<p>My name is Brian I am 19 I currently go to a community college in western new york. I really want to go away to college and focus on a bachelors degree and get away from it all. I only work part time and can not afford tuition. Also I have a single parent which is very poor, we are currently losing are house. New York financial aid only offers me enough to pay for community college. I really want to transfer down south to Florida or out west to California or Arizona but I understand If I live in New York I can"t receive aid from those states. I just want to go to a 4 year college, But like I said i have no money and loans would just pile up and be way to stressful for me. I just need help what can I possibly do? What are other ways I can get money for school, I was told by one of my professors at my school that If you were a resident of Arizona for 12 months that they pay for your full tuition, I looked that up but couldn"t find a thing on it. So I am asking please help me, what are some options!!!!!??!!</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear that you and your mom are having such a hard time. I haven’t heard or read that AZ pays full freight for their residents but you can likely find some info and links on ASU’s website regarding AZ state residency and aid programs. It has been posted that they are one of the easier states to obtain residency. Would your mom be moving as well? In most states, dependent (for FAFSA) students derive residency from their parents but AZ may have different standards. You should check each public school you’re considering by searching “residency” on their website. Then check the requirements for receiving state aid there - I believe Florida’s “Bright Futures” program requires that you graduate HS there.</p>
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<p>I’m puzzled by this because NY’s TAP award is larger for 4 year schools than for CCs and should cover tuition in full if you have very low income. The only time this doesn’t apply is if you’ve used up your TAP eligibility by taking extra semesters. Adding a full Pell grant (assuming your EFC is 0), Stafford loan, and the various smaller awards for Perkins, SUSTA, SEOG, etc. that SUNYs usually give, should give you enough federal and state aid to cover expenses at a 4-year SUNY. Have you applied to any and received a FA award letter yet? Were you in EOP at your CC?</p>
<p>I have a feeling that it’s going to be more economical to finish your degree at a SUNY and then move OOS, but please let us know what your research into this uncovers!</p>
<p>Would you consider joining the military or the Coast guard? That might be a way for you to see more of the world and to save for college. </p>
<p>Go to the college website directly (Like “Arizona State”) and there should be a residency section that tells you exactly what it takes to be considered a resident. </p>
<p>Moving takes money. You need to get there. You need deposit money (for apartment or dorm space). You need the tools to be a student (computer). </p>
<p>You may need to work a couple of years to pull this off. I wish I could be more positive but that is what is likely. </p>
<p>You want to “get away from it all” – man, don’t we all. For right now, today, I hope you will think about what is most toxic in your life. (Your library may have “Emotional Blackmail” and “Toxic Parents” by Susan Forward. Both are excellent guides to figuring out how other people can poison a person’s life). If you can put some space between you and what is leaning hardest on your heart, then you may be able to continue to move forward with what NY has to offer. </p>
<p>It sounds like your parent has some major trouble. Are you the primary pillar of strength? Are there others who are leaning on you? </p>
<p>I ask, because there may not be a Fairy Godmother that comes along and yanks you to Arizona (although the military might take you to sunny Afghanistan). </p>
<p>I don’t know how you get to a four year, out of state college while being hugely broke (without being a very talented athlete) – but you CAN put some space between you and ongoing pressure. Hang in there. Get some help on how you insulate yourself from the burdens of others. Write out a list of the five top “This makes me crazy” and start thinking on how to get some distance emotionally if not physically. Good luck. I’m hoping you can do this.</p>
<p>I believe students derive their residency from their parents only up until the student is eighteen. At least in California.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, alas I don’t agree. Colleges count on tapping the parents for the college bills – so for OP to apply, say, in Arizona, he would need to fill out the FAFSA and that would require his parents financial information and state of residency. Even if his EFC was zero, he would be regarded as his parents’ NY dependent. </p>
<p>There are some circumstances when one is regarded as independent – but they are very strict rules, such as being a ward of the court. (See the FAFSA for those specific rules). </p>
<p>The dependency rules change once OP reaches age 22. It is crazy – you can join the military or buy property or get married at age 18 but you can’t legally have a beer until age 21 and you can’t be independent, for college financial aid purposes, until age 22. </p>
<p>OP’s best strategy may be to either 1) make his local situation work better for him or 2) work/join the military until he is 22. If he can develop job skills, he might be able to move to Arizona and get work there. </p>
<p>Bri, I hope you will gallop into the community college counseling center and see what course(s) you could take now that would get you a job in Arizona in the spring. It might not be your career love, but a lot of people have started out as bakers or welders or electrical apprentices and worked for a year or more before finishing a college degree. </p>
<p>Please hang in there.</p>
<p>I get that about financial dependancy. I was talking about residency for tuition purposes, In response to. </p>
<p>“, In most states, dependent (for FAFSA) students derive residency from their parents but AZ may have different standards. You should check each public school you’re considering by searching “residency” on their website”</p>
<p>but for tuition purposes, some of the UC’s say this
[UCLA</a> Registrar’s Office: Residence Classification for Tuition Purposes FAQ](<a href=“http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/faq/residencefaq.htm]UCLA”>http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/faq/residencefaq.htm)</p>
<p>for minors
[UCLA</a> Registrar’s Office: Residence for Tuition Purposes–Minors](<a href=“http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/residence/minors.htm]UCLA”>http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/residence/minors.htm)
Several general and specific rules for residence apply to minors and their guardians. For information about minor aliens, see Noncitizens and Aliens.</p>
<p>Parent’s Residence</p>
<p>For an unmarried minor (under age 18 by the residence determination date [RDD]) student, the residence of the parent with whom the minor lives is considered to be the student’s residence. If the student has a parent living, the student cannot change residence by his or her own act, by the appointment of a legal guardian, or by the relinquishment of the parent’s right of control. If the minor lives with neither parent, his or her residence is that of the parent with whom he or she last lived. Unless the student is a minor alien present in the U.S. under the terms of a nonimmigrant visa which precludes the student from establishing a domicile in the U.S., the student’s own residence may be established when both parents are deceased and a legal guardian has not been appointed. If the student derives residence from a parent, that parent must satisfy the UC residence requirement.</p>
<p>"Moves to or from California</p>
<p>A student who is a minor (under age 18 by the RDD) with a California resident parent and moves to California to begin residing with that parent prior to his or her 18th birthday, may be eligible for classification as a resident for tuition purposes.</p>
<p>A student who is a minor (under age 18 by the RDD) whose parents were California residents who have moved to another state, who remains in California and enrolls in a California post-secondary institution within one year of his or her parents’ departure, may be eligible for classification as a resident for tuition purposes."
Am I misinterpreting that?</p>
<p>Can’t seem to copy on my iPad…</p>
<p>Actually students are consider dependent under FAFSA until they’re 24 (not 22).</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, rules for minors in CA are separate, but that doesn’t mean that those over 18 are automatically granted residency…it just means they have special rules for minors! CA standards for gaining residency for tuition purposes are fairly typical:</p>
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<p>You can find links to each component of CA’s residency rules on the UCLA site:
[UCLA</a> Registrar’s Office: Residence for Tuition Purposes–Establishing Residence](<a href=“http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/residence/establish.htm]UCLA”>http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/residence/establish.htm)</p>
<p>Financial independence in CA means the student has not been claimed as a dependent for taxes in the current and 2 prior tax years and that they are able to demonstrate financial self-sufficiency…that alone would prevent most undergrads from claiming residency, even if they had moved to CA at least a year prior to applying for residency and hadn’t left or registered for any classes during that time.</p>
<p>The determination of residency for tuition purposes is made by the college so I think it’s always a good idea to research general guidelines and then contact the residency officer at the particular school in question.</p>
<p>AZ does provide full tuition to any of the state universities (funded only through the graduating hs class of 2012) provided that you graduated from an AZ high school and exceeded standards on the three AIMS tests by your Junior year in HS and maintained no less than a B in all core classes and met the entry requirements for university of AZ. There are a few exceptions to the “exceeds” portion of AIMS, for instance a 5 in
APs I think. Anyway, this program is being cutback following the 2012 class I believe due to lack of funding. It was/is a great program intended to keep our best and brightest from leaving the state.</p>
<p>“, rules for minors in CA are separate, but that doesn’t mean that those over 18 are automatically granted residency…it just means they have special rules for minors! CA standards for gaining residency for tuition purposes are fairly typical:”</p>
<p>Understood.I thought you were saying that if his mother moved too, it would affect his residency for tuition purposes.(" Would your mom be moving as well? In most states, dependent (for FAFSA) students derive residency from their parents").
I only meant that since he was nineteen, his mother moving would NOT affect his residency for tuition purposes, at least not at some UC’s.I posted a link to the non minor portion because I could not get my iPad to copy it. But I guess we have covered that well.</p>
<p>Well, I was thinking more in general than about the UC’s…if the student was 19 and his mom was moving soon he could potentially gain instate residency, via her status, and take a gap year. If the mom is not moving then he would have to find states that have easier standards for establising residency for tuition purposes.</p>
<p>azmomm, do you happen to know what the criteria is for dependent students to establish residency for tuition at the AZ publics?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call California residency requirements typical. Last I checked, they give residency status to anyone graduating from a CA high school regardless of parent residency and they have different rules for children of divorce.</p>
<p>Anyway, I do know of a case of someone who attended a AZ from out-of-state and tried to change his residency to instate for tuition purposes. The person took more than 4 years to graduate and had oos parents. (I don’t remember his exact age.) He held a job in AZ. AZ State actually made him (and I think even his parents) show copies of bank accounts to prove that he was independent. They did eventually give him instate status for tuition purposes.</p>
<p>I can understand your wanting to go away, but unless you are an exemplary student, it is not likely you can go out of state. I have to ditto sk8rmom.</p>
<p>SUNY tuition is a little bit higher, but not exorbitantly.</p>
<p>[SUNY:</a> Tuition and Fees](<a href=“http://www.suny.edu/student/paying_tuition.cfm]SUNY:”>http://www.suny.edu/student/paying_tuition.cfm)</p>
<p>I suggest you look at the SUNYs you can commute to (Fredonia? Buffalo State?) and work towards your bachelor’s there. </p>
<p>I know that isn’t what you want to hear <em>hugs</em></p>
<p>[Requirements</a> for Resident Status | University of Arizona Office of the Registrar](<a href=“http://registrar.arizona.edu/residency/aborreq.htm]Requirements”>http://registrar.arizona.edu/residency/aborreq.htm)
AZ residency requirements</p>