Hoping for some guidance for a friend. They are currently Texas residents with a D starting her senior year. The parents are re-locating OOS for work and the D is staying with family while she finishes high school. She is top 10% I believe that helps in Texas with admissions. If the parents are residents of another state can the D be a Texas resident if she is considered dependent on her parents taxes? The D wants to remain a Texas resident for in-state rates for all 4 years.
If she graduates from a Texas high school she will be considered a Texas resident
https://admissions.utexas.edu/residency#fndtn-t143-requirements
The high school graduation rule is clearly intended to provide a favorable result in cases like this, but there is some devil in the details of the rule in terms of proving continuous residency. The actual rules governing this issue are full of contradictory provisions. She should be OK as long as she goes directly to college from high school and then straight through college with only summer breaks, and doesn’t do something like graduate early from high school. But if she ever takes more than one semester off in college, or thinks about study abroad, she should be ultra-careful, and talk to a counselor at her university before doing anything definitive. And even taking a summer internship outside of Texas could be an issue. It is clear that the rule has to be met semester-by-semester, and mere graduation from a Texas high school isn’t enough if you haven’t been a resident of Texas for the past 12 months in the second week of any college semester.
Note: This Texas rule is somewhat unusual, although some other states have similar rules. In many states, you can’t be a resident for tuition purposes unless at least one of your parents is domiciled there for a full year before enrollment, and it is extremely hard to establish that your domicile is different from that of your parents who support you. Texas has that rule, too, but it also has this graduation rule which very explicitly does not depend on parents’ domicile. The problem is that it may be difficult to prove “residency” if you don’t have “domicile,” you are living with relatives, and you are not enrolled in school.
Just make sure your friend is aware that top 10% is for Texas A&M but not University of Texas which is 7%. Also, it doesn’t guarantee admission to some majors at A&M and even more majors at UT. Lots of kids are auto accepted, but not to their major.
@carachel2 top 10% rule is not just for A&M but for all other Texas schools excluding UT Austin. Texas has many fine universities other than A&M and UT Austin (Texas Tech, UTSA, UTD, UTNT…)
Thanks- her D is top 5% now not sure which school she was looking at. I was just concerned that if she is a dependent on her parents tax return and that return says another state that could be an issue. Not just for acceptance but for the years after.
I’d make sure the daughter makes herself a Texas resident. Have a Texas driver’s license or ID card. Register to vote when she can. Library card. Bank account. Just as many points of contact as possible. Her parents will still claim her on their taxes and she will be a dependent for financial aid purposes, but she should remain a TX resident
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