Hi all!
One of our four kids decided to take the long road in college, and is back on track and doing great, going to community college full time, straight A’s, while working to support himself. However, we are likely moving from Ohio to North or South Carolina and he would like to live near us, thus will attempt to transfer to a four-year English program down there. He got plenty of federal aid here in Ohio, and will be applying for this January 2019. Does he just apply as a transfer student at schools in NC and SC right now for January admission? I think he won’t be eligible for in-state tuition for a year, even though he’s 27, and I’m worried how he’ll afford it. Any advice is appreciated!
Why not just stay in Ohio until he’s done? Really, not that long if he stays on track.
To become an in state resident, he would probably need to move there, work, and not study until he qualifies for residence. Moving there for the purpose of studying will probably mean that he is considered to be out of state for as long as he is a student. But since each public college nd university sets its own policies, he needs to investigate this carefully.
An Ohio public may accept transfer credit from an Ohio community college more easily than an NC or SC public, in terms of fulfilling specific course requirements. Check transfer credit web pages at the various colleges.
Has anyone had a kid do something like this? Would love to get a feel for what this looks like from anecdotal experiences, if any out there.
I know, staying in Ohio is the easy answer. But he really went off the rails for several years and we are just so happy to have him near us again. He feels the same as us and it’s feeling like what we all really want for another couple years. It’s like the return of the prodigal son and we’re having a really long celebratory party 
You will have to look up residency requirements in NC.
Has he considered a private school as his four-year?
Many schools welcome “nontraditional” students into their student bodies. Some have fellowships for them.
Guilford College welcomes nontrads and they offer merit scholarships.
https://www.guilford.edu/admissions/transfer-students
https://apply.guilford.edu/portal/adult_campus_visit
Davidson – https://www.davidson.edu/admission-and-financial-aid/apply/transfer-students
Is there any way you could just stay in Ohio the next two years? I do know someone whose family moved while he was in college and he moved to be closer. He was able to complete his degree online- maybe that is an option?
NC has 17 public college/universities with different articulation agreements depending on major and degree. They are all part of the UNC system with 17 very different and unique campuses many offering undiscovered gems here on CC.
The community college system here offers many programs that transfer directly to the 4 year programs. Depending on where you reside here in the state they are easy to commute to.
We moved here from CA (5 kiddos) and all at some point have attended both the community colleges and the undergraduate and graduate programs at the 4 year public universities. And yes he will need to live here for a year if he wants to qualify for in-state rates which are beyond affordable.
Some of the graduate programs (med school at UNC) charge out-of-state rates for the first year for OOS but after that you are re-classified as in-state eligible for in-state rates.
Undergraduate can be more difficult however, the rules are specified at the different institutions. Some scholarships include in-state tuition and then additional monies after that. Since he is over 24 he is filing as an independent and his financial aid will be reflective of that.
Each UNC campus has varying tuition rates, visit each website and it will be illuminating, UNC Asheville is one of the few public LAC nestled in the mountains of Asheville, with a small undergrad population. NCSU has the engineering school, vet school, business school and lots of STEM (plastics…). Just gave an example of 2, Wilmington is on the water having a great marine bio program, many have wonderful nursing programs…ECU has a new dental school and a small med school accepting ONLY in-state students…NC A&T has a new nano-engineering campus with new degree programs. The list is exhaustive.
Hope this helps, ask more questions if you need to.
Kat
Since he is a late bloomer and finally on track for a college degree it would be a mistake for him to derail his current momentum with an OOS move since it would require that year of full time work. Viable options include you staying the years he needs in Ohio or his psyching himself up for being a away from you. You need to consider the impact on your jobs if a delay is planned. Now may be the best time for the rest of your working lives to relocate.
Some day your son will need to progress beyond being near to you. Now is a good time for him to work on his independence. NC is not that far from Ohio for visits. His academic success should give him confidence. Practice independence in all those little things he relies on you for. Look at success, make it happen.
Congratulations to @docmom and her son!
I couldn’t disagree more with @wis75’s blithe assertion that now is a good time for him to work on his independence. Now is a good time for him to work on succeeding in his upper level classwork in his new four year school.
As the mother of a 28-year-old who is now returning to a four year school after a long and tortuous path, I know all too well how fragile docmom’s son’s equilibrium might be. He says he wants to be near his parents, who I’m sure have helped him and supported him along this long path. What’s the hurry? He knows what he wants. Don’t push it. Give him the best chance to succeed.
Find a way for parents and son to be close together as he moves along to upper division work. Let him decide when he needs more independence. If he is living close to his parents, but not with his parents, he can be as close or as distant as he needs to be.
The hard part is that there is now a choice of:
A. Stay in Ohio, retain in state tuition and FA, but not be close to parents.
B. Move to NC or SC to be near parents, but then face higher (possibly unaffordable) college costs at least for the first year there, and possibly reduced transfer credit.
He actually lived, worked, and supported himself on his own (mostly bars/restaurant work) in downtown Chicago for five years during his “gap.” I think Cardinal Fang is right that he’s enjoying being around us and we are enjoying giving him emotional support and encouragement as he is now in the solution. We all know it’s temporary and trust me, no one wants it permanently. But it’s a great time right now for all three of us, and his siblings are extremely happy for him, too. Boy, don’t we need these better times in life to balance out all the years of parental angst!
Is it possible for the parents to stay in Ohio for another two years while he completes his bachelor’s degree at an Ohio public university, allowing him to stay near the parents while retaining better college affordability?
How does the fact that he is 27 and there for independent for the purposes of financial aid help his situation?
Have you tried running a Net Price calculator for him for some NC schools to see what happens?
Persons considered dependent would have residency based on the persons they depend on (usually parents); those considered independent would only have to consider their own actions in terms of whether they qualify for residency. Different states define dependent and independent differently (some based on tax dependency, some based on the FAFSA definition), so it is important to read all of the rules carefully.
Has your son tapped out what he can do at the CC level? I ask because it is not unheard-of for CCs to waive OOS tuition for everyone. I have no idea about NC or SC schools, but if he can find one, that might be a way to stay on a positive trajectory while he establishes domicile. He also may qualify for academic scholarships based on his CC GPA, and even a one-year award would be helpful in bridging him until he has in-state residency. Finally, don’t discount either public or private schools that may give a lot of need-based aid based on his own (presumably modest) income; that is one of the great benefits of being an older student.
Best of luck to all of you. So glad it is working out!
If a student has completed two years of transferable college level work at a community college, and the studentplans to transfer, more courses at the community college are unlikely to help. Universities typically require two years of coursework at their institution to grant a degree. So if he took more CC classes, he would still need two years of coursework at the four-year school.