I will be applying to grad schools in 2 years. I’m from NJ but my mom just bought a home in AZ and may or may not end up selling the home in NJ before I apply to grad school. What will my own state residency depend on for tuition/scholarships?
I don’t understand the info I find online but my mom seems to thinks its wherever she’s had residency for at least 1 year. Is this true? I’d like to only look at schools where I can get in state tuition.
You will probably be independent for grad school. It MIGHT depend on where you mother is a resident (and resident doesn’t just mean she owns a house there), but it also might be where you have declared your residency (DL,voter registration, lease/home owner, work, pay taxes). You’ll need to look up the requirements for each state.
How old will you be?
Probably the best thing to do,is move to the state where you want to go to grad school…and work for a year…establishing your own residency which you can do for tuition purposes…as you will already have a bachelors degree.
At that point, your residency will not be dependent on your parent place of residence but it WILL be dependent on yours!
@thumper1 I will be applying for grad school straight out of undergrad, though. A Master’s is needed for my field. I’m fine as long as I have state residency somewhere. Is it possible that I won’t? I’ll probably be 20 when I apply.
Also I’m going to school and “working” (work study) in Illinois but I didn’t think that was relevant.
YOU can become an Illinois resident if you want to be one. You can get a DL, register to vote, get a library card, file taxes as an instate resident. That won’t matter for undergrad and you’ll still have to pay out of state tuition and FA will be based on your mother’s residence. For grad school, however, it might matter. If you are interested in Illinois for grad school, look into it.
You are (most likely) a NJ resident right now. You can continue to be one even if your mother moves. You maintain your DL, pay your taxes, register to vote. Again, just because your mother moves doesn’t mean you have to, but it will be much easier if you return to your ‘home.’
@twoinanddone so if I get my drivers license in NJ, I can get in state tuition there? I don’t have one yet, nor am I registered to vote. I guess I’ve paid taxes kind of from my summer job, but thats a temporary thing. I’m not trying to establish residency in Illinois or anywhere in particular. I just want to know where I can look for grad school. I have been looking just at NJ schools so far.
If NJ is your home state, yes, establish it on your own. Get a state ID if you don’t have/want a driver’s license. Register to vote. It doesn’t guarantee you residency on your own. Look up the requirements for grad school residency.
If your mother moves, would you have any ties to NJ?
Every public college has its own rules about whom they consider a state resident. Not only do residency requirements vary state to state, they often are often different every college within the same state.
If you have grad program in mind, I suggest you look up the residency requirements for that particular school.
Here’s a link to the Residency Analysis form for Rutgers–
.https://admissions.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/media/Documents/ResidencyAnalysisForm.pdf
Here’s a link for the interactive Arizona State U residency navigator that will help you determine your status-- https://students.asu.edu/residency
(google: name of university + independent student + residency requirements for any college you want to check. There’s always a form/checklist that will assist you in determining your residency status.)
And I’ll mention one other thing to keep in mind: if you get a departmental or university based assistantship as part of you FA for your grad program (research or teaching assistantship), you are usually granted in-state status by virtue of your employment with the university.
@twoinanddone just the in state tuition
@WayOutWestMom I haven’t seen anything about in state tuition in any of the graduate assistantship webpages, though. If that’s the case, I would apply to a much wider range of schools.
If you are applying to programs with graduate assistantships, how are the colleges compensating you? Many give either full or partial tuition remission and a stipend.
What major is your graduate program? Some are more likely to provide funding than others.
When a school gives tuition remission as a benefit of a grad assistantship…it’s a remission…and it doesn’t matter if you are in or out of state.
@thumper1 I’ve found 2 schools that offer full tuition assistantship and the rest only partial, so the rest of tuition would depend on state residency I think. Is it not more difficult to get accepted into grad programs and assistantships from out of state the way it is for undergrad? Also do you usually find out if you’ve gotten the assistantship before you enroll?
It’s speech pathology.
I’m a speech pathologist. It isn’t easier to get accepted to instate grad programs in speech pathology. For acceptance purposes, it doesn’t really matter. It’s comoetitive either way.
I got my masters at Western Illinois University in Macomb back in the Stone Age. I had an assistantship there which paid my tuition and a small stipend per month. Do they still offer that? Check and see. Southern Illinois offered me money as well. I was an out of state resident.
Admissions to Rutgers will be more competitive than to other smaller NJ publics.
Check the schools on this list in NJ, several public universities listed.
https://www.mynextmove.org/profile/ext/training/29-1127.00?s=NJ
Then go to the ASHA website, public information, and check to see which programs are accredited.
@thumper1 Rutgers? From what I saw they don’t have a program. I was looking at Kean and Montclair.
So Illinois was out of state for you and you got money there?
Do you know the answer to my question about when you find out if you’ve been accepted as a graduate assistant. Is this something I can take into account when deciding between schools?
Someone upstream posted about Rutgers. You are correct…no masters in speech pathology there.
Kean has a good program from what I understand (I know some adjuncts there). Montclair…check their accreditation. I know their audiology program was under review, but I don’t know bout their speech program.
I was interviewed for the assistantships…but I didn’t find out if i received them until I was accepted…sort of like undergrad school. You find out about this type of aid when you are accepted.
I cast a pretty broad net when I applied. I really needed to follow the money, so I didn’t apply to any highly competitive programs (Northwestern and Purdue were tops back in the Stone Age). I looked for smaller, accredited programs.
@thumper1 ok thank you for your responses. My intuition tells me to just go to the cheapest place, but my mom says I should take on debt for grad school if it means going to a better ranked program. She is my main advice person but she also doesn’t know much about SLP so idk. 
I’m sending you a PM.
Teaching/research/graduate assistantships include full or partial tuition remission as part of the package. So your state residency is irrelevant.
And for speech pathology, you need an accredited by ASHA program. That is what matters.
@WayOutWestMom but won’t it be relevant if the tuition remission is only partial?