Beginning in the fall of 2025, tuition for all undergraduates in the states of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky will all share the same rate. This new initiative was introduced Monday as the “3 States, 1 Rate model,” which will allow students to qualify for in-state tuition regardless of county of residence within these states.
This news comes shortly after NKU ranked 29th in the nation for best value by The Wall Street Journal’s 2025 report on American universities.
Previously, students would only qualify for in-state tuition if they lived within certain counties in each state. In Ohio, the acceptable counties were: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Hamilton, Highland or Warren; for Indiana, they were: Dearborn, Franklin, Jefferson, Ohio, Ripley and Switzerland.
As of the current fall semester, each qualifying resident in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky paid $446 per credit hour rate, and those living outside of accepted counties paid almost double this amount at $897.
“NKU is breaking down barriers to higher education, and 3 States, 1 Rate is another significant step in that direction,” said NKU President Dr. Cady Short-Thompson in a statement about this new program. “We want our students to focus on their academic goals and success, not on deciphering complicated tuition structures. This model reinforces our commitment to affordability, access and student success.”
The plans for this program will also include a simplified merit scholarship process, where students within defined high school GPA ranges will now automatically qualify for merit-based financial aid. According to the statement, this change eliminates the need for students and families to navigate complicated award formulas.
The university also stated that this will tie merit directly to academic performance, “making it easier for high-achieving students to plan their finances and receive recognition for their hard work, making the cost of attending NKU more predictable and transparent for incoming and present students across the tri-state.”