My son has earned the Bright Futures and we have lived in Panama City, Florida for almost 30 years. University of West Florida is telling us that the students residence is where the parents primary address is if the student is under the age of 24. We have move to Georgia due to my husbands job by the end of June, UWF is saying my son is in jeopardy of loosing his scholarship if we move. How can we prevent my son from loosing his hard earned scholarship and for my husband to keep his job in Atlanta, Ga?
My daughter did not lose her BF or her resident grant. I was very clear with the school that I had moved but that she hadn’t, and they said it wasn’t a problem. My nephew attended UF and his mother moved to CT during his first year. They did not change his residency status.
I think it is up to the school to interpret the residency of the student. I only filled out the residency form once, before her freshman year. If West Florida is going to declare he is not a resident, you might have to live with that. Other schools will view his residency differently.
Normally you would do everything you can to stay until he matriculates, (your DH can go on ahead, most families would do it this way in your situation). However you issue isn’t just matriculation, it is ongoing residency requirements, if that is a thing for BF, you should clarify that. Your kid’s institution has already indicated that is a problem. You should contact teh BF admin for clarity. For a start though, plan on one parent staying until he matriculates at least. IME of relocation, the idea that you would pull off a family relo by June is already unlikely unless you have already sold your house etc.
You may want to read the following very carefully.
You get an apartment in Florida and have that as your primary residence?
One parent maintains residency in Florida, if that’s what it takes. You would need to crunch the numbers. What’s going to cost more? A small studio apartment and utilities…and filing that parent federal taxes Using that address in Florida? Or paying the tuition.
You also may have to consider beyond the BF money, to the issue of if UWF decide he not only is non res for BF purposes but for UWF tuition purposes.
"(8) A person who has been properly classified as a resident for tuition purposes but who, while enrolled in an institution of higher education in this state, loses his or her resident tuition status because the person or, if he or she is a dependent child, the person’s parent or parents establish domicile or legal residence elsewhere shall continue to enjoy the in-state tuition rate for a statutory grace period, which period shall be measured from the date on which the circumstances arose that culminated in the loss of resident tuition status and shall continue for 12 months. However, if the 12-month grace period ends during a semester or academic term for which such former resident is enrolled, such grace period shall be extended to the end of that semester or academic term.