<p>No…dropping out for a year will NOT give you this benefit or help you establish residency in DC. The fact is… You are NOT a resident of DC, and your parents are not residents of DC. For undergrads in virtually all cases, their place of residency is that of their parents.</p>
<p>How did you pay for your freshman year of college? Has your family now determined that funding three more years of school is not possible? To be honest, that is an issue your family will have resolve.</p>
<p>No, DCTAG would not apply if you dropped out for a year. You need to establish residency before you take your first class.</p>
<p>If you are looking to drop out to establish residency for tuition assistance, it would make more sense to establish residency in a state with a good school. DCTAG is very little money compared to the savings you’d get by going to a VA or other state school at instate rates.</p>
<p>Before you drop out of college to try to establish instate residency, make sure you read the school and state requirements to do so. You are VERY likely to find that this will NOT be easy for you to do because it’s your PARENTS that need to establish that residency.</p>
<p>You could drop out, work full time and support yourself until you are 24 years old. At that time, you would be able to establish your own residency.</p>
<p>What if my parents lived with me for a year in VA or If I came into legal control of some family in VA and lived there for a year. I guess then I’d be eligible for in-state tuition. Would I?</p>
<p>Thumper, the financial issue is very complex here. There’s a lot of politics and infighting involved. I’d rather not get into the details but yes I’d need to reduce the bill for the next couple of years</p>
<p>“What if my parents lived with me for a year in VA or If I came into legal control of some family in VA and lived there for a year. I guess then I’d be eligible for in-state tuition. Would I?”</p>
<p>I don’t know if your parents can just move here. They’re not citizens. Wouldn’t they need to get some kind of long-term visa?</p>
<p>You’re too old to come under “legal control” of other relatives for custody.</p>
<p>??? It’s not “hate” to not want aid to be given to those who don’t qualify for it.</p>
<p>You cannot go “into the legal control” of some other family because you’ve already achieved the age of majority (age 18). Only minors (under 18 years of age) can legally be placed into the custody and control of someone other than than their parents.</p>
<p>Your parents would have to move to VA and live there for at least 12 months, file and pay VA state taxes, obtain VA driver’s licenses and any other documentation your school requires to demonstrate an intent to remain permanently in VA as full time residents before you could petition for a change of residency. Additionally, they would have to continue to live in VA, pay & file VA taxes, etc every year for so long as you’re attending college. All this is assuming, of course, that your college will allow a residency reclassification after a student has matriculated. Some colleges have policies that state that whatever residency status a student enters with (in-state, OOS) is what his residency status will be so long as he’s attending that college.</p>
<p>Wow okay. Lots of good info. I wish I’d known all this two years ago.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As others have noted…not possible to “come into legal control of some family in VA”…your PARENTS need to be that family. And as noted…above, it might not matter anyway depending on the policies of the college. You MUST read the residency requirements for instate universities.</p>
<p>Also, this would have absolutely NO IMPACT on your costs at a private LAC. Are you planning to transfer?</p>
<p>I am VERY familiar with the economics and political issues in sub-Saharan Africa. You are not the only college age student from there who wants to come to college in the United States. And you are also not the only one with a family with significant assets (by your country’s standards) who wants to do so.</p>
<p>This is not going to be a popular paragraph…but it’s intended for others reading this thread. When figuring out college finances…it is CRITICAL that the student and family remember that this is a FOUR YEAR (sometimes five) financial issue, not just one year. Many students wrongly believe that getting here for freshman year is all they need to do, and they put all of their financial resources into that (and don’t even apply for financial aid) thinking that somehow the money will materialize for subsequent years. This usually does NOT happen. If you don’t get aid your freshman year, the likelihood of garnering very signficant aid in subsequent years is much less.</p>
<p>Generally considered a resident of the state from which you graduated high school and in which your parents reside.
*
Wow okay. Lots of good info. I wish I’d known all this two years ago.*</p>
<p>If you were attending high school in the US, your high school counselor should have been able to help you.</p>
<p>I know I always stick my nose in at this point in the residency discussion, but for many schools, only a MINOR’s residency is effected by the parents residency. If you are a student over 18, and your parent moves, the student remains a resident of wherever he graduated high school, until he establishes his own adult residency. So for example, if you are 23, and your parent moves to California for two years, YOU don’t become a resident of California.</p>
<p>“And you are also not the only one with a family with significant assets (BY YOUR COUNTRY’S STANDARDS) who wants to do so.”</p>
<p>SMH</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Shrinkwrap…this varies significantly depending on the state and public university within that state. At some places, your state of residency remains the same for tuition purposes after freshman year regardless of where your parents reside. In other states, if the family domicile changes, the student LOSES their instate status for tuition after the year.</p>
<p>^ Agreed. It does seem to vary.</p>
<p>But is there any state where if a parent moves AFTER the child turns eighteen, the “child” GAINS residency ? That is the issue I am usually responding to; a student who is NOT a minor, asking " can I GAIN residency if my parents move ".</p>
<p>Shrink, my U allows you to establish residency after a year if your parents live there even if you’re over 18. At least according to my understanding of the rules.</p>
<p>^Ah! So say you are 19, when you and your parents move to Michigan; you become a resident right away, or after a year, when you are 20? Is that a state where you will lose residency if your parents move and you stay behind? I assume that is only if you WANT it to. Do you know if there is any cut off? For example if you are 24 and your parents move, does you residency change?</p>
<p>I don’t know why you keep saying state. The U sets their rules, not the state. At least here.</p>
<p>And yes, even if your parents move, you are still in state if you started in state.</p>
<p>My U is Michigan State.</p>
<p>Did you edit your post? It seems to have changed and a question added. You need to be there for a year I think.</p>
<p>Yes, I edited when I realized you where in Michigan. I said state because at least in University of California, the regents makes the rules for all the campuses.</p>
<p>And it looks like for Univ of Michigan, 24 year olds are considered dependants for residency purposes, and each campus can set up it’s own rules for residency. </p>
<p>I live and learn!</p>