Okay so my family lived in Mississippi for about four years. I attended boarding school my junior and senior years of high school in Kentucky. Now my dad is living in South Carolina with my grandparents. I think legally this means my Mississippi residency has been forfeited. So now I’m enrolled at a school in Indiana, but almost 50,000 a year is more than I can do. My dad does not have a job, and we definitely don’t have that kind of money laying around, so I really just can’t afford this college (clearly I did not understand the financial policy as well as I thought). So, I want to transfer to a school in South Carolina, but I still will not qualify for in-state tuition because my father is not a legal resident. (If I can’t get in-state tuition anywhere then I might as well kiss college goodbye because out-of-state is just ridiculous). The residency requirements for SC are kind of ridiculous in my opinion, but that’s how it is. I don’t know what to do. (Oh and I’m not getting any scholarships from this school even though I had a pretty good GPA and ACT scores, so I’m really stuck). Help?
(And if anyone knows what the heck I should do about getting my driver’s license, that’d be cool too. My whole ‘not a resident of any state’ thing is making this really difficult. Most states seem to only tell you the requirements if you’re a wee child still in high school. Well I’m 18, and I just want to be able to drive myself to Wal-Mart for Pete’s sake.)
I’m confused. Why do you say your father is not a legal resident of South Carolina? Because it seems to me you can move to South Carolina, get your driver’s license there, take a year off school to establish residency, and then apply to a South Carolina college/university as a South Carolina resident with a father who is also a South Carolina resident.
You are confusing being a resident with being a resident for instate tuition purposes.
To become a resident of almost any state, all you have to do is establish a presence there. Usually this is done by getting a place to live, and then getting the documents that go with it - a DL, a library card, registering to vote, getting a job, getting medical insurance. Having a lease of a place to live is not absolutely required as even homeless people can establish residency to vote, to get benefits like SNAP or medicaid.
Your father can establish residency (and probably already has, but just needs a way to prove it like getting a license or ID card. If you also want SC to be your permanent home, you can do that too.
Residency for instate tuition usually follows the parent for a dependent child The parent often has to be a resident for more than a year, so you might have to wait for a year.
You might be eligible for instate tuition in Kentucky. Look to see what the requirements are, as sometimes (sometimes) it is enough to have a high school diploma from that state.
So you are enrolled for fall as freshman but now need to change? Is that correct? Does your Dad supply your support?
So do you mean your Dad is living in SC but has done nothing to establish residency - change DL, pay taxes, have voter registration, registered a car? Any chance he did any of this while you were still in HS - lottery money is available to students who are in boarding schools if parents are resident of SC. You’ll need to do some research on specifics.
If you are talking about DL in SC, then look at SC DMV website. You need SS card or passport, original birth certificate, and proof of residency (mail in your name). Move in with your dad and get some mail sent to you. Looking at FAQs for DL, they mention having someone mail you a letter at your address if you don’t have power bill, etc to show. Probably could apply for Library card which they would mail to your address and that would count.
So if you want to get the ball rolling, look at the tech schools in SC. They have a direct relationship with the university system (Clemson, USC, Coastal, Winthrop, etc.) where there are classes that are direct equivalents and always accepted toward your degree.
Simply moving to and living in South Carolina, if there is not a present intent to make it a temporary thing, should be enough to establish legal residency. Getting a driver’s license is not required to make someone a legal resident of a state. Paying taxes is not required to make someone a legal resident of a state. Registering to vote is not required to make someone a legal resident of a state. Registering a vehicle is not required to make someone a legal resident of a state.
If you are already registered to a school you cannot afford, please find out how to officially resind your admissions so you are not hit with large bills you cannot pay. You can use the next few months to figure out your next steps.
/How long must I live in South Carolina before I can establish residency? /
Under most circumstances, a person must live in South Carolina for 12 consecutive months in order to
establish residency.
/What kind of documents establish intent to become a SC resident? /
Statement of full time employment;
Designating South Carolina as state of legal residence on military record;
Possession of a valid South Carolina driver’s license, or if a non driver, a South Carolina identification
card. Failure to obtain this within 90 days of the establishment of the intent to become a South
Carolina resident will delay the beginning date of residency eligibility;
Possession of a valid South Carolina vehicle registration card. Failure to obtain this within 45 days of
the establishment of the intent to become a South Carolina resident will delay the beginning date of
residency eligibility;
Maintenance of domicile in South Carolina;
Paying South Carolina income taxes as a resident during the past tax year, including income earned
outside of South Carolina from the date South Carolina domicile was claimed;
Ownership of principal residence in South Carolina; and
Licensing for professional practice (if applicable) in South Carolina.
*Please note that any single indicator may not be conclusive.
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This is what the requirements are for residency in South Carolina as listed by Winthrop (where I’m hoping to transfer). My dad does not meet all of these requirements, and I’m not self sufficient. I don’t know how many of them have to be met either. Could it be that there’s something I’m missing or just misinterpreting? I don’t know. My dad is still my primary provider and the only person with any legal ties to me, since my mom died and my dad separated from my step mom.
I’m going to contact the school I’m enrolled in and see if there’s there’s anything I can do to being the cost down. Worst case scenario I could probably get in for almost no money to a small college in Kentucky (my high school has close ties to one of the smaller colleges). However, I would rather not be branded with Kentucky forever. That’s just me being uppity.
((Also thanks for the help with the DL thing. I’ve got lots of mail to show I live here, luckily, so hopefully I can get that taken care of soon. ))
The SC residency (for college) Q&A said that you don’t have to meet all of those requirements, but that they look at things such as the DL, the military records, etc. They also ask if you have ties to other states, like do you still have a DL from another state, do you pay taxes as a resident of another state. SC actually has a very liberal standard to become a resident. Do it. Take a year off of college and start as a resident of SC next year.
Have fun for a year. Work. Get to know your grandparents. Do not get $50k in debt.
You are continuing to confuse the requirements for simply being a legal resident of a state (which your dad could have undoubtedly met by now) and the requirements of residency for instate tuition at a public school.
Your dad should be able to establish residency in SC.
However, that doesn’t mean YOU will get instate tuition at a SC college.
Usually the parent needs to be a resident of the state for 12 months in order for the student to receive instate status.
In your situation, perhaps it would be a good idea to take a year off of college. Live with your dad in SC. Establish residency in the state AND fulfill the require,ends for gaining instate resdicenty status for tuition purposes.
That list is examples, not a checklist. The ones that would be a requirement are registering a vehicle, if one owns a vehicle, and getting a SC driver’s licensee or ID card. Failure to do those would be used against intent to domicile. Notice the last statement that a single indicator wouldn’t be conclusive. Another way to look at the list is if your dad qualifies for one on the list but is doing it through another state. This would apply to voting, DL’s, vehicle registration or perhaps working across state lines but living with family in SC. Being unemployed shouldn’t count again him but calling the school is the best answer.
Not necessarily. For someone who has never driven and never had a driver’s license and has no intention of driving, failure to get a driver’s license upon moving to a new state would have no bearing on a determination of domicile. Neither would a failure to get a state ID card. I agree that if a new resident wanted to own a car in state and have a driver’s license, getting a registration and driver’s license in the new state would be important indications of the intent to claim a new legal residence. But every claim of residence will depend on the unique circumstances of each person.
@BelknapPoint The things I listed as state requirements were from UofSC form that has to be turned in to prove status for in-state tuition and looks the same as what OP posted for Winthrop which would make sense because both state schools. Maybe OP would be granted in-state rates even if all didn’t apply but these are questions on the form. Some of them may not be applicable to the dad at this point. I agree that this is not the same as legal residency, but what OP is asking is about residency for purpose of in-state tuition.
The info for DL was in response to OP wanting his license - not related to tuition residency.
OP, Winthrop would be a good school and again you could start at tech school and get some of requirements out of the way cheaply (especially if granted in-state tuition). Now if numbers suggest Winthrop would give you some scholarship for stats, then check all this out carefully before starting in the fall…might be better off with gap year and no classes anywhere to give yourself chance to get scholarships that are only offered to incoming freshmen.
Also, OP, if you are pretty sure about Winthrop, call them. Look at residency form on-line and see what office takes the form and call them. They deal with this every day and will be able to tell you where you stand and if some items are more important that others.
You might check with a state school in Kentucky and see if they would grant you residency for being a graduate of a high school in that state.
The other thing you could do is try s private school with good need-based aid. Many private schools will ask about both parents income, not just your dads.