I got accepted into My top 3 colleges in my state. However I want to move to California. (I can’t afford it) So instead of going to a CSU my first year, Can’t i just move there and attend a community college for a year. Then When i’m recognized as a local citizen, switch for instate tuition? I plan to actually become a California citizen, so I plan to get a job and pay taxes. I have less than a few months to decide…
No, because if you attend community college immediately after moving to Califonia, you’ve established that you came to California for educational purposes and you’ll have to pay OOS tuition. Your OOS high school diploma will raise a flag. I believe you must work for at least 1 year (for CSU) and prove through tax forms that you’ve been living in CA independently (paying standard market price for rent, etc. with no help from anyone).
http://www.calstate.edu/sas/residency/
You can look through this website, as there have been numerous threads on this topic.
@ahuynh is correct in that if you come to California for the purpose of attending school and getting in-state tuition, it will not happen by just attending a CA community college for 1 year.
To establish residence for tuition purposes, you must satisfy 3 conditions:
Physical presence
Intent to become a California resident
Financial independence
- Physical presence
You must be physically present in California for more than one year (366 days) immediately prior to the residence determination date of the term for which resident classification is requested. You must have come here with the intent to make California your home as opposed to coming to this state to go to school.
Physical presence within the state solely for educational purposes doesn’t constitute the establishment of California residence, regardless of the length of your stay. A student who leaves California after establishing residence must demonstrate that he/she intended to remain a California resident, and that his/her principal place of residence has been in California. It’s the burden of the student to clearly demonstrate retention of California residence during periods of absence from the state.
The physical presence requirement will be extended until the student can demonstrate a concurrence of both physical presence and intent for one full year.
- Intent to become a California resident
Demonstrate through objective documentation that your physical presence was coupled with the intent to make California your permanent home. Intent is evaluated as an independent element of residence, separate from physical presence, and is demonstrated by establishing residential ties in California, and relinquishing ties to the former place of residence.
You must demonstrate your intention to make California your home by severing your residential ties with your former state of residence and establishing those ties with California. If these steps are delayed, the one-year duration period will be extended until you have demonstrated both presence and intent for one full year.
Indications of your intent to make California your permanent residence include:
California driver’s license or a California ID Card
Voter registration card or affidavit from Registrar of Voters
California-based bank accounts or CA branches based in other states
California car registration and car insurance card
Paying California income taxes as a resident, including taxes on income earned outside California
Housing contracts, monthly rental agreements, lease or proof of property ownership
Credit and memberships with California merchants, religious affiliations, clubs, gyms
Proof of your belongings moved into California such as moving van, bill of lading
Proof of utilities established in your name such as phone, gas, electric, and cable TV
Designating California as your permanent address on all school, employment, and/or military records
The absence of these indicia in other states during any period for which you claim residence can also serve as an indication of your intent. Your intent will be questioned if you return to your former state of residence when the university is not in session. Documentary evidence is required and all relevant indications will be considered in determining your classification.
- Financial independence
Students under age 24 who didn’t attend the university prior to fall 1993 and are not dependent on a California resident parent who meets the university’s requirements for residence for tuition purposes (one year physical presence with intent to remain in the state), also must meet the university’s financial independence requirement in addition to the 366-day physical presence and intent requirements.
Note: This requirement makes it extremely difficult for most undergraduates who do not have a parent living in California to qualify for classification as a resident at a UC campus. This includes transfer students from community colleges and other post-secondary schools in California.
Effective winter 2005, registered domestic partners are included in rules that apply to spouses.
You are considered financially independent if you meet all of the following criteria. You:
Are unmarried, and
Student was not claimed as an income tax dependent by any individual for the two tax years immediately preceding the term for which resident classification is requested, and
Student is self-sufficient. He has supported himself for two full years prior to the residence determination date of the term he proposes to attend the University through his own resources, such as employment, commercial/institutional loans in his name only, financial aid and saving from earnings, all of which require official documentation (note: the two years required for self-support might not coincide with the two tax years he must not have been claimed by any individual). Budget Worksheet (PDF)
To verify financial independence (self-sufficiency/ self-support), the student must document his or her income and verify that he or she was not claimed as an exemption by parents or anyone else for the two years prior to the request for residence.
The student is also required to present a budget showing how he or she is able to be supported by the funds claimed.
Self-support is defined as money which can be officially documented that the student has earned through his or her own employment, commercial loans, financial aid, savings and/ or other loans obtained with the student’s own credit, without a cosigner. Parent PLUS loans cannot be considered self-support.
Loans or gifts from relatives, associates, or friends, regardless of the terms, are considered financial assistance and cannot be included as student income when determining self-support. Non-institutional loans or funds that are “gifted” to the student by a relative, associate, or friend, through a “college fund,” savings, trust, or other financial vehicle, will not be considered if the funds were established after the student’s 14th birthday.
If the student’s income is a trust account established prior to the student’s 14th birthday, the student must also verify that he or she has complete control of the trust, that the funds available at the time of origination were sufficient to allow the student to be entirely self-supporting, and that the trust has been in use to support the student. Copies of yearly beginning balances, withdrawals, deposits, and ending balances of the trust account(s) will be required. Non-verifiable income cannot be considered.
Residing in California with an aunt, uncle, grandparent, or friend who provides the student with room and board cannot be considered self-support, even if that person meets the UC residence requirement. “Bartering” for free room and board or other services or necessities will be considered financial assistance.
The financial independence requirement will not be a factor in residence determination if you are a student who is financially dependent upon a California resident parent who meets the university’s requirements for residence for tuition purposes (one year physical presence with intent to remain in the state).
Also, if you want to transfer to a CSU or UC, you’ll need at least 60 transferable semester credits. While it’s the cheaper (and easier) option definitely, just keep that in mind that you won’t be able to just go after one year.
Go to college in your state. Then look for jobs in California.
As others cover above, establishing CA residency is really tough to do for an 18 year old transplant.
I’d imagine your best course of action is to attend one of the in-state schools that accepted you then, move here - degree in hand. Any other course will include lots of expense and a delayed graduation.
what is your home state and which schools are you eschewing for your California dreams?
Michigan, I got into Michigan state, University of Michigan, western Michigan, and Grand Valley state. I’m eyeing Cal state L.A., Sonoma State, and USC.
Unless your family has money to burn, i would find a way to graduate quickly from one of the Mich schools and move to CA with your degree in hand. Another option would be to take a gap year and apply to several privates like USD and LMU, hoping to get enough merit aid to make sense. That is placing a big bet on a maybe… one I wouldn’t make.