Moving Out of NC Freshman Year

Parents Forum
1

<p>I was looking for someone who has experienced this "parents moving out of state" situation in NC, or a state where the rules are similar. I wonder what you can tell me about what you experienced trying to maintain in-state tuition when you moved out of the state where you sent your kid to college.</p>

<p>I've done a bit of homework, but there's nothing that I could find that was definitive. So if there were some "case studies" out there, where people were successful or unsuccessful at maintaining in-state tuition, I'd be very interested in those.</p>

<p>After reading this PDF: <a href="http://registrar.sites.unc.edu/files/2012/06/Residence_Manual_Aug_2010.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://registrar.sites.unc.edu/files/2012/06/Residence_Manual_Aug_2010.pdf&lt;/a>, I have concluded that if a student has lived with her parents in NC for 5 years before attending UNC, if her parents move out of state after the student starts school, that does not automatically make the student a resident of the other state, even if the student is a minor. That's good news. But the student's residency is determined by the same factors as a student that has no legal guardians. And that is "...determined based on all the information supplied by the student."</p>

<p>So that takes us into this mess:</p>

<ul>
<li>Does she live with her parents? <<<<<</li>
<li>Where does she live between semesters? <<<<<<</li>
<li>Where does she vote / have jury duty? ok</li>
<li>Where is her drivers licence? ok</li>
<li>Where is her car registered? n/a</li>
<li>Where is she employed? <<<<</li>
<li>Did she file NC income tax? ok</li>
<li>Where is her "stuff"? <<<<</li>
<li>Where did she go to High School? ok</li>
<li>Where did she live before UNC? ok</li>
<li>Who pays for her to go to school? <<<<</li>
</ul>

<p>Specifics (and touchy spots) in THIS case study are:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>What if she comes to the parents' new state during breaks? How are they going to know where she goes (maybe she hiked the Apalachian Trail over the summer, for instance).</p></li>
<li><p>She probably wouldn't be able to get a job in the summer and live with her parents.</p></li>
<li><p>Her stuff would be at school during the semesters, but split into storage and some with her (in her parents' new state, or with her on the Apalachain Trail).</p></li>
<li><p>Her schooling is paid out of a 529 account that is owned by the parents and where she is the beneficiary, and she otherwise only earns pocket money during school.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Do any of you dear readers have any experience with a situation like this?</p>

<p>--Dale--</p>

2

<p>Your best place to ask this is through the FA office at the college. Even with state laws for residency colleges have different nuances in how they interpret things.</p>

3

<p>Four years ago when our daughter was making her decision the company I worked for was bought out and I considered relocation to be likely. I called the FA office at UNC-CH and they made it pretty clear to me that she would be considered out of state if we moved. I agree with Erin’s Dad that they are the best place to get info on your situation.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the first-hand report. Bad news, but now I know the importance of keeping control of the situstion.</p>