In state tuition if I move in with my other parent?

Paying for College
1

<p>My situation is somewhat complicated - I'm attending community college for 2 years as it costs less to earn core credits, then I'm planning to transfer to a 4-year institution.</p>

<p>Here's where it gets tricky. I currently live in Ohio with my Mom, and will be attending a community college in Ohio for a semester (starting tomorrow, actually). My Dad (never married to my biological mom) has lived in Delaware for about 5 years now, and I plan on transferring to DTCC after first semester.</p>

<p>The reason I want to move to Delaware is to get to know my Dad and his side of my family better - especially my step brother and step mom and half sister. My Dad had a (thankfully minor) stroke last May, so it put things into perspective for me.</p>

<p>Anyways, I digress. I've searched online and some places say I have to be a resident for 6 months to get in-state tuition, while others say that as long as I'm a dependent and a parent has lived there for more than a year, I should be fine.</p>

<p>Another thing - the 4-year college I plan on transferring to is in Ohio. Does this change anything?</p>

<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated - I'm driving myself insane trying to figure this out.</p>

<p>I'm actually considering moving to Delaware now and dropping out of community college, then moving back to Ohio to try to get into the 4-Year school I want to go to next year and just going with my brother. I mean, I've always wanted to have the full experience of living in a dorm, and I can't have that with community college, can I?</p>

<p>Sorry about my rant, just had to get my whole situation out there haha...</p>

2

<p>I would think twice before moving in with a dad who was never married to my mom, who is married and has his own family. It sounds like you’ve never lived with your dad. That’s quite different from a situation where parents were married, then divorced, but the child lived with both parents for awhile and continued to live with both with some kind of shared custody. </p>

<p>Do they want you to move in with them? Do they have room?</p>

<p>You may be treated well - as a guest - for a bit, but there may be problems after that. Your dad and his wife have their own family customs/rules/etc and they may be vastly different from what you’re accustomed to with your mom. </p>

<p>For example…They may be “neat as a pin” doing chores all the time, and you may be used to a more “lived in” household where it’s ok to put your feet up on the coffee table and leave your bed unmade. You may be used to spending much time in the bathroom, but now you’d have to share with siblings. Those are just small examples and it may not apply, but the point is the same. It sounds like these people are virtually strangers to you except for occasional visits, etc. </p>

<p>Why don’t you visit them during a LONG school break - like Christmas - to get an idea of what it’s like to live with them.</p>

<p>*
I’m actually considering moving to Delaware now and dropping out of community college, then moving back to Ohio to try to get into the 4-Year school I want to go to next year and just going with my brother. I mean, I’ve always wanted to have the full experience of living in a dorm, and I can’t have that with community college, can I?*</p>

<p>Now I’m confused.</p>

<p>You now live in Ohio where you soon want to transfer to a 4 year university in Ohio. Why, then, would you mess that up by moving to Delaware for a short time? It may hurt your eligibility for instate tuition and/or any state aid. </p>

<p>Stay in Ohio, apply to Ohio universities. Visit your dad during holidays and summers.</p>

<p>On another note…do you know if you can afford to go to a Ohio university and live in a dorm? Will your dad help with any college costs?</p>

3

<p>It appears that you would not be granted instate rates at DTCC unless your dad claimed you on his tax return last year:</p>

<ol>
<li>Students 18 years of age or older are
considered Delaware residents if one
of the following conditions is met
immediately prior to registration:
a. Delaware has been their
domicile and continuous
residence for at least six (6)
consecutive months.
b. They have been employed at
least 30 hours per week in
Delaware for at least six (6)
consecutive months, or
c. They were dependents of their
parents or guardians, who meet
the Delaware residency
requirements in a. or b. above.
The student must have been a
dependent, as defined by the
Internal Revenue Service, in the
tax year immediately preceding
the current College fiscal year.
A copy of the IRS Form 1040 or
Form 1040A, or a state income
tax return showing the student
is a dependent, is the only
acceptable documentation.</li>
</ol>

<p><a href=“http://www.dtcc.edu/catalog/pdf/financial.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dtcc.edu/catalog/pdf/financial.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I agree with M2Ck, this plan seems overly complicated for such a short term move. You may lose credits (and money) in the transfer articulation process. Visit dad in the summer…you’ll really get to enjoy DE then!</p>

4

<p>It sounds like you want to have it both ways…depending on what YOU want to do. In other words, you want instate tuition for Ohio now…instate tuition for Delaware while you go to your dad’s beginning in January, and instate for Ohio when you choose to return there for your four year college degree.</p>

<p>I’m not sure you will be able to pull off all those multiple residencies in different states, where the requirement for state residency is 12 months residency prior to enrolling in college. </p>

<p>If you stay in Ohio…which IS your state of residence (by the way)…you will be able to remain an instate resident for all four years of your undergrad schooling as that is your state of residence.</p>

<p>If you move to Delaware and are able to establish residency there…you WILL lose your Ohio residency, and will not be able to just transfer back at the instate rate.</p>

<p>I understand that you want to spend some time with your dad. BUT there are MANY breaks for college students. Why not figure out where you really want to go to college and plan to spend all of your breaks in Delaware. If you are attending a community college in Ohio, presumably you would still be living with and seeing your mom.</p>

5

<p>Or you could see if your Ohio CC offers the second semester classes you need in an online verion…it doesn’t matter where you actually are as long as they don’t require you to come to campus for exams.</p>

6

<p>o.o I didn’t expect this many replies…haha. I’ll try to respond to everyone.</p>

<p>“It sounds like you’ve never lived with your dad. That’s quite different from a situation where parents were married, then divorced, but the child lived with both parents for awhile and continued to live with both with some kind of shared custody.”</p>

<p>I think I forgot to mention a few things in my post…haha. From the age of 8 onwards, my dad had visitation and I would see him every other weekend. This was when he still lived in Ohio, and after he got married. After he moved to Delaware, I visited him for both Christmas and a month 3 summers ago, another month 2 summers ago, didn’t go last summer and got back from 2 weeks on the 25th of August this year. My whole thing is that I basically don’t know how much time I have left to REALLY get to know my dad and his side of the family. Visiting on break is completely different than living there for an extended period of time.</p>

<p>As for losing Ohio in state tuition rates, I may have found a way around it, partially. First, my dad makes significantly less money than my mom, therefore I was not eligible for any grants or federal loans as determined by the FAFSA with my mom. In addition to that, my mom held off until JULY to submit the FAFSA, then got mad when her EFC was 18k. If I were to transfer to a school in DE, yes, I’d have to pay out of state tuition, but I’m fully willing to do pay for a semester - I’m saving up for the next four months, I should probably have more than enough haha. But I got sort of off topic, sorry. With my dad, I’ll probably be eligible for for more grants and federal loans and stuff like that. In addition, many of the Ohio schools I’ve been looking at (like Kent) can halve the out-of-state surcharge if I meet certain education criteria. I know this still isn’t the smartest idea financially speaking, but idk…</p>

<p>Also</p>

<p>“Do they want you to move in with them? Do they have room?”</p>

<p>Yeah, they’re totally fine with me moving in. They didn’t push for me to move in or even ask me to think about it - this is all my decision. And yeah, they have a room. Me and my brother (technically step-brother, but we consider ourselves as just brothers) are going to be sharing a room - which both of us are excited about. Me and him somehow became best friends as we got older and I visited…He’s about the same age as me, but currently a senior in high school.</p>

<p>Overall, though, I admit that this may not be the smartest thing to do financially, but I know I will definitely regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t do this now. I’m pretty confident that this is the best choice for me at this point in my life, though. Thanks for all the advice, though…I definitely have more things to consider now.</p>

<p>Oh! I almost forgot - I go to tri-c right now, and they do have online classes. I actually gave it a thought, and might look into that…I’ll have to make a guidance appointment to ask about it. Again, thanks guys :P</p>

7

<p>You may not be eligible for grants, but you are eligible for federal loans regardless of your mom’s income. My parents had a similar EFC when I was in college and I still got Stafford. They won’t be subsidized loans, but you are still eligible for them.</p>

<p>I’m not sure that you can switch back and forth with who you file FAFSA with from year to year, and I’m almost positive you can’t do that from semester to semester. One of the more experienced financial aid gurus around here can answer that for certain. This really is not a good idea; it doesn’t make sense to transfer to Delaware for one semester only to come back to Ohio to go to an in-state university. It makes absolutely no sense to mess up your eligibility for in-state tuition just to live with your father for four months, especially since that can easily be done over a summer break or even as a transient student if you wanted to do that. Some schools will allow you to be a transient student for a semester at another university - you could be a transient student at Del State once you get into your Ohio four-year and live with your dad.</p>

<p>You don’t definitely know that you will regret it for the rest of your life. You are at best 19 years old, yes? Things that seem really important to you now (even though they seem impulsive and not smart to those older than you) will not be as important to you when you are 30 or even 25. I know it seems like you have to do things NOW to get the most benefit out of them, but you have at least 60 years of life ahead of you at this point.</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>Please listen carefully…you will not be able to pay instate tuition in Deleware after only ONE semester in residency there. You must reside IN the state for a full year BEFORE you begin to attend college to be an instate student for tuition purposes. Right now…you are a resident of OHIO…not Deleware. If you want to establish residency with your dad, you will need to move to Delaware and establish your residency BEFORE your begin your college studies there.</p>

<p>It does NOT matter who files your FAFSA when residency is determined. The FAFSA rules are also clear on that one…The parent with whom you reside more than half the time is the one you put on your FAFSA. If you reside with both parents an equal amount of time, you are required to list the parent who EARNS the most on your FAFSA…not the one who earns the least. So…if you lived with your mom and dad equally, you would be required to put your MOM if she earned more.</p>

<p>If your mom is mad because her EFC is as it is, is she willing to PAY that amount for you to attend college while you are a resident of Ohio? It doesn’t sound like your dad’s income is as high as your mom’s. Who will pay your tuition costs as an out of state student in Delaware.</p>

<p>You need to look at the implications for your college years in terms of finances if these are a concern. You will not be able to have instate residency in BOTH Ohio and Delaware (so far as I know, these two states do not have a provision for divorced resident parents who are not the custodial parent). Right now, you are an instate resident for Ohio…and would pay instate costs. You would lose that status if you establish residency in Delaware…which would take you time to do.</p>

<p>In most cases, what you are proposing…switching residency for tuition purposes…is just not going to be possible.</p>

9

<p>Does your stepmom work? Remember that her income and assets will be included in your EFC, not just your dad’s.</p>

10

<p>It sounds like the financial ramifications really won’t be that great if you plan to attend an in-state colleges such as Kent. With an EFC of 18k, you won’t qualify for anything but a direct loan since your EFC will be more than the cost of attendance at Kent (especially if you plan to live off campus)- my daugther’s friend had a similar situation. The downside is that if you lose your in-state residentcy in Ohio, the overall cost at Kent will go up b/c you will have to pay out of state tuition and as a state school they really do not give out much aid. Have you considered looking at private colleges in Ohio to transfer back to? That way you will not have to worry about in/out of state tuition and residency. Also, private colleges are more likely to meet your need. This will be important if your EFC when using your dad/step-mom’s information is lower than your mom’s.</p>

11

<p>How low is your Dad and his wife’s income?</p>

<p>If their combined income is not that low, it’s doubtful you’d get grants.</p>

<p>Just because your dad earns less than your mom, it doesn’t mean that your dad (and his wife) earn a low enough amount to get grants. They would have to earn quite a low amount. </p>

<p>I think you’re under some mistaken idea that CCs and public state schools have grants to give based on EFC. They don’t. They typically only have SMALL federal grants to give and those are to low income families. </p>

<p>And…transfer students often get even less aid. You’re probably going to be in for a very unpleasant surprise financially.</p>

<p>Your mom’s EFC is 18,000. Do you realize how LOW your dad/stepmom’s income would have to be to get just $2000 in grants? They would have to have an EFC of 3600 for you to get $2000.</p>