<p>So, most states require residency of one year before students can be considered in-state students? There's a good possibility that my wife and I may be moving from Maryland to WV. One of my children is already enrolled in a Maryland public college. How will our move affect his residency? Since most states frown on families/prospective students moving/obtaining residency in order to be eligible for in-state tuition, here's the inverse. we've been paying Maryland taxes over twenty years. My son shouldn't lose his in-state tuition if we move and is still our dependent. Is there a transition period? If WV will not recognize my son as a state-resident immediately, how long will our/his status as Maryland resident last? Finally, he does not meet the requirements for being declared an independent student.</p>
<p>Every state has specific rules on this, and usually they are available on-line. Remember, this is something that happens to you maybe once in a lifetime, but state universities see it every day.</p>
<p>Generally, once your child has been admitted to the Old State’s university as a resident, and he went to high school in that state, and he continues his college career without taking time off, he will not lose his residency status in Old State. </p>
<p>There will be other rules for kids who have not yet been enrolled at Old State U., or who may want to enroll at New State U. Generally (again), a kid who graduates from high school in Old State, and who spent x years in high school there, and who never establishes residency in New State, will qualify as an Old State resident so long as he stays in school continuously. As for New State, he would have to pay OOS tuition for a year, but then he would qualify as a resident.</p>
<p>But don’t trust me. Check the websites!</p>
<p>thanks JHS - helpful. </p>
<p>my son is currently in a community college so not yet enrolled on “Old State U” although the community college has an agreement with Old State U. From your remarks (and yes, I will do the research), the same rules apply.</p>
<p>I peeked at both policies. Not unexpectedly, Maryland is way on the nasty end of the spectrum, and West Virginia is fairly welcoming.</p>
<p>Maryland does not have any automatic waiver for dependent students whose parents leave the state, unless they go to community college in Maryland first. It purports to re-examine residency every semester. However, there is some play in the system – registrars have to decide whether a student has proven his residency status – and it’s not clear that the rules are applied as nastily as they read in the case of a student who has lived in Maryland forever, but whose parents have left. The child should be careful, however, not to do anything that indicates residency outside Maryland, and he should be filing Maryland tax returns and paying Maryland state taxes.</p>
<p>As I read the West Virginia rules, if the parents have moved to West Virginia for employment purposes, and are living there indefinitely, and the kid moves with them, the kid will have to petition for residency status but ought to succeed, even if he has not been there for 12 months yet.</p>
<p>again - thanks - you did my homework for me - greatly appreciated</p>