My family is in a unique situation. My husband was just offered a job in another state. Originally the plan was for my son and I to join him at the end of this school year, but not my son may want to wait and move after his senior year of high school. How does in state tuition get determined when the parents are still married, but live in different states. Our current state has no college options that appeal to him, but the new state has a university he is interested in possibly attending. By the end of his senior year, we will own a home in the new state and will have paid taxes there for 2 years. However, my son would graduate from a different state where we currently reside. I’m trying to gather as much information as possible to make an informed decision.
If ask the school.
My daughters bf family is in TN and they have a beach house in Florida which mom uses as her address.
The kids both say they qualify in state in Florida. Seems odd to me.
One is at Denver but possibly transferring. The other is applying to Florida schools and claiming residency even though he goes to a TN high school.
I’d ask the specific school. They’ll have someone who can help with residency questions.
Check both the old state and new state residency-for-tuition-purposes rules.
Most states have a one year waiting period for both the student and parent living there to get in-state tuition for the student. This is obviously a concern for moving to a new state after high school graduation in the old state.
Some, but not all, states allow someone who graduated high school in the state after some number of years of attendance to get in-state tuition, even if they and/or their parents now live out-of-state. This could allow for getting in-state tuition in the old state if it is one of those states.
Yes, check with the in-state college. But most will accept one parent permanently residing in-state for at least 12 months, for work or other legitimate purpose other than solely for tuition purposes. So it seems like your son would qualify for in-state tuition by the time he graduates HS based on what you’ve stated.
Some of this might also depend on where the student graduates from high school…so check that too.
Depends on the state. Colorado allows it if one parent lives in Colorado, even if that parent doesn’t claim the child on the taxes. California is much pickier.
Florida requires the parent to be a resident and fill out a residency form, show proof of residency with a DL, utility bills, etc. Florida has no income tax forms so you have to do it by other means. Graduating from an OOS high school is going to put up a warning flag, but it can be overcome with real proof that you are a resident. Claiming residency in another state (like by filing taxes there or voting there) is not a good way to get instate residency for tuition purposes. The Florida resident has to claim the child as a dependent (there may be an exception for military as there always seems to be an exception for military).
Some states require that the student reside in the state, regardless of whether or not a parent is residing and paying taxes.
Some universities give advantage in admissions to local high school residents.
As per the previous posters, you really need to contact his preferred colleges and ask to be directed to the Residency Determination Office, especially with the states which have very popular colleges. Your son’s desired school may not have a Residency Determination Office because they don’t have issues with OOS students wanting residency, but you should explain your situation to his college picks.
States that have a large influx of out of state students to their universities tend to be hip to all the ways applicants try to finesse in state tuition, and their residency determination process is set up to vet all the scenarios. I would think that a residency in one state but a graduation from a high school in another state would raise a red flag - but maybe 1 to 2 years of post-high school grad proof in the residency state would net in state tuition for the last 2 years of college.
Florida has the grandparent waiver which some, but not all, of out of state applicants are awarded. You have to apply for it.