I got into an argument tonight with a friend, and I think I learned something new. After looking up the official rules and regulations for in-state tuition (I.e., residency for tuition purposes) in a few states (I checked Oregon, California, and Hawaii), it seems that if a HS grad moves to the target state, establishes a permanent residence, works (not attending college) for one or two years (1 in OR and HI, 2 in CA), and is not financially dependent on parents (or anyone else) during that time, they may qualify for instate tuition.
I wonder why more kids don’t do that, especially if they want to attend a state school in one of the one-year states. Am I missing something? (My friend intends to move to Oregon, work for a year and support himself, then apply to attend a state university there. I was arguing that he couldn’t do that, but it seems he probably can.)
I know they still won’t be “independent” for FAFSA purposes, but I’m just talking about instate tuition.
Suppose the student moves to Oregon, works for the necessary amount of time (at least a year), and becomes classified as independent of the parents for the purpose of residency determination. He/she will still not be independent for financial aid purposes, so how will the student pay the in-state cost of attendance? ($25,000/year at U of Oregon, for example.)
Do you really think that many 18 year olds can suddenly move to another state (on their own dollar), get an apt (on their own dollar), work enough to pay the rent and other living expenses (on their own dollar) and still provide themselves a car, cell phone, etc?
The student needs to be fully financially independent from the parents. How many 18 year olds can afford to pay rent, utilities, car insurance, food, clothing, car costs like maintenance and gas, and ALL of their other living expenses…ALLof them. That is what INDEPENDENT from parents financially would entail.
Just finding a place to rent would be a financial challenge, especially in CA and HI.
And remember, that independent student’s income would be counted for financial aid purposes…and their parents too…
And the student income would need to be sufficient to show that all of the bills were being paid…by the student…for independent status.
And the parents can no longer declare you as a dependent for tax purposes.
What job is this 18 year old going to get that will pay them enough money to pay all of their bills?
Sorry, but I don’t think you learned the whole story.
This 18 year old would need to find a job with pay that would be sufficient to pay all all of their bills. Where in CA or HI could an 18 year old earn say…$30,000 a year? And what kid of job would they need to,do?
Ok…perhaps waiting tables, but a lot of high end restaurants ( and that is what would be needed to be self supporting) would not hire someone under 21 because of alcohol being served.
I think that most 18 year olds, at least ones who didn’t prepare for this, would have a hard time having enough “seed money” to get this going…moving, finding a place to live, getting a job that pays enough, own cell phone, having transportation, car insurance, etc.
Maybe if 3-4 friends got together and did this, pooled their money together to live in a cheap one bedroom apt for a year, and then went to college…
Students who establish independence for residency still need their parents financial info. to apply for financial aid? So they don’t qualify for extra grants or loans, just in state tuition instead of OOS tuition. And even if the school says they’re considered in state and will only be charged $25k/year instead of the OOS $45k/year, they can’t take any money from their parents or they lose the in state determination and the costs jump to $45k?
It varies by state. In Oregon or California, @austinmshauri summary is correct.
In Utah, it has been reported that you can establish residency even while in school and the parents can pay in-state fees. They actually seem to encourage it there.
My friend is, I think, 20 or 21, has been working for a couple of years (washing dishes at a restaurant) while living with parents and attending CC part-time). He will be moving with a friend, sharing an apartment, and working full time. I believe he would be intending to attend school, part-time, work, and continue to live off-campus.
He understands the need to be self-supporting.
I think he may also have (erroneously) believed that he would be independent for FAFSA purposes, but I set him straight on that. Still, his parents are not terribly well-off and don’t have much in assets (outside of their home and retirement accounts).
He may also harbor a belief that a school like U of O will meet his full need. I will talk with him further.
I was just surprised that for many states a person need only live and work (I.e., support themself) for a year to get residency for tuition. I think California’s tough 2-year requirement is more reasonable. I guess I know a lot of 19-21 year olds who would be able to do this. Maybe it’s because wages here are so low and costs so high, the idea of getting $12-15 per hour and only paying mainland costs for food, rent, etc. seems very feasible for a young person who can share an apartment with friends, not need a car, and basically live frugally.
Oh, and most of my friends are CS/IT geeks who could probably get a decent job pretty easily, and their parents are what most on here would call “lower middle class”.
There are two different issues being discussed here.
One is financial independence; you cannot establish that simply by working for a year. The schools will still require your parents’ financial information.
The other issue is residency. You CAN establish residency by actually living in the state, and get in-state admission privileges and tuition rates, by going and living in the state (but NOT for purposes of education, i.e., you’re not going there as a student) for the requisite period. Make sure you complete all the activities you can to show your intent to reside there permanently: get a driver’s license in that state, register to vote there, lease a house or apartment and have all your mail sent there, register your car there, open a bank account there, file your tax returns there, etc., etc.
If you are actually residing in a different state from your parents, you can also inherit their residency wherever they live under certain conditions specified in each state’s laws. But that does NOT negate the residency of wherever you are actually living. In other words, you can qualify for in state residency and tuition both where you’re actually living and where your parents live.
Not exactly - there is a reason both issues are being discussed, because they are normally related. You can move to California and get a driver’s license, an apartment, a job, etc. but if you are still dependent on your parents you will never qualify for in-state tuition, and residency will continue to be defined by your parents’ residency.
There are some states where you can be dependent on parents and still establish residency (Utah is an example already cited), but many of the states a lot of students want to go to (like California and Oregon) are not in this category.
Apparently you can establish financial independence with the right evidence, even in California, but they don’t make it easy. California does specify that you cannot establish independent residence unless you have also established financial independence.
“You may be considered “financially independent” if you: … f) is a single undergraduate student, and was not claimed by his or her parents or any other individual for the two years immediately preceding the request for resident classification, and demonstrates self-sufficiency for those two years and the current year.”
“Maybe it’s because wages here are so low and costs so high, the idea of getting $12-15 per hour and only paying mainland costs for food, rent, etc. seems very feasible for a young person who can share an apartment with friends, not need a car, and basically live frugally.”
Not need a car??? in California? You absolutely need a car in California. Gas is now $3.89 to $4.00 per gallon. But, insurance costs for that car and age are even crazier. Where do these naive people come from?
Our public transportation is awful in the areas that people want to move to: mainly Southern California. SF has good city transportation but once you are in the burbs, forget it.
Rents are astronomical! People, even CS geeks, cannot afford $2K per month for rent in California, not including utilities especially since jobs for CS are based on degrees Not too many well-paying jobs for geeks who don’t have that college diploma. If you do manage to cobble out a job that pays a little more, then your 1040 will impact any chance you had of getting future financial aid
Why don’t more people do this??? Because it is too expensive.
Car insurance is not that bad in California. I paid much more in Florida, same car so it was a few years older.
I worked with a guy in southern cal and he moved (back) to the SanFran area. He said he and his wife just used public transportation or rented Zip cars when they needed one.
I (my friend, actually, but I meant me when I posted) was specifically thinking of Eugene, Oregon, when I spoke of not needing a car and lower rents. Of course many places in CA wouldn’t work the same way.
Less popular states might have less onerous residence requirements. How many Chances threads do u read for Utah? Unless u are big into skiing, I have a hard time imagining what the draw of a restrictive, watered-down beer state would be for the typical OOS student.