Residency? If Parents move back to California for father's job just as son graduates high school

[Foradancer]

ωє are parents σf α ѕσρнσмσre ιи нιgн ѕcнσσℓ, currently resi∂ιиg ιи ρєииѕуℓναиια. му ѕσи ωαѕ born ιи Cαℓιfσrnia, but ωє мσνє∂ тσ PA to care for elderly parents. We are definitely moving back to San Diego, and my husband has a commitment from his employer to take over the West Coast division in 2 years.

My question is this: if our son takes a gap year, will that year count as meeting the California residency requirement? We have a younger child who will be in middle school by then. Since we are definitely staying in California for good, does that mean anything? We originally thought to make the move before his last year of high school, but he is taking a lot of A P classes and is part of a ballet school company here that is unique. We don’t know if it makes sense to make such a drastic change when he is thriving in his studies and dance program here.

Thanks for any thoughts…

[Autumnal]

The general rule is that both parent and child “must have established a primary and permanent domicile in California for at least 366 days and relinquished all ties to their past place(s) of residence” by the end of fall quarter of the previous year. That means if you wanted to enroll Fall 2018, you would all need to have been in California and have relinquished all ties to Pennsylvania for 366 days that end by December ~19, 2017.

From my understanding, you would be eligible if you move to California and relinquish all ties to Pennsylvania by December 1, 2016 (that is, your son’s senior year of high school), and your son takes a gap year during which he works and does not attend school. You should verify this with the admissions office and his school counselor, of course. Here’s the policy: http://ucop.edu/general-counsel/_files/ed-affairs/uc-residence-policy.pdf