Reclassification of Residency for Tuition Purposes

<p>I'm currently a resident of Florida, considering transferring to a CCC for this coming Fall semester. I know that I'll have to pay out of state tuition for the first year (which doesn't look that bad), but I'm unsure of whether I'll be able to reclassify for California residency after that.</p>

<p>It seems that the three requirements for reclassification are:</p>

<p>i) Have lived in California for 366 days prior to the date you apply for residency
ii) Intent to stay in California after graduation
iii) Financial independence from parents if the parents aren't California residents</p>

<p>So here are my questions:</p>

<p>1) How does one prove they intend to make California their home? I fully intend on working in Silicon Valley for most of my life, but is just stating this enough?
2) As a college student, how hard is it to support oneself living in Berkeley/Oakland? Assume that my tuition and fees are covered, but I have to pay for my own living expenses (rent, food, etc).</p>

<p>Showing intent to make California your home includes any of the following- Opening a Bank Account, registering to vote, voting in a CA election, owning a registered vehicle in California, having a CA driver’s license. If you are planning to try to prove your intent for tuition purposes, you should have at least three of these. Make sure to have them documented so that you can prove them if need be! Also, make sure you do these ASAP, otherwise universities might look at this being non-committed.</p>

<p>As for your second question, somebody else is better off answering that one! I’ve never been in that area, but I can imagine that it can get quite costly in a university town. Financial independence from your parents is pretty hard to prove.</p>

<p>Well I don’t own a car, so while I can get a CA driver’s license, I wouldn’t be able to register a vehicle, so that’s off the table. Can I register to vote as soon as I move or do I need to have a CA address for 366 days before registering?</p>

<p>Would I be able to do all of this within one year? Say, for example, I move in July of this year. Would I be able to reclassify for the Fall 2013 term?</p>

<p>As soon as you move, you can register to vote. In fact, you can do that when you go get your license, if you’d like. They can do that for you at the DMV.</p>

<p>I think it’s possible to do it in a year. Your residency is based on your residency of when you plan on attending (Fall 2013). So if you move in July 2012, as of July 2013, you will be have fulfilled the 366 day requirement. Considering you’re not attending until September, the school should see that you met the requirement in July, two months before you plan to attend. </p>

<p>On a side note: After you’re accepted and you give the UC your SIR, they will also need an SLR (Statement of Legal Residence) where you will prove your CA residency with various items listed above. They use this as an assessment of how they will charge you for tuition (In/Out of State).</p>

<p>Its kind of tricky, I had a hard time figuring this out myself. After several calls and emails later, it happened. If you’re still not sure or would like some additional clarification, I would recommend calling a UC/CCC you’re planning on attending directly. :)</p>

<p>

For the UC system I hope you don’t mean covered by contributions from your parents or anyone else, because that is considered a gift and will make you not financially independent.</p>

<p>I’ve heard they are really tough about the independence angle. In case you haven’t seen it, this is info from one UC’s page

Best of luck to you.</p>

<p>@mikemac – I’d be paying my tuition and fees with a combination of a Pell Grant and various scholarships. The paragraph you included was helpful though. I received a Parents Plus loan this year, so I suppose it will be two years before I can claim financial independance, which isn’t a huge deal. I plan on going to a CCC for two years before transfering to a UC school.</p>