Our children are in IB international school abroad and only visit US for holiday, Dad is a CA resident. Edit to add that all are US Citizen.
I’m confused, where does my child category when applying to UC, is it as an International or out of state student?
Your previous threads indicate that you have a residence in California and that your husband has not returned to the US in 2-3 years. That means he has property but he is not living day to day in California.
If your children are US citizens, and are studying abroad then they can fill out a federal application for aid (FAFSA). Since neither your children, nor yourselves, are physically present, in California, and are abroad, your children are considered Out of State residents. They need to be physically present in California to be considered in-state.
As stated, your children will be considered OOS since they are studying abroad but do not have any state residency.
Here are the UC residency requirements to obtain in-state tution rates:
https://www.ucop.edu/residency/residency-requirements.html
In general, if a student is under the age of 24, their residency is based on where the parents reside.
Yes, this is correct. While he used to travel back and forth, since covid things changed and I don’t think he would stay for example 2 months consecutively in US.
Now for Californian scholarship (if there’s any) since we’re oos, I assume we’re not qualified? Will they be able to apply for example the second year? Or are most scholarships determined from the first year entering college? I don’t know how to phrase my question as I’m just confused.
I somehow doubt we qualify for anything because of the complexity and not being there. At the moment I am assuming we will be full pay, I’m running calculation that if my child goes to UC, it will cost us at least 250k for 4 years. If someone is familiar, could you let me know if this is somewhat correct?
Thank you for the link, I’ll study it.
I’ve followed this forum for boarding school section, now here I am. For us, college application will be next year, but I already feel it coming 
That also IF they are admitted to UC so I’m anxious. All I can say is to keep doing what they’re doing and try their best and as parents, we’ll do what we can.
I can’t find information regarding what happen if Dad has not been in US for a long time. This has been the longest he had not gone back, he has CA driver license and property, will it void his residency?
The full pay cost is approximately 75K per year, about 300K in total. See Tuition & cost of attendance | UC Admissions
The cost can also vary by campus and other factors, but that’s a rough estimate.
Taking into consideration that they are able to change residency on second year, will 250k work?
I guess 250-300 will be safe to assume.
How will they be able to change their residency for year two. Are you and they moving to CA now?
@Siv
I am no lawyer or an expert on California residency but Right now there are a lot of IF’s.
Is the Father considered a permanent resident of California? Does he pay California income taxes? Is he in California for other than a “temporary or transitory purpose,” Presence within California for more than nine months of a taxable year creates a rebuttable presumption of California residence
@Siv are you divorced or separated since you refer to him as Husband? When he leaves California, does he have another residence? How much time is spent there if there is another residence?
For the Husband to claim California residency, then documentation will be required to show he spends as stated above, at least 9 months of the year here in California although permanent residents can leave for extended periods of time and not lose residency.
If you are divorced or legally separated, then the kids can get a Conditional California residency for tuition purposes if the Father is considered a permanent resident through the Condit Bill.
Not knowing the particulars at this point, I cannot say if the kids will get in-state tuition.
Why California? If finances are an issue, there should be plenty of less expensive college options.
It’s not really based on the 2nd year unless the whole family moves now. (The State universities require 366 days of residency for the parent/s and student before beginning residency determination paperwork.)
As an attending student at a California public university, she wouldn’t be considered a resident because her family home is not in the State of California. She would be in California “for educational purposes” only.
Day-to-day living in the State with documentation of CA drivers licenses, state and federal tax forms for wages, and relinquishing ties to other homes, not in California, is expected of residents.
Expect to pay $250K to $300K for 4 years at a UC.
This is interesting, thanks for taking your time. I just feel that I learn so much by starting a question, I hope to know more so we can plan accordingly.
What I know will help us plan for her, so I appreciate these input.
Your family may not qualify for need based aid but if your students are strong academically, there may be many schools where they can get merit scholarships.
Agree. But not at public universities in CA…if your student is not a resident.
Then your student won’t be considered an instate student. For the very vast majority of students, the place of residence of their parents is considered their permanent address. Think about it…if all you had to do was change your drivers license, register to vote and open a bank account, there wouldn’t be any out of state upperclass students at the CA publics and this is simply not the case. @Gumbymom
@Siv: If the neither parent is not living in California with the kids, then she (daughter) will not will not be able to establish residency without one parent there.
Merit Scholarships for the UC’s and Cal states are not common and highly competitive but California has many private schools which offer merit aid and where being OOS does not factor into their financial aid or tuition costs.
Just to clarify, I was not speaking of merit aid at UC schools, but other schools around the US - Alabama, AZ, Tulsa, etc…
Your child will be a U.S. citizen when applying here in the U.S. for college. BUT because your family does not have residency, your child will be an out of state resident at all public universities (unless you move back here asap…which you said you don’t plan to do).
Is there some reason why you are looking at CA colleges? IOW…why is CA a preference? Or are you open to suggestions for other colleges where your student might garner merit aid!
What are your kid’s stats?
How much can you pay annually for college?
Do you mean regardless the Dad is US citizen, if he does not live in US, our child will not able to establish CA residency(I know there’s the IF she gets admitted to one) after the 366 days time?
For stats, my child is in IB, it’s still rather early to tell as they haven’t gotten their predicted score. She’s moving along fine but not a valedictorian or in varsity sports, although, I should credit that she is open to trying variety of activities. She was a drama stage manager, D2 volleyball and basketball, winner of regional filmmaker, and volunteering to several causes. In grade 10, she received 3 out of 8 subjects in Academic Excellence … I don’t know if these are up there in determining stats, we’re just happy that she’s trying and thriving.
At current grade, she’s in HL Chem, Design Tech, English lang and lit and SL Business Management, Foreign language and Math AA. I will post what she gets later when we have more information.
Our calculation for UC starting Fall 2025 on will be between 250-300k for 4 years, excluding if they live outside campus and buy a car, insurance, travel allowance and expense for young adult life. State schools will be around 180-230k also excluding those items. It’s not what we can afford to pay annually, rather, we need to support them there. We don’t have 529, funding for their schools comes from savings.
Right now I’m stating CA as I was a student there as well, I feel that I’m more familiar with the area whereas my husband is more open. I’m open to other places, but wouldn’t prices be rather similar? It will still be in that range and even more expensive going to privates. I’m open to anyone’s thoughts. Thank you.
My husband thinks he is a CA resident as he pays state and federal taxes, has permanent residence and a driver license. So, without one of us staying permanently, our child will not be able to establish residency? Is it possible for the child to be considered instate independent from parent status? Sorry, maybe my question is just as confusing