Residency, Independence, and Financial Aid Issues

<p>I have a young friend who is currently taking classes at a community college and plans to apply to university for fall 2007. I’ll outline her situation as briefly as possible:</p>

<p>She holds dual citizenship (US/British), having been born in the United States to British citizens. She grew up mostly in the US, but spent a few years in England as a pre-schooler.</p>

<p>She completed her sophomore year at a pretty good big-city high school in May 2002. She was a student in good standing at that time, with good but not spectacular grades, but she just wasn’t into the high school scene, so when her mother moved to a new school district, she elected to enroll in a high-school-by-correspondence program offered by Texas Tech University. She had always wanted to live in England, so in March 2003 she left for England with her mother’s blessing. There she lived with her older half-sister and brother-in-law, and she attended the local school. She also worked as a custodian at the school so she could contribute financially to the household. During the next two years she completed her US diploma through Texas Tech and prepared for her A-levels. She took her A-levels and applied to a few universities in England. Her results were good enough to get her into University College London, but she had decided that she no longer wanted to live in England. She married her English boyfriend, and moved back to Texas this spring. They lived with her mother for a few months, but have now moved into an apartment of their own. They both have jobs. She’s been taking community college courses this summer in addition to working, and has been doing well; at the end of the summer she expects to have A’s in three academic courses and two PE courses, and a C in algebra.</p>

<p>Her mother helped out with some of the cc expenses for the first summer session, but the young couple will be handling all expenses on their own from now on. The mother has just moved out-of-state for a new job, in fact. The father lives in Texas but will not provide financial support; he has declared her as a dependent in years past, but will not this year.</p>

<p>Is she considered a legal resident of Texas? If she decides to attend university in another state, moves there, and she and her husband both start working there, how soon will she be a resident of that state? I assume US universities will be interested in her A-levels as well as her US high school record? Will her years in England put her into some “none-US” category of applicants? She has looked at a few applications, and finds them difficult to deal with as they ask a lot about her parents and so forth; does she need to look specifically for schools that have programs for “non-traditional” students? What are her prospects for need-based financial aid? Are there any special scholarship programs for non-traditional students she should know about? Does anybody have any other information you think she should have?</p>

<p>Finally, and this part should probably go in another forum, but I’ll throw it in here, too: She plans to major in archeology. She wants to go wherever she’ll have the most and best opportunities for field experience. There will be financial constraints, of course. Eventually, she hopes to earn a doctorate. Anyone have any suggestions?</p>

<p>For Financial Aid purposes, she would be considered an independent student because she is married. However her income and assets along with her husband's income and assets will determine her EFC.</p>

<p>Regarding Residency in Texas:</p>

<p>4 page document here is the link:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/international/pdf/sr_TX01.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/international/pdf/sr_TX01.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The following information was obtained from THECB and the University of Texas - Austin. Texas A&M University requests applicants to contact them directly for information.
Type and Citation: Statutory. TEX.EDUC.CODE, TITLE 3, 54.052 et seq. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) promulgates residency classification rules and regulations based on legislative statutes. These apply to all TX public junior, community and senior colleges and universities, public health service centers and Technical Institutes.
Requirements for Resident Classification: **Independent individuals aged 18 years and older who are gainfully employed in Texas for twelve months before registration in a public institution of higher learning are entitled to resident status while maintaining legal Texas residence. **An Oath of Residency may be required before registering.</p>

<p>Minors and dependents receive resident status if their parents or court-appointed legal guardians have resided in Texas for 12 months prior to registration. Minors are unmarried and under 18 years of age; dependents are those claimed as a dependent for federal income tax purposes by the parent or legal guardian in the year of enrollment and in the tax year prior to enrollment. This rule applies even if students become legal wards of or adopted by TX residents while attending an educational institution there, or within 12 months before they begin attending a TX educational institution, or under circumstances indicating that the guardianship or adoption was for the purpose of obtaining resident student status.</p>

<p>In most states she would have to be a resident of that state for atleast one year (working and paying taxes in that state and not simply to attend school) Policies vary from state to state.</p>

<p>Link to Guide to state Residency by the College Board</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/international/residency.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/international/residency.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As far as scholarships for non-traditional students, she should definitely check out the Women's Colleges particularly Smith, Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke which have special scholarships for women in this category</p>

<p>Well, the only thing I know is that all Universities vary with regards to residency. </p>

<p>Unless I am mistaken, then if she is married, she is considered an Independent Student. You might want her to call the fin aid number on the fafsa web site to double check that because I could be wrong. </p>

<p>If she is currently a Community College student, then she might desire to finish an AA or AS because you can save two years worth of University tuition that way. There is a transfer forum on this site as well as an international student forum where you can ask other things.</p>