Would I be able to go to an out-of-state school and take a few courses at OOS tuition, then once I am a resident of the state after that one year take a full course load at resident tuition? Is this “cheating”? What are the rules behind paying out of state tuition for the first academic year? Thanks guys!
You wont be a resident of that OOS. Your residency is where your parents are.
Each state has its own residency requirements. Read them carefully.
I’ll add that all colleges address the residency requirements on their websites.
Most states’ public universities make it difficult or impossible to gain residency for tuition by just attending college there, especially as a dependent student (i.e. younger than 24, not married or a military veteran) whose residency for tuition purposes is generally based on that of his/her parents.
Check the web sites of the universities for their residency for tuition rules.
Well I know Washington, Wisconsin, and I’m pretty sure California you need to live in the state for one year (that means pay rent, taxes, school, etc). So does that mean I do not have to be a full time student for the whole 12 months to avoid high non-resident tuition cost?
@ucbalumnus that’s a good point. So attending OOS ACTUALLY means that you would need to pay OOS tuition for the time you were there? (hypothetically speaking if the parents are not moving states as well)
Here’s a link to the University of Wisconsin’s explanation https://registrar.wisc.edu/residence/
The 12 months you mentioned usually does not apply to students attending college. It would be great if it worked that way 
That is crazy talk :(( Well that ruins my plans for college lol. UC’s it is
Thank you guys for clearing it up for me
In California you need to live in the state as an independent meaning no help from your family for 366 days, not attend any college, pay rent etc… If you are under 24 years of age, it us very difficult to establish yourself as an independent for tuition purposes.
The UCs in California are really specific about residency. For the most part, barring military, if you did not spend your junior and senior years of hs in California and graduate from a California high school, one is not eligible for instate tuition. And as noted above, if you’re a dependent student, it’s based on where your parents live. Read here:
https://www.ucop.edu/residency/residency-requirements.html
It’s basically not possible to move to California for educational purposes and gain residency for tuition purposes for the UCs.
Google is your friend for the other California college systems…
Here’s the quote from a related page:
Virtually all nonresident undergraduates with nonresident parents remain nonresidents for the duration of their undergraduate career at UC.
Based on other threads, it looks like the OP is a California resident attending a community college in California, so that would generally make the UCs and CSUs the most financially realistic state university options.
There may be some out-of-state public universities with very low out-of-state tuition in low cost of living areas (e.g. South Dakota State University), so their list prices may be competitive with those of UCs and CSUs – but if the OP is financial aid eligible, there may be none at those out-of-state public universities while s/he may get some at UCs and CSUs.
Yeah… I suppose it seems the most financially beneficial. I just do not at all want to be an undergraduate at a University of California school. Do any of you guys know how lenient UW-Madison is with financial aid?
Utah has relatively easy residency requirements compared to most other states, so you may want to take a look there. Our DD’s four years there, with a modest scholarship this year and in-state tuition for three years, will come out about equal to attending a Cal State.
The only thing harder than getting residency at UM-Madison is getting financial aid as an OOS student.
Really? How do you know this? @Eeyore123
Since you’re a CA resident and want to go out of state, check the WUE schools and see if that’s something that makes sense for you.
What exactly are WUE schools? I can’t find much information about it @OhWhatsHerName