I am a 17-year-old high schooler who doesn’t currently live in California.
Is there anything I can do in order to be eligible for in-state tuition in 1 year from now?
What if my aunt who lives in CA becomes my legal guardian?
Generally, if you are a dependent student for college financial aid purposes, both you and your parents need to live in California for at least a year, having moved to California for reasons other than educational purposes, before claiming California residency for tuition purposes.
I qualify for everything else except I am not on the lease for my house and was paying cash. Do you guys think they’ll make me out of state? I will not be able to pay out of state if determined OOS. Please help
Not happening with legal guardian, sorry. You would need to be financially independent, including health insurance. That means you’d have to be able to show a source of income for 12 months.
UC is one of the more difficult states to obtain residency for undergrad tuition purposes.
The UC policy is found in the referenced document:
https://www.ucop.edu/general-counsel//_files/ed-affairs/uc-residence-policy.pdf
As I read it, you would have to be in the care and control of a CA legal guardian for 2 years prior to age 19 to qualify. Otherwise, it is your parents status that determines residency.
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No.
Your aunt can be your legal guardian (under the age of 18), but you would have to independently support yourself by paying the going rate for rent In CALIFORNIA-without help from family (aunt or parents) or friends,
If you are not on the lease and are paying cash, you don’t have written proof for the residency determination office. Your salary and California 540 tax returns have to match your expenses and budget. If someone helps you, or you try to get around the residency requirements, the university can and will dismiss you.
With so many people out of work, and your lack of a degree, you would not make enough money in California to pay your rent, expenses and taxes which are required by the UC residency determination offices.
Even if your parents were to move to California now, they would be required to work for a year and pay California taxes. You would pay OOS tuition for at least a year before your case was reviewed by the Residency Determination Office if your parents were to afford a move to California and find an available job that covers expenses. Housing prices are even worse than tuition.
If you don’t have the $65K per year to attend a California public university, you need to search for your instate options.
what is your home state and what are your stats/qualifications?
UCM and several CSUs participate in a program called WUE which gives big discounts to students from other Western states - check it out here:
https://www.wiche.edu/our-region/
if you have high stats, you might find the privates like LMU and USD to offer generous need and merit money, making them cheaper than they look.