This teen has not lived in US ever, but would like to move here for college & permanently. She is a US citizen. Her American father has some business ties, American driver’s license, credit card & address in Va, though he does not live there. His job keeps him on the move internationally, so he has no other country of residence.
Is there any state where she can get instate tuition?
Some states (like Utah) are more open to allowing students to become state residents (after a year). Also, some schools charge in-state rates if you get a scholarship high enough (Texas).
Has her dad paid state income tax in Virginia? I don’t know anything specifically about Virginia, but that’s the test in at least some states.
You should be able to answer the question by online research. A very quick google search found this for VA: http://www.schev.edu/index/tuition-aid/in-state-residency/financial-aid-policy-and-procedures
If you have any questions after a your online research you should contact the school and ask for information about their requirements for instate tuition.
Thank you all. I looked at Va already. I think that would be hard with the parent required to live there for 12 months unless military. I wondered if anyone knows of other states that may be more welcoming. I am looking at regulations in other individual states, but it is a slog.
You will,how to check each college…policies vary.
But generally speaking…someone who has NEVER lived in the states and currently doesn’t live in the states cannot get residency in any of the states for instate tuition purposes. The state of residency for the PARENTS is not the states.
There are some exceptions for certain military folks…but I can’t imagine that being the case for a full 18 years.
We have expat realities. They own a house in a state,many pay taxes in terms of home ownership. But fact is…this house is not their primary residence or the primary residence of their kids. Their kids did NOT have instate status anywhere.
You can move and live on your own in NYS or Minnesota, work there for a year, if in August 2018 you have lived 12 months there you can be considered a resident of that state.
Utah and Missouri make it easy for you to become a resident if you successfully complete a year of college there (especially if you received a merit scholarship).
Some universities (like UMN Morris) have no OOS supplement.
Most states, however, will only consider your parents’ state of residence for 12 months.
Could you clarify this? Can a student become a resident for instate tuition purposes in NY state if their parents reside elsewhere?
@MYOS1634 it’s easy to become a resident of almost any state. That doesn’t mean that the student would be considered for instate tuition status.
Do not try to claim residency where it does not exist. This UGA student’s dad had an apartment in the area and tried to claim instate residency. He got arrested and the daughter left school http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/lynchburg-man-accused-of-university-of-georgia-tuition-fraud/article_11fcc97e-0d1b-11e4-b91f-0017a43b2370.html
We are in the same situation in that we have lived overseas since our child was 6 months old, making our residency rather gray. It is a non-issue because our daughter attends a private school on a scholarship.
We do have a friend who is from Michigan who lives overseas and hasn’t lived there in 20 years. Even though he pays taxes there, it took him months to try to prove residency to the universities last year. In the end Michigan State gave his daughter resident status for tuition purposes, and University of Michigan would not.
I think that in NYC CUNY schools you can get residency if the student has resided in NYC or NYS for 12 months and you have a “bona fide” intention to remain in the state. The parents don’t matter. You don’t get all of the benefits, though. There are some scholarships for NYState schools for students that GRADUATED from NY high schools, but the in-state tuition I’m 90% sure is assured if the student has lived in the state for 12 months.
CUNY rules: http://www2.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/legal-affairs/university-tuition-fee-manual/iv-residency/
SUNY has stronger requirements of the parents–but they seem to be overcome-able if the child takes the GED in NYSTate–https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/residency/
Actually that policy does not pertain to dependent students. CUNY & SUNY consider students to be residents of the states where their parents reside.
New College of Florida (currently) has an automatic OOS scholarship that knocks tuition to a level comparable to in-state prices in some places. I also consider it a Near-Ivy.
Some pretty reputable unis overseas also have tuition rates for internationals that are comparable to some in-state rates. Some degrees at McGill in Canada and TCD in Ireland come to mind. Possibly Aberdeen in Scotland as well. And many majors at English unis are 3 years and German unis are tuition-free though they don’t tend to be flexible at all.
@sybbie719 I’m not seeing where in the CUNY rules they care where the parents reside for dependent students. I’m pretty sure that a student could do a gap year in the city and get residency for CUNY. I’d love to see where the rules say otherwise.
From tuition and fees manual
New college is a pretty unique school. You have to be the right kind of student for new college.
^ Very much so.
NCF is essentially grad-school-lite (so are many majors in the UK/Irish system BTW). But that’s why NCF send a high percentage of grads on to grad school.
We lived overseas for few years when D2 was in high school. I paid NJ taxes and had a mailing address in NJ. She was eligible for many state funded programs in NJ based on our tax status. If she had decided to go to a NJ public we would have been eligible for in-state tuition.
^^Same with my brother and his family. Don’t know if it mattered but worked for US company and kept a presence in our state. I think fact they paid state taxes was key and still had DL, etc in the state.
So I think it really could depend on individual situation.
From what I can see VA does not require that a parent live there for 12 months but rather be domiciled there. Where does dad pay taxes? Where is employer located?