<p>Garland is absolutely right. Each state has their own definition on what constitutes residency, and colleges can also make their rules on who is eligible for in state tuition which can be completely independent of what FAFSA and PROFILE use for categorizing a student as independent. You have to check with the school first and foremost to find out how to become eligible for in state tuition which does not have to be the same as being a state resident. Some schools require state residence for a period of time and paying state taxes before you can be get in state rates. Many schools require that your parents are state resident paying state taxes before you get in state rates. Some schools will not let you change to in state rates when you start out as an OOS resident without some big hoops to jump through.</p>
<p>I have a son who is registered to vote in his college state, has a driver’s license from that state, but would not be eligible for in state tuition for the flagship state school whereas another state school in the same state is much more lenient. If he filed taxes there, and claimed residence there, he could get in state tuition after the first year after taxes were filed. Confusing , yes. </p>
<p>When you are dealing with colleges or anything that has its own set of rules, you need to look at those particular rules rather than broader rules. Things like being independent in taxes and from support may not mean independence for college aid or state residency or in state tuition. Another example where college rules differ from federal tax rules is in the case of who is the custodial parent. It doesn’t matter who claims you on the tax return or who pays most of your expenses when defining the custodial parent for FAFSA purposes. They have their own rules. So it is with each college when they are looking for things like in state tuition and eligibility for other things that they specifically define.</p>