<p>I'm a sophomore at the U. Nebraska, and plan on staying here the full 12 months of the year. Would it be possible to switch myself to a resident of Nebraska since I'm living here the entire year? If so, how would I change my resident status? And last of all pay in-state tuition? </p>
<p>Thanks,
Kinglin</p>
<p>Usually you can't do that if you're just in Nebraska for the purpose of attending college, and you're dependent on parents. All states are different, but most are very strict. I'm sure all the rules for residency are available from the University, maybe on the website.</p>
<p>Each state has different rules. Here in VA all my cousin had to do was get emancipated and hold residence here for a year. That's about as lenient as it gets though.</p>
<p>It is true that all states have different "rules" but in most cases you cannot establish residency while you are attending college. Chuy, it is NOT all that easy to become "emancipated" and it means complete and total lack of contact with your parent...that means NO contact for any reason whatsoever....at least that is what emancipation means around here.</p>
<p>UNL</a> Admissions | Residency Requirements</p>
<p>Here's the link I found.</p>
<p>In addition, at many colleges especially for fiancial aid purposes if you start as a dependent student you remain a dependent student unless you
turn 24
have a child of your own that you provide more than 50% support
get married
obtain a bachelors
are a veteran.</p>
<p>Your cousin's emancipation would have had to happen before turning 18 in order to be finacially emancipated from his parents especially where FA is concerned.</p>
<p>This must vary a lot from one state to another. For another example, California has a process that would allow a student to qualify for in-state tuition after two years of financial independence. This independence is one of three criteria - the other two are physical presence and demonstrated intent to make the state your permanent home. </p>
<p>Financial independence in California does not require no contact with parents, as someone suggested above. (I'd be surprised if any state requires that.) Here, it means not being declared as a dependent on the parents' income tax and being self-supporting financially.</p>
<p>Remember, there are different kinds of "financial independence" for different purposes. The "no contact" rule tends to be used to determine financial independence for FAFSA and financial aid purposes, if the kid doesn't meet the "over 24, graduate student, parent, etc." presumptions for financial independence.</p>
<p>Then there's "financial independence" for tax purposes - can your parents claim you as a dependent? The answer to that depends on whether they supply 51% or more of your financial support. This definition is irrelevant for FA purposes.</p>
<p>Finally, there's the "financial independence" criteria for residency and in-state tuition purposes. Those definitions can vary: CA may require 2 years, some states may require only 1. However, as far as I can tell, no state allows someone to acquire residency by going to school in that state. The link posted above bears that out. </p>
<p>So it's pretty clear by the third definition that remaining in Nebraska for 12 months, but going to school there for 9, doesn't make him a resident for tuition purposes.</p>
<p>Financial independence and EMANCIPATION are two different things. For emanicipation from you parents...NO CONTACT must be domonstrated. For financial independence, the student must be able to show that THEY have generated enough income to meet all of their expenses without assistance (that includes the college expenses).</p>
<p>I think the original poster was asking only about establishing in-state residency, so that's what I was talking about in the context of California. In California, financial independence (not the FAFSA kind, but a local definition) is one of the things needed to qualify for in-state residency for tuition purposes. The main thing is that that this process varies from state to state, so generalizations don't work across the board. From the info that Muffy found, it sure looks like the original poster is out of luck for Nebraska.</p>
<p>Emancipation also varies from state to state; some states have it and some don't. In California and New York, at least, it isn't a requirement to have no contact at all with the parent. For example, here's the list of criteria used to be emancipated by a judge in California:
1. You are at least 14 years old.
2. You willingly want to live separate and apart from your parents with the consent or acquiescence of your parents. (Your parents do not object to you living apart from them.)
3. You can manage your own finances.
4. You have a source of income that does not come from any illegal activity.
5. Emancipation would not be contrary to your best interests; it is good for you.</p>
<p>Financial independence for the FAFSA doesn't require no contact with parents either, based on my conversations with a couple of financial aid directors. I'm just bringing this up in case someone reads this thread and decides not to even ask their financial aid office about it because they've had contact with a parent, when they might have been able to establish independence in their particular situation. It could still be worth asking.</p>
<p>Calreader -- the guidelines for establishing independence for FAFSA are set by the federal government and are very strict. :</p>
<p>from the FAFSA website -- </p>
<p>"The independent student definition created by Congress is strict and is considered controversial by many students and parents. However, Federal regulations related to the classification of a student's dependency status for financial aid must be followed by school financial aid administrators in determining one's eligibility for federal and state aid funds. Whether a student lives in his own home or apartment and/or claims himself as an exemption on his federal income tax return has nothing to do with a student being considered independent for financial aid purposes. </p>
<p>The only way a student can become independent for financial aid purposes (which means the custodial parents' income and asset information are not required on the FAFSA) is if the student meets at least one of the following guidelines:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>For the 2007-08 school year (yellow FAFSA), the student must be born before 1-1-1984; or for the 2008-09 school year (orange FAFSA), the student must be born before 1-1-1985);</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be married; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must have a child or other dependents who receive more than half their support from the student; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be enrolled as a graduate student (master's, doctoral) or professional student (medicine, dentistry, or law); or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be a qualified veteran of the U.S. military or be active duty in the U.S. military; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must be an orphan (parents deceased) or ward of the court or was a ward of the court until age 18; or</p></li>
<li><p>The student must have special and unusual circumstances which can be documented to his or her college financial aid administrators (i.e., abuse in the family, alcoholism, etc.). This exception is rare and only an experienced financial aid administrator at your college can make this "dependency override" on the FAFSA application.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If a student does not meet one of the first six criteria, then they have to request a determination from their FA counselor. The FA counselor has very strict guidelines provided by the Federal Government about what constitutes a special and unusual circumstance -- and it does not include parents who are unable or unwilling to pay nor parents that refuse to support you. I includes things like children who are abandoned, children who were removed from parental custody by local authority, children whose parent(s) are incarcerated, etc. </p>
<p>The FA counselor is responsible for meeting the federal regulations and if the school is found in violation of the regulations, the school may incur fines and/or other penalties.</p>
<p>You can, of course, always ask to be declared independent -- just don't expect that to work out.</p>
<p>Even in California, for residency (according to UCLA):
[quote]
Physical presence California solely for educational purposes does not constitute the establishment of California residence, regardless of the length of stay.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And for minors:
[quote]
For an unmarried minor (under age 18 by the residence determination date [RDD]) student, the residence of the parent with whom the minor lives is considered to be the student's residence. If the student has a parent living, the student cannot change residence by his or her own act, by the appointment of a legal guardian, or by the relinquishment of the parent's right of control. If the minor lives with neither parent, his or her residence is that of the parent with whom he or she last lived. <a href="emphasis%20added">/quote</a></p>
<p>So, even using the emancipation definition you cited, an emancipated minor whose parents do not reside in CA would not be considered in-state even if he lived in California.</p>
<p>My object was to leave a pointer in the thread to the idea that contact with parents is not necessarily an obstacle to qualifying for independence or emancipation, and I think it's there now :-).</p>
<p>The exceptions to FAFSA-style independence are unusual, but they do happen and I've talked to some financial aid officers about situations that might qualify. So it's not unheard of. That's not what the original poster was asking about, but some of the responses were too sweeping. As several of you have pointed out, in-state tuition, FAFSA independence, and emancipation are three different things with three different sets of criteria, but none of them prohibits parental contact for all states. The emancipation definition I quoted is separate from state universities or FAFSA - I just included it to show that parental contact isn't necessarily prohibited for emancipation.</p>
<p>Chevda, the text you quote is part of the story. There are ways both minors and students over 18 can qualify for in-state tuition (for example, for UC), but you're right that physical presence isn't enough. It's just part of the picture, and being self-supporting is one of the other parts. I talked with a UC registrar about this last week, and it is possible to establish residency for tuition purposes but it's tricky and the student has to make it on their own (paying out of state tuition) for a year or two first. Being self-supporting while paying out of state tuition would be extremely hard for most students. But hard doesn't mean impossible.</p>
<p>from the college board Guide to State Residency (esentially the same thing that Muffy wrote):</p>
<p>
[quote]
Guidelines which took effect in Fall 1995 specify the new requirements for establishing residency. Students who are not attending a NE high school at the time they are admitted, nor are graduates of an accredited NE high school, will automatically be classified as nonresidents. *Students qualifying for any of the following residency categories should file a residency application:
1) persons of legal age (nineteen years or older) or emancipated minors who have established a home in Nebraska for at least twelve months and can verify by documentation an intention to make Nebraska their permanent residence *[An individual who moves to Nebraska primarily to enroll in a NE post-secondary institution will be considered a nonresident for tuition purposes for the duration of his/her attendance.]; </p>
<p>2) dependent students whose parent/guardian has established a home in Nebraska with the bona fide intention of making Nebraska their permanent place of residence; </p>
<p>3) persons married to a NE resident who had established a home in Nebraska prior to the marriage; </p>
<p>4) persons who graduated from an accredited NE high school and were legal residents of Nebraska at the time of graduation; </p>
<p>5) individuals who previously attended the University of Nebraska or other NE state college as a resident within the last two years;
[/quote]
</p>