Asking for a young friend who would like to attend a UC and has moved here to CA in August 2017. He is working here and taking a GAP year after graduating from HS in another state in June 2017. Was previously admitted to a UC as a non-resident For Fall of 2017, but out of state tuition was unaffordable, so declined and is re-applying now hopefully to be classified as a resident and attend for Fall of 2018. The parent is living in the other state, while the student is living with a sibling and has few expenses. Just working and saving money. Does anyone know how the UC’s will see this? Does it matter from campus to campus in terms of how the rules are interpreted? I am concerned about the “financial independence” aspect in this student’s situation. Any advice for them? Student Has a sibling here and wants to live here, and of course wants to go to school here.Are CSU’s such as cal Poly SLO more lenient? Thank you!
The applicant needs to be independent where he receives no help from his family. Usually this means they need to be 24 years or older. Just working and saving money will not make them “independent”. The applicant needs to have proof of renting an apartment, CA drivers license etc…
Having an OOS HS transcript and a parent living OOS is a dead give away so there is no chance your young friend will get in- state tuition. The parent needs to move to CA if this friend is under 24. Your friend has come to CA for not, since they will not be considered in-state.
How to establish CA residency for Tuition purposes:
- 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.
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- 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.
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).
**Pay attention to all the requirements but especially the requirements.
Thank you so much for your help! I will pass all of this along. I remember you as always being an excellent resource.
Information for the Cal States.
For the Cal States it might be slightly easier but each campus determines the eligibility.
http://www.calstate.edu/sas/residency/
ESTABLISHING RESIDENCY FOR CSU TUITION PURPOSES:
Adult students (who will be at least 19 years old on the Residence Determination Date) may establish their own residence for tuition purposes. Minor unmarried students (who will be under the age of 19 on the Residence Determination Date) derive their legal residence from the parent with whom they reside or last resided.
A non-U.S. citizen may establish residence unless prohibited from establishing a domicile in the United States by the Immigration and Nationality Act. Some examples of non-U.S. citizens who may establish residence include permanent residents, refugees, students granted asylum or temporary protected status, and students who hold certain non-immigrant visas.
In order to be classified as a California resident for tuition purposes, a student (or parent in the case of a minor), must demonstrate the following:
Physical Presence: The student (or parent in the case of a minor) must establish a physical presence in California more than one year immediately prior to the Residence Determination Date of the term for which classification as a resident is requested. Continuous physical presence is not mandatory, but a student who leaves California has the burden of clearly demonstrating his/her retention of California residence during periods of absence.
Residential Intent: Physical presence within California solely for educational purposes does not constitute establishment of California residence. The student (or parent in the case of a minor) must demonstrate that s/he intends to make California his/her permanent home by establishing residential ties in California and relinquishing ties to the former place of residence. Proof of intent must be in place more than one year prior to the Residence Determination Date and can include (but is not limited to):
Registering to vote and voting in California
Registering a vehicle owned or operated in California
Obtaining a California driver’s license or ID card
Filing a California state personal income tax return
Maintaining an active bank account opened in California with a California branch
Licensing from the state for professional practice
Listing a permanent California address on home of record, or other military records
@Gumbymom , what’s the rule if the student is a dependent (as in IRS forms) and the parents move to California? Can he be immediately classified as CA resident? Or wait a year? Two years? Or never?
Is student independent and living in California now?
IRS’s definition of an Independent Student:
The term Independent Student is defined in section 480(d) of the Higher Education Act:
INDEPENDENT STUDENT. - The term 'independent, when used with respect to a student, means any individual who -
is 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year;
is an orphan or ward of the court or was a ward of the court until the individual reached the age of 18;
is a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States
is a graduate or professional student;
is a married individual;
has legal dependents other than a spouse; or
is a student for whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination of independence by reason of other unusual circumstances.
If a student is truly “independent”, then parents moving to California will have no effect on said student. The student would still have to meet the criteria of Physical Presence (366 prior to residency determination), Intent to become a California Resident and show Financial Independence from the parents.
@Gumbymom , my question is a little bit different. The student is dependent. Let’s say the student is an 18 year old dependent and admitted by UC as OOS student. The summer before his freshman year, his parents move to California because of job relocation. Parents buy or rent a house in California and register their cars in California. Both parents and student register to vote in California. In this case, can the student be classified as in-state immediately? In a year? Two years? Never?
I think it takes 12 months to establish residency, even if all the ducks are in a row.
Thank you again. Am I reading this correctly then that the Cal States don’t have the financial independence criteria? that the UC’s do?
@wecandothis: Cal States also have financial independence criteria. Must have not copied the complete text.
Financial Independence. In the case of a residence reclassification request, the campus must also consider whether the student is financially dependent on their parents. A student who has been claimed as a dependent on anyone’s income tax return within the past three years, who has accepted more than $750 in financial support in any form, or lived with a parent during the past three years shall not be considered financially independent and therefore, cannot meet the core requirement of demonstrated financial independence necessary to qualify for reclassification from nonresident to resident.
@bogeyorpar: If parents move to California, it still takes 366 days to establish residency.
thank you so much, not what he expected but better to find out now. So even if he went to a community college here in CA for the next 2 years and then wanted to transfer to a UC or CSU, would he still have to meet that financial independence criteria? Just looking for options. He has already been here in CA since August and is living with family (not parents).
Even attending a California CC, will not make him a CA resident unless he meets all the criteria including financial independence.
generally, it is close to impossible to establish residency while attending a college of any type. You need to spend the required time in CA as a NON student