<p>Here's my situation - I will be able to retire with a pension in about two and a half years. We have no intention of staying where we are when that happens and will move permanently to either Colorado or Washington - each for different reasons (obviously we'll need to make up our minds as the time approaches). My son will be starting his senior year in high school however when I am still several months away from retirement.
In order to obtain in-state tuition in a state that we honestly plan to retire to (we'll be selling our house and moving everything, etc.) do I:
(1) move my son and wife to one of these states and have him complete his senior year in high school while my wife works on getting credible evidence - state driving license, employment (perhaps only part-time, given the current economy), etc. while I support most of their needs and hope that we can convince the college residency office that what we are doing and planning to do is legit (which it is); OR
(2) Simply have him finish high school where we are and then plan on him not going to college for a year (something I don't really want to do) while we move everything and get settled and accumulate the documentation needed for state residency for the next twelve months. Any insights and thoughts you have on the above would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>How does your son feel about switching schools for his senior year?</p>
<p>Definitely read the residency policy for each state. Every state is different. For example, in WA, I think you could move there and leave your son & wife behind. If you establish residency and do all the changes (DL, vote, tax address, etc) your son could qualify as your dependent.</p>
<p>Not only is each state different, but each school can be different, for example, in CA the UC system has more stringent requirements than the CSU system & CC system. So you should check the highest ranked school in the state to meet the most stringent requirements</p>
<p>So you are making decisions with no input from your son? What state are you in now?</p>
<p>I don’t know about Colorado, but tuition for Washington universities are not such a bargain.
He may find a private school that is a better fit & then it won’t matter what state he is from.</p>
<p>but tuition for Washington universities are not such a bargain.>>></p>
<p>Depends on what you are comparing to. WA tuition/fees is about half of what my DD’s are for VA. My oldest went to school in WA.</p>
<p>The legislature is allowing Washington to increase tuition as much as 16% from last year & that won’t be able to mitigate the tax cuts. This will take effect this fall with another increase next year. ( and after that it will go higher)</p>
<p>OP - I wouldn’t move your son from his school and make him have his senior year somewhere else. And - how do you know he will find a school that is suitible for him in the state(s) where you want to live? He may very well choose a college in another state entirely.</p>
<p>^^^Agree. My H was eligible to retire with full pension when our youngest was a senior, but would never have considered pulling him out that year no matter what the circumstance…too many ‘lasts’ with those he grew up with…not to mention SATs, college apps, prom, senior night, etc.</p>
<p>If you must move immediately when eligible for pension, why not pay the OOS tuition for one year while you are establishing residency, then pay in-state for last 3 years? That’s assuming S wants to attend college in the state you choose.</p>
<p>I agree. When an entire family moves, it only takes a year to establish residency. Wait, see where he gets accepted. Then decide.</p>
<p>My husband considered a job change the summer before my youngest’s senior year of high school. Our plan would have been for me to stay put while DS finished with his classmates. Hearing of our possible move, and not knowing the details, my father-in-law reminded us that he had moved when one S-I-L was a rising senior. He said “she never forgave me”.</p>
<p>Is there any chance that your son may qualify for NMF? If you think he’d even be close many state schools give scholarships for OOS students that at least bring the cost down to instate levels if not more. We didn’t pay much attention to it with our older son and he just missed it. He ended up choosing a school that doesn’t rewarded NMF so it wouldn’t have mattered. We have a son who is a current freshman and my H will be eligible to retire the same year S3 graduates (not fully retired, just going to another job). We will make sure to pay attention to NMF this time around. If S3 qualifies and chooses a university where we are not tied to residency it would certainly make the transition much easier. We will def not be moving him his Sr. year, however this is a very personal choice.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses. I didn’t mean to give the impression in my initial posting that my son wouldn’t have any say in this - of course he would. We’ll need to talk about it in more depth as the time comes closer. I think the bottom line is that out-of-state tuition for 4 years of college is pretty prohibitive (in CO it’s around 24K per year just for tuition) and of course because I really would not want to see him run up a sizeable loan at a young age - yes, I know other students have and do. In-state-tuition for 4 years shouldn’t be a problem tho perhaps a challenge if he lives on his own. Of course I’m not crippled and could get another job to help although this economy seems quite capable of making the best intentions go awry. I have read that if the school thinks you’ve moved to the state just so the student can get in-state-tution he’ll stay with out-state-tuition. But then again I would think that if I take my retirement, pull up all our roots and move, it would be reasonable to think that we’re serious about staying. But perhaps I’m thinking too logical.
I had also thought of seeing if he wanted to take a productive (emphasis on productive) year away from school after he graduates - by that time I would think we would have residency.
I don’t know much about NMF - I’ll need to look into that. And by the way, my son would be considered a “minority” if that makes any difference - he was adopted from India.</p>
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<p>Your son may be considered a minority, but he is not an underrepresented minority, so his being adopted from India. This will not help him in the college admissions process. In fact, he wil lbe considered an overrepresented minority from Asia. </p>
<p>You will have to find out what the requirements are for in state residency. Your child will not be considered in state for the sole purpose of attending college. Some states will also consider whether or not he graduated from high school in state. For some states, if you have recently moved in state, they want you to be working in that new state.</p>
<p>I would also check the in state requirements for the state university in your current state. Some schools, if he starts in state, he can finish as in-state.</p>
<p>I agree. The original poster needs to research URM vs ORM. By nationality he is an over-represented minority… And given the socioeconomic status of the family he is raised in, no hook there either.</p>
<p>One important thing to check. Some schools do NOT change your residency status AFTER freshman year. In other words if you enter as an OOS student, you remain so for the full four years. SO…before you relocate and home for instate tuition for the soph year of college (after living in the state for a year) make SURE that state will switch your son’s status from OOS to instate.</p>