<p>Okay, I have a few questions. I'm going to be finishing my first year of college this semester in PA. My parents are thinking about moving down to FL. </p>
<p>1) If they move down for 12 consecutive months and RENT an apartment, get a FL driver's license, register to vote, and register their vehicles in FL, will that make them "official" residents and allow me to go to college for in-state costs? </p>
<p>2) If I go to school during the first 12 months that they live there for, and pay OOS tuition, does that make me ineligible for in-state tuition once they gain residency?</p>
<p>3) I claimed my little brother on my tax return this year because my parents were unemployed. I talked to my financial aid adviser and she said that still doesn't classify me as independent. In the wording on the FAFSA, it just says any dependent other than your spouse. For my first year, I was classified as dependent. Is there a way that they can change that? I don't want them to, because I won a $25,000 car this year and the EFC would go up a considerable amount if they re-classified me as independent.</p>
<p>Your little brother is not YOUR dependent…even if your parents are unemployed, he is THEIR dependent. I’m not sure you really were able to declare him on your taxes (but I’m not a tax expert).</p>
<p>You will be considered a dependent for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>Re: residency…it will take 12 months for your parents to establish residency in FL. If that is really their domicile, I believe you will become eligible for instate tuition status but you really DO need to check the specific Florida college policy. It is not the same at every school. </p>
<p>Re: the car…you need to list the value of that as unearned income…for YOU. This WILL increase your EFC…it will do so regardless of whether you are dependent or independent for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>Actually, it seems that filing with a dependent could make her eligible to file FAFSA as an independent student if she met this criteria:</p>
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<p>Did your brother actually live with you and is he going to be living with you next year? If he didn’t live with you, it’s not clear that he actually was your dependent - did you pay for his housing and food costs? Your classification for FAFSA purposes is going to depend in large part on how you answer those qualifying questions.</p>
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<p>Not sure why you think that…dependent students have an income protection allowance of $5250 (plus tax allowances) after which 50% of income goes to the EFC. The allowance for single independent students is $8550. It would seem that your EFC would be lower if you were independent…unless your folks have negative AAI?</p>
<p>I’m actually a guy, but no worries :P. Anyways, thanks for the help so far everyone. I will probably try and get classified as an independent student, based on the information sk8rmom gave me. My brother has lived with me for the whole year and I did provide over 50% of his support, so I don’t see it being a problem. I still have one unanswered question though. If I go to school for one year as an out of state student, can I get in state tuition rates for the next year, as long as my parents gain residency?</p>
<p>If you are classified as an independent student, I doubt your parents residency would qualify you for instate rates…I don’t think the knife cuts both ways. You would have to establish residency for yourself, which generally means you move to FL, file taxes, register to vote, etc. and are not there for educational purposes for the first year. You should check with the residency office at the FL college you intend to transfer to for more definitive info.</p>
<p>I can’t answer for Florida, but I can for Georgia (Florida is probably similar). If you become independent, then your parents’ status would be irrelevant and your answer would be “no.” As a dependent student, you might be able to qualify for in-state. It would depend upon your parents’ reason for relocating, whether they have a sufficient income to live without out-of-state support, whether you / they continue to depend upon OOS support which would invalidate your claim of FL domicile, etc. As a dependent student in GA, even if you didn’t qualify for in-state while your parents were in the process of changing domicile, you might qualify for a one-year OOS surcharge tuition waiver that would get you past the date at which your parents had become fully qualified state residents - I don’t know whether FL allows similar waivers. It would be wise for you to call the schools to which you might apply and speak to the appropriate Admissions officer about these questions.</p>