I live in Virginia. I graduated last year from college and moved out of Virginia to Maryland and rented an apartment in September of last year for a job, and moved back to Virginia this month because I was let go. I never changed my license, registered to vote of that sort other than pay taxes for my job in Maryland.
I’m planning on going back to school in VA in the fall for a certificate program. As I was signing up for the program it asks to list where I have lived in the last two years. I’m assuming I should be forthright and list my Maryland address on this.
To be eligible for in-state tuition rates, you must be domiciled in Virginia for a minimum of one year prior to your application for domiciliary. Domicile is defined as your present, fixed home where you return following temporary absences and where you intend to stay indefinitely.
If you are dependent on your parents for financial support and 23 years old, you have the same domicile as your parents/guardians
I am 22 years old and still dependent on my parents. So even if me living outside of the state had an impact, I should be eligible because I am under 22 and dependent on my parents correct? Any thoughts would be appreciated, I’m getting to become worried that me temporarily living outside of the state will cause issues.
Remember in order to get aid for 2018-2019, you will have to submit your tax information for 2016. The school will see that you lived in Maryland. As a dependent student, you should be able to get in-state tuition because your parents are VA residents. It may be a little back and forth, but you will get it
it seems that you would get instate status for tuition purposes because your parents live in VA. Did you move to MD in Sept 2017? Or Sept 2016? It sounds like you moved there in Sept 2017…this past September. Please clarify.
But you already have a bachelors degree…so you might not get any financial aid for a certificate program.
I moved in September of 2017. But never changed my license or anything. I’m not sure how financial aid works for this. I thought I would just be able to take out loans like I did for my original degree.
@chb088 not sure how your six month thing relates to this student who only lived OOS for four months.
If this student moved to MD in Sept 2017, she only lived there for 4 months…so for 2017 lived in VA for 8 months. And for 2018 will live there for 11 months…7 of which will be before college even starts.
And her family domicile has never changed to another state.
In terms of loans…not sure you can get more federally funded loans…since you already HAVE a bachelors degree.
If you’re a dependent, to the university, you’re a resident of you’re parent’s home state. You pay out of state tuition. If you get married, enlist in active duty military, or turn 24, then you can establish residency and pay in-state tuition.
Because the OP has already graduated from college, they’ll be considered an independent student. The OP will need to establish/prove their own in-state residency for tuition purposes.
There are different residency rules for different things. To vote, it is usually 30 days. To be required to register your car/get a new license, often 30 days. To get a library card, register for public school (k-12), usually one day. Tax filings have different requirements, and Md/Va/DC have some joint agreements about state and local taxes and how to file.
Sometimes the public colleges have a requirement set by law but can also be school specific.
@twoinanddone for tax purposes, it is as I outlined. Colleges go by tax guidelines. Therefore 6 months and a day makes you a resident. I know because I’ve done it.
@coolguy40 if the student has been paying more than 50% of his/her own expenses in a calendar year, they are not a dependent of anyone else. That is also tax guidelines, but that is what universities use. I’ve done that too. I was a 23 year old graduate student.
chb088 I’ve done in too, filed part year resident in two different states and never found a 6 months rule. I’ve filed for the taxes I owed to each state. If you move to California on Oct 15, you file taxes for the first state for 9.5 months and in California for 2.5 months. Doesn’t get you instate tuition from the first state or California… For instate tuition, the states DO NOT use the 6 months and a day rule. States have their own rules and most say 1 year.
Universities use the dependency rules for undergrads who are also under 24. This guy is a grad student. Also, if the 18 year old is independent for tax purposes, many states still use the parent’s residence to determine residency. Move to California, get a driver’s license, register a car, vote, work and pay taxes - and most likely you’ll still be a non-resident for tuition until you turn 24. In all other ways, you are an independent resident, but for tuition and FA, nope.
I think it is likely he never abandoned his VA residency (although he probably should have registered his car in MD and obtained a new license). That rule is 30 days. Easy in this case to just claim continued residency in VA. If he were trying to establish residency in MD, I bet he’d be claiming that he moved to MD in Aug, got a job, started paying MD taxes, had an apartment lease, etc.
@twoinanddone it’s found on your state Dept of Revenue website. I can’t really risk saying any more about it but trust me when I tell you I know. Yes that’s right about 1 year residency but since had been a resident all of 2016, more than half of 2017, and presumably more than half of 2018, this person qualifies
Tax filing status has nothing to do with this. Remember…the tax filing status the colleges willsee (for financial aid purposes) is from 2016 when this student WAS an undergrad dependent student.
Now, in 2018, the student has graduated from undergrad school…and as noted upstream must establish her own residency. And she has…in Virginia.