California in-state tuition

Paying for College
1

<p>I will be attending San Jose State University for Fall 2012 as transfer student. I will be classified as an out-of-state resident. I moved to California in Fall of 2011 and to be re-classified for in-state tuition purposes I must demonstrate the following:
-must have been in California for a year and one day
-must demonstrate that I have not been here strictly for educational purposes
-must show independency
Here is the California Education Code regarding this:
CA</a> Codes (edc:68040-68044)</p>

<p>I have the first two but the third is a little bizarre in the sense that I have to show independency for the current and past three years. I only started my independency Fall of 2011 and being that I will be transferring as a junior I have little hope to receive in-state tuition. However next year I will be turning 24 years old. From my understanding under federal law I will be considered independent. This is different than the act of establishing independency for a year for tuition purposes which is what the state tries to stop by setting this state law. Would the California Education Code which states that “A student shall be considered financially independent for purposes of this section if the applicant meets all of the following requirements” be overridden by the federal law of independency?</p>

<p>The Universities of California which uses the same Education Code as that of the CSU states:
The individual is considered “financially independent” and that the financial independence requirement will not be a factor in the residence determination under one of the following conditions:
"You are at least 24 years of age by December 31 of the calendar year of the term for which you are requesting resident classification."</p>

<p>Note: I did call the registrar but they were no help.</p>

2

<p>To show that you’re financially independent, you have to show that you’ve been supporting yourself for your year in California before enrolling in college. Pay stubs, rent checks, etc. all help.</p>

<p>And no, the federal determination of independency for FAFSA has nothing to do with California’s state determination of residency status. States are allowed to set their own guidelines for state-provided benefits, such as resident tuition.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.sjsu.edu/registrar/services/Residency/Residency_FAQ.html[/url]”>http://www.sjsu.edu/registrar/services/Residency/Residency_FAQ.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>The way I read that, you don’t <em>have</em> to show independence for the previous three years, but it would help if you could.</p>

3

<p>I would check with the school. At some schools if you start as an OOS student you remain one.</p>

4

<p>No, the FAFSA determination of independent/dependent status of a student for government loans has nothing to do with (and does not override) SFSJ’s rules and determination of what constitutes an independent/dependent student.</p>

<p>It is HIGHLY unlikely you will pull this off, especially considering that it sounds like you have only been financially supporting yourself for the last year (and not the full 3 years prior as well). </p>

<p>CSUs want their OOS tuition monies–they’re broke!</p>