Our company moved us here the year my daughter started high school as a freshman, and she is graduating this year. She has been accepted at a state university as an in-state student, but our company is no longer in state and we have to move to another state. Will our daughter still get in-state tuition?
I can’t give definitive answer the school can do that but first question is will you be able to stay long enough for her to graduate from a VA HS. That’s the standard for many states.
You need to call and ask. This happened to us when our oldest was in college and his college allowed him to maintain his in-state status as long as he was a continuous full-time student. (Not meaning summers and co-oping counted as being a full-time student.)
Other schools and different states have different rules.
Here are the Virginia rules: http://www.schev.edu/students/VAdomicileguidelines.asp
If the person through whom the dependent student or unemancipated minor established such domicile and eligibility for in-state tuition abandons his Virginia domicile, the dependent student or unemancipated minor shall be entitled to such in-state tuition for one year from the date of such abandonment. To qualify:
- The parent, legal guardian, or spouse must have been domiciled in Virginia for at least one full year prior to abandoning his Virginia domicile.
- The student must have been eligible for in-state tuition rates vis-à-vis the above mentioned person at the time of abandonment.
Sportsman88, yes we will be here when she graduates from HS.
ucbalumnus - Thank you for the link. I have read through, but really can’t see an answer for my specific situation.
twoinanddone - Can you tell me in what section that is stated?
Mom2aphysicsgeek, was this at a school in VA?
Looks like section 06 of the Virginia rules is quoted in reply #4.
Why guess? Call the school and ask.
No. That is why I stated that different states have different laws. We have moved twice with kids in college. There isn’t a single answer for all states. It does look like your student will not be instate long term, though. It makes it rough.
Same thing happened to friends of ours… they brought up the issue to the company doing the transfer, and it agreed to cover the difference between OOS and in-state tuition. Something to consider.
Many colleges have adopted a new rule primarily/originally for undocumented students. It usually requires a minimum of 3 years going to a high school in state and receive a diploma there to be considered in-state for tuition classification. This rule does not care where the parents are and if they are citizen/resident or not.
Those Virginia rules are tougher and more opaque than the rules I have seen in most other states, where the answer would be a clear “yes” for a kid who had lived in state for four years and graduated from high school there, as long as the kid was continuously involved with his education. I think you have to call. The “one year” rule probably functions to let the kid establish independent Virginia domicile.
I don’t think the Virginia rules are out of line. I moved from Florida and it is the same rule. My kids got 1 year of state benefits, both instate tuition or the FRAG AT a privateschool, and 1 year of state aid if qualified. Same for my nephew and they all graduated from a state high school.
I think the Virginia regulation was pretty clear. One year.
I worked with a student in NJ once who was attending a private college, totally self-supporting, but under 24. When her parents moved out of state (whom she had no contact with), she lost her state aid.
These rules are often very strict.
Note that the in-state tuition classification rule is different from college to college even within the same state. One should really check it out from the specific college. It is not depending on the state like the resident requirement, although that is one way to get in-state tuition rate.
In florida there is a state statute.