Hi, I’m trying to figure out if it’s possible to become independent for in state tuition. I am 20 years old and currently attending a community college in Illinois but would like to move to Florida and eventually get in state tuition at Florida State University. When I move to Florida I would work there full time for a year and become completely independent from my parents in terms of finances. I would register my car to Florida, register to vote, get a Florida drivers license, work full time in Florida, etc… Would it be possible to get in state tuition by the end of the year? Would I be a resident for tuition purposes? I read somewhere on a website that you must be at least 24 to be independent in terms of FAFSA. Is that true? and if so does that have anything to do with me gaining residency for tuition purposes while I live in Florida? Also when I am living down there I will be with a roommate to split the costs of housing would that affect anything? Any tips on this topic would be great!
Thanks!
For FAFSA yes, you have to be 24, married, military vet or a foster child or couple other things. Don’t rely on a blog, the Federal Aid pages are quite clear. There are 13 questions to determine dependency. If you can answer YES to any you will be. Sounds like you will not be. Self supporting is not a criteria.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/dependency
Residency for tuition purposes is a separate issue. To look up the rules for Florida, go to the websites of a couple of the colleges you are thinking of and look up residency conditions. You may need a lease in your name or a joint lease with another person. Actual paperwork that establishes the date, in as many forms as possible, utility bill too.
http://admissions.fsu.edu/residency/faq/
Here are the residency requirements, in case you haven’t seen them on the FSU website.
According to the link for the above school, if you are not independent for FAFSA, then your residency for FSU tuition is determined based on your parents’ state of residency. So in that case, no, supporting yourself in Florida for a year, registering to vote in Florida, getting a Florida driver license won’t help you.
It looks to me like if you are fully supporting yourself and are not claimed as a dependent by parents, after 12 months you are a resident for UCF. As mentioned previously, you should look at each college’s website to see what they say. If I were you, I would contact the financial aid departments at those I was most interested in the verify that I am correctly understanding how they determine Florida residency before I made plans around it.
https://apply.ucf.edu/forms/Residency/BasicInfo
You need to check a lot of things.
- Check what "self supporting" means. If it means that you earn enough money to pay ALL of your bills...all of them, including all living expenses, utilities, insurances, etc...your in me might be too high to qualify for need based aid in FL.
- I believe in most cases, you need to demonstrate your intention to be in the state for things OTHER than attending college...so be prepared to do that.
- As noted...dependency for residency purposes...and dependency for FAFSA federally funded need based aid are two different things.
- You will be a transfer student. Very often transfer students see very limited financial aid of any type other than the Direct Loan...or a Pell to which they are entitled.
- As noted above...not likely at all at FSU.
- If you move to Florida when you are 24, and do,your plan, you will,be independent for financial,aid and will gain instate tuition.
- One more important thing...in your independent quest, your parents cannot continue to declare you as a dependent on their taxes. Are they willing to do this?
thank you for replying. I was looking at the link that the person before you provided and it states "A student who does not meet any of the criteria outlined above may be classified as an independent student only if he or she submits documentation that he or she provides fifty (50) percent or more of the cost of attendance for independent, in-state students as defined by the Office of Financial Aid at Florida State University (exclusive of federal, state, and institutional aid or scholarships). so if i provided half the tuition and lived there and did all the requirements like getting drivers license etc… I would be able to gain in state tuition right?
How would you earn enough to pay for half of living expenses, books, and non-resident tuition?
well i would take out loans… or does that not count… plus i will be going down to floirda with savings while working in illinois that i dont plan on spending down there
thank you for the reply but here is the link i was going off of from florida states website for tuition. http://admissions.fsu.edu/residency/ according to the link it would be difficult but I would be able to do it right? Im going to live completely on my own. My parents wont help with anything other than I will still be on their health insurance plan. They will also stop claiming me on their tax report.
You will,HCS to,show,that you are earning enough to pay your expenses. Any loans you get would be college loans, right? Those would have to be used to pay college costs…right?
I doubt your plan will work. No one here is going to tell you it will. What’s wrong with schools in Illinois?
Sorry about the typo…that should read…
You will HAVE TO SHOW that you are earning enough to pay your expenses.
Illinois is pretty much the worst state in America. Its bankrupt and extremely corrupt and the university system is proving it. The in state tuition for university of illinois is the same as the out of state for florida state university. thats how messed up this state is. also my major is criminal justice and florida state has one of the highest ranked criminal justice schools in the nation and florida states in state tuition is 6k a year where illinois tuition is 20k a year. Not to mention that I have family down in florida (that i wouldnt be living with if i went down there) and also its florida. who doesnt want to live in florida. Also my parents are only helping me out by paying like 3k a year for tuition and i cant get any aid because my parents make too much… welcome to the middle class white american… the poor get aid from the government… the rich get their expenses paid for by mommy and daddy and the middle class get screwed over… Ok done with my rant but back to reality I am basically trying to get the super cheap tuition in florida because I dont want to go into 60k debt in two years
You probably can’t go into $60k debt in two years. How would you borrow that much for school? Do you have a cosigner for a private loan?
ok 20k for tuition then another 10k for room and board and books… thats 1 year… multiply that by 2 thats 60k…
You can only borrow ~$5500/year on your own. That’s ~$11k for 2 years. Where’s the other $50k coming from?
Your [state colleges](Cheapest Colleges & Universities in Illinois by In State Total Cost) cost ~$20k/year. So total COA for 2 years is ~$40k, not $60k. How much can your parents contribute? If they earn too much to qualify for Pell, they aren’t low income. If they can’t/won’t pay much, see if there are any 4-year campuses within commuting distance.
If you move to Florida now, and get a job and pay all your bills for at least a year, you may be able to qualify. Timing wise, you’re probably looking at 18 months before you start school. If you move NOW, you’d not be eligible if everything went perfectly, until Aug 2017, but maybe even Jan 2018. You should also be prepared to wait even longer, till you are 24?
Don’t move thinking you’ll get instate tuition. Move because you want to move. You may qualify for instate tuition at a community college sooner than FSU, and sometimes even at other Universities like FUI, North Florida, West Florida, just not at UF, FSU, and probably not at Central Florida.
I don’t. You could not pay me or my kids to live there. But that is beside the point.
You need to carefully check the eligibility requirements to get what you want…and at each college…and get the decisions IN WRITING before you make a decision to move and enroll.
thanks for your reply but ive already decided to not attend college in illinois. the whole purpose of this discussion is to help me qualify for in state tuition down in florida after living there for a year doing the requirements… not for someone to tell me to commute from my home. i understand if youre trying to help and i apologize if im coming off rude but Im not going college in illinois. Period. Again thank you for ur reply