In State Tuition in Colorado for 19 Year Old

Okie dokie so I need some help. Myself and my boyfriend are looking at moving to Denver Colorado, but we need in state tuition. For me that is not a problem, my dad moved to Colorado for work in November so I will just wait for him to hit a year and I’m solid. However, my boyfriend is not so lucky.

His mother lives in Georgia and he has no family in Colorado. We’ve been dating for two years and are/will live together, but we’re not married. He is 19 and is on his mother’s health insurance. (He will be 20 in September.)

I know he can be emancipated, but what is the actual possibility of that working? What all would we need, and would it require cooperation from his mother? Can we use the fact that my father is there to help out? We will be moving in early June and are both attending college here in Georgia.

Another option, for the time until he is 22, are there any online schools that he could attend without the worry of in-state out-of-state tuition?

It is unlikely that he can be emancipated for financial aid purposes. To become independent for financial aid purposes, he needs to be 24, a military veteran, an orphan, married, etc.

If the only reason why you aren’t getting married is so that he can keep his health insurance, ask his mother to investigate the policy he is under. He may be able to stay on it even if he is married.

I read on the Colorado website that he can get emancipated under 22 if he can prove he’s supporting himself, and minus the health insurance he is and has been(http://highered.colorado.gov/finance/residency/qualified.html).

As far as the married… We don’t want to get married for a reason like this. Like, you know? I know that’s super corny and stupid but the move is optional.

Please note that at 22 he would Begin the one year domicile period. He wouldn’t get in-state tuition until 23 (that’s a one year break on the regular rules).

It looks like he can move to Colorado right before turning 22, get a job there, and work long enough to establish his own in-state residency. The information at the Colorado higher ed website doesn’t say anything about health insurance, so I wouldn’t worry about that just yet. Chances are that it can’t hold health insurance against anyone because of the ACA regulations that require that parental health insurance cover their children to age 26.

Is there any reason why he would feel that he needed to be in college right now? At this point, waiting one more year really shouldn’t be that big a deal. But if he feels like he needs to be studying, he should check out what the community colleges near where you would be living have to offer him. He may be able to enroll there at local prices sooner than at the universities - especially if he’s only taking one or two classes rather than being a full-time student.

@Erin’s Dad
He is 19 now, so he’d be 20 when we’d have been there for a year.

@happymomof1‌ Well it’d be a 2 year wait, which is kind of insane especially since neither of us can do a full time job and full time school, so it’s going to take a while. However, thanks for the advice, we’ll have to see about the emancipation.

@HelloBeauChild‌ please re-read the link you posted:

Unless your boyfriend is emancipated he can’t start that domicile timeline until he is 22. And in most states you can’t go to school during that year long period - work only.

@Erin’s Dad

Exactly, but if he were to get emancipated then the year would start. I have done extensive research on this subject- making sure I had an idea what I was talking about before I posted on this. So if he were to get emancipated when we moved by 21 (at some point before he turned) he would be in state tuition eligible. Though, I did not know that you couldn’t go to school during that period. However, that’s fine, because we’d be just setting up and not yet have the money for school (his mother expects him to pay for his college).