<p>I moved to Tucson, AZ back in August of 2012. I attended Pima Community College, taking only one class because I was considered an out of stater. It is almost August of 2013, and I am ready to take on the courses of a full-time student as a resident of Arizona.</p>
<p>Today, I found out that even though I filed taxes here in AZ, my parents still claimed me on them, meaning I cannot become get in-state tuition. My parents live in Illinois. I have made my own life here. My car is registered here, I have an AZ driver's license, I transferred from Kohl's in IL to the Kohl's here and have been working since Aug 2012. All of my bills come to the address of the house that is located IN TUCSON. </p>
<p>I have applied for FAFSA over the years, but they seem to think my parents can afford college. Most of the scholarships on the Pima website are either for low income people or ones with high GPAs. </p>
<p>I don't know what else to do. We can barely afford community college, and I feel pathetic. My mom would rather I did not take out loans until I transfer to a four year school. </p>
<p>There has to be more options! I am so upset and frustrated, I'm about to just drop out all together. </p>
<p>I don't really know what I'm asking, I'm just a crying mess right now and I don't know what to do. I'm not a resident of Arizona, I'm not a resident of my home Illinois anymore. I'm just in some weird college limbo that's all too expensive for me. I'm confused and angry, and the advisors at the school aren't that helpful.</p>
<p>My life at home was not going well when I lived in IL. Nothing was, and I was very depressed. Being in AZ has been a struggle, but I’ve made more friends than I ever did in IL, have done more things I probably never would have imagined doing if I were back home.</p>
<p>I’m so happy here. I can’t move back. There must be some way to attend college here and become a resident. The advisors at PCC never mentioned this before, and now suddenly it’s a problem.</p>
<p>Is there a possibility of your parents removing you from their taxes for 2012? They were not supposed to file for you if you were financially independent. If you meet all the other criteria for AZ residency that should work.</p>
<p>Sounds like your parents did not even have the legal right to claim you as a dependent, since you supported yourself for five months in Arizona in 2012 and since you had the Kohls job in Illinois and were probably paying much of your living expenses from that money prior to moving to Arizona. Your parents would have to have provided more than fifty percent of your total living expenses in 2012 to claim you as a dependent. They saved, at the most, probably no more than a two thousand dollars on their taxes by claiming you, but their claiming you will cost you many thousands in OOS tuition in Arizona if you go to school there.</p>
<p>For the purposes of FAFSA, undergraduate students are considered dependent upon parents u til 24, unless they meet certain criteria. </p>
<p>To complete a FAFSA as independent student, however, you must meet some pretty specific criteria. You must
Be at least 24 on or before December 31 of the award year;
Be an orphan (both parents deceased) or a ward of the court;
Be a veteran;
Be a graduate or professional student;
Be married;
Have legal dependents;
Receive a waiver from a financial aid administrator for unusual circumstances.
If you can prove one of the above situations, you can change your status by completing a dependency review form (ask your college financial aid office for one). Be warned that unusual circumstances can be extremely difficult to prove, and changes in status are rarely granted (i.e. moving out of your parents house combined with the fact that they refuse to contribute for tuition is not a good enough reason).</p>
<p>Talking to Fin Aid offices and discussing dependency review is a solution. Another huge issue is becoming a resident of Arizona. This is a difficult, if not impossible task to do for purposes of qualifying for in-state tuition as an undergraduate student. </p>
<p>Are you in process of seeking in-state residency?</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter whether the parents claim the student or not. As long as she is dependent for purposes of financial aid, her residence is with that of her parents. Otherwise, every parent in the world would just have their kids claim themselves and not need the parents info for financial aid.</p>
<p>Some public community colleges and 4-year institutions do have residency policies that will grant in-state tuition/fees to students in the OP’s situation. The OP needs to have a sit-down with the people at Pima CC and find out whether that would be possible.</p>
<p>Would you be interested in trying a different area in Illinios for your college experience completely away your parents home right now where you felt depressed?</p>
<p>It looks like it is difficult to establish Arizona residency on the basis that you are financially independent because you need 2 years tax returns with no one else claiming you as a
dependent.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. The advisor person I spoke with said maybe she could talk to her supervisor once I showed her the taxes I filed. My parents didn’t have to claim me, but decided that if they did, we both would get a lot of money back rather than just me. We did think about it, but I’m hoping this year they will not claim me. They’d lose a little money, but I could probably afford to finish Pima. </p>
<p>I am planning on becoming a resident. I have no plans to leave AZ in the near future. </p>
<p>If OP is planning to continue at cc, then it certainly could matter if her parents claim her on their taxes, if that claim affects her residency classification in AZ. Even without FAFSA and financial aid, OP’s cc would cost only about $65 per credit hour, something she could likely afford without financial aid.</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, the OP will be a dependent regardless of how her parents file or claim her or not on the tax returns. But for in state tuition, it 's up to an individual college. Not only does it depend on their own rules but also on how the college enforces them. Hopefully the OP can come to some arrangement with the college. Good luck.</p>
<p>OP, are you still on your parent’s health insurance policy? That amount, right there, could be worth 50% or more of “living expenses” per month. (Have you seen how expensive premiums, deductibles, etc are these days?) So, since you lived at home for 7 months of 2012, your parents did have the right to claim you. If your rent is cheap, and food, etc, is cheap, you’d better check on the value of health insurance if your parents still have you on their policy. That could ruin your claim to your own deduction again for 2013.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone! I talked with my school, and as long as my parents don’t claim me on their taxes this spring, I can get in-state tuition. So I will be taking this semester off just to work. Again, thank you everyone for replying :)</p>
<p>If you think your parents might try to claim you as a defendant, try to file your return very early, before they do. It will be easier than getting the change after the fact.</p>
<p>While Arizona may have given you in-state tuition, unless they are willing to give you a dependency override, your receiving financial aid will be based on your parent’s income as long as you are considered a dependent student.</p>
<p>Did you address this issue with the financial aid office at Pima?</p>
<p>If you are not eligible for federal aid other than stafford loans (subsidized, if you have a financial need), if you must pay out of pocket, are you prepared to do so?</p>