FAFSA Residency Question

Paying for College
1

<p>I'm just about done filing my FAFSA for the 2009/2010 school year. Since I will be 24, I can finally file as an independent. I go to school in NYC and have an apartment off-campus, not funded or connected with the school at all. My parents live in PA, but I have been living in NYC since August 1st. </p>

<p>For convenience reasons I've not changed my mailing address so some things still get sent to my parents home. I have a part-time job in the city and also I opened a checking account at WaMu (I had an account with a credit union in PA which I still have open) and I have my current NYC address as the primary address for the job and WaMu.</p>

<p>I'm residing in my apartment until at least August 1st 2009, when the current lease is up and will most likely be continuing to live there after that, as long as the rent isn't insane. If not I will look for another place in the city.</p>

<p>So I'm assuming that my legal residence would still be PA for the purposes of FAFSA, would that be correct? Also would my "permanent" address be the NYC one or should it also be my parents address?</p>

2

<p>The FAFSA instructions state that: If you moved from your family's state of residence into a state for the sole purpose of attending a college, do not count the state to which you moved as your legal residence.</p>

<p>Permanent address should probably be your parents' address at this point. It really doesn't matter what you put, but it's best to use an address that you are sure won't change soon.</p>