be out-of-state. Others grant online students an in-state rate. And a third contingent have specific online rates for this budding sector.

Northeastern University, recognizing the demand for online education, has set up specific online rates, which are a hybrid of the in-school and out-of-school rates they offer. Boston University and Grand Canyon University also have a similar model.

NJIT in New Jersey is offering an online graduate program starting this summer at about 16.5% lower than the out-of-state fee to attend classes on campus. Other schools like Drexel University are actually offering a lower per credit rate ($627 vs. $697) for online graduate degree programs opposed to those on campus, which really makes sense when you stop and think about it. The school is saving money on a professor’s salary, the cost of heating or cooling the classroom, and electricity.

I suspect more schools will be adopting the Drexel University model in the future. After all, schools want to make college as accessible and affordable as possible for you and I for selfish reasons; they want our money. They also want quality students that will help bolster their graduation rate. When ranking the best colleges in the nation graduation rate is an important variable.

But regardless of their selfish motivation the bottom line price is all we really care about, and schools are doing more and more these days to get our fannies in those vacant seats.

It’s funny how the world of education has shrunk snugly into a 13″ screen, but how that tiny screen can open such grand doors.

Wondering how you will pay for school? Read Financing Your Online Degree.