<p>Hello. Are there any full-proof schemes to gain in-state tuition without ever living in the state itself? For example, I'm interested in attending Virginia Commonwealth University; but currently live in Wisconsin and want to pay Virginias much more affordable in-state tuition from the get-go. As far as I know, residence in the state for the majority of one year is all that's required for Virginia residency and, by extension, in-state tuition. While I continue living/working in Wisconsin, would it be possible to sign a lease for an apartment Virginia, immediately sublease it to someone else, and after a year of renting that apartment (to someone else) be eligible for in-state tuition?</p>
<p>If that's not possible, are there any other routes I should know about? I'm interested to hear what the possibilities are, no matter how straitlaced/legitimate or harebrained/risky they are. Thanks for whatever info or insights you have.</p>
<p>The ONLY way for you to get instate tuition at U of VA is for your WHOLE FAMILY to move there. Your state of residency as an undergrad (unless you are over 24 years old, are married, have a dependent child, are a dependent, are a veteran, are an orphan or ward of the state) is the state in which your PARENTS reside. It doesn’t matter if you have an apartment in Virginia or not. Many college students from other states have apartments in VA and pay out of state tuition because their PARENTS reside in another state.</p>
<p>You are asking us to give you “advice” on how to game a system and quite frankly it’s considered fraud to do that. If you want instate tuition costs, you will have to go to college in Wisconsin OR convince your parents to move to Virginia at least a year before you plan to enroll there.</p>
<p>Hundreds if not thousands of kids spend brain power each year trying to figure out (how to circumvent) residency requirements. Every public college is pretty clear on their websites what consitutes residency and I would hazard a guess it is more than simply establishing an address and unless you are twenty four in most states it depends on where your parents work and are domiciled and where you graduated from high school. So, no, living in Wisconsin and paying rent for an apartment that you aren’t going to live in probably isn’t going to work.</p>
<p>Yes, I always understood that Virginia was a particularly tough state to claim in-state residency, because so many people want to claim it. There are probably some other states where it may not be as difficult.</p>
<p>There are no loopholes for this. VCU (and other schools in VA) have an in-state tuition form to confirm if you live in VA.</p>
<p>The form asks questions asking if the parent (or independent student) works in VA, pays VA taxes, has a VA drivers’ license, owns a car registered in VA, etc. Also asks for address of where you lived for the past two years.</p>
<p>And if that’s not enough…the form also includes this:
<p>Even students who went to HS in VA, whose parents lived in VA when they first started at a VA state school (and received in-state tuition wile this was still the case) will pay OOS tuition if their family moves out of state. </p>
<p>Until you meet independent requirements… 24… married… etc… it is the state where your parents pay work and live that will count as your state of residency for tuition purposes.</p>
<p>KatMT - Are you sure that is really how it is? I’m know both VCU and Virginia Tech don’t require any verification of residency after the first year if a student gets in-state tuition. (I’m also pretty sure that works for UVA/GMU/JMU/W&M as well.)</p>
<p>Also, if that was the case…wouldn’t a student have to pay out of state tuition to whatever college he attends the year their parents move? Because they wouldn’t get in-state tuition to the colleges in the state their parents moved to, but they wouldn’t get in-state to their previous state either? That would be rather unfortunate. :(</p>
<p>^^ that does happen in some states. There was a student a few weeks ago that was worried because his/her parents were thinking about moving the year after he/she started college and in their state that would have meant losing instate tuition eligibility the following year. Other States let the student remain instate if they start as instate. Something to check with each school.</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that my students who started as in state students and then had parents move out of state at a later date had to start paying OOS tuition. I will try to remember to verify with the students I am thinking of. :)</p>
<p>Kat, that could be true…state rules vary on that and some state regs explicitly state that dependent students will (or will not) retain residency if their parents move after they’re enrolled. And some schools are more strict with enforcing the rules than others. In my state, the publics don’t usually verify eligibility for tuition purposes after the first year but such students would almost certainly lose any state grant funding because eligibility for that is verified through state income tax records.</p>
<p>That seems very unfortunate, sk8rmom. A family could have been paying taxes in State X for 20 years (thus supporting many others in the state university system) and then suddenly lose eligibility for their own child to attend when that child is already underway at State X University. There should be some system by which the child could get residency in the state longest occupied by their parents during the child’s lifetime, or something.</p>
<p>Sylvan, that is exactly what happens and many students complain about it here (the I grew up in X and want to go to college there and all my family/friends are there…but my folks moved to Y threads). The expats and kids whose families move during their senior year may not qualify for residency anywhere as freshmen! But I don’t know of any state government that budgets for their university systems out of prior savings like they expect families to do…they’re subsidizing the needs of current (and hopefully, continuing) taxpayers. I think there are some state-run 529 plans that offer some tuition relief though.</p>
<p>In some states, it is possible to move to the state, get a job, and live there for a certain number of months before applying to college. The regulations for establishing residence in order to attend my daughter’s community college in Maryland ([Montgomery</a> College](<a href=“http://www.montgomerycollege.edu%5DMontgomery”>http://www.montgomerycollege.edu) ) include formally demonstrating that you provide more than half of your own support if you are not living with your parents, and do not otherwise qualify as an independent student.</p>
<p>Happymom is correct for her daughter’s community college. This, however, is not universally the rule for ALL community colleges in ALL states. You need to check EACH school (whether a four year school OR a community college) or the requirements for residency. This can also vary from public university to public university WITHIN a state. In other words, just because it applies to one school in a state does NOT mean that ALL schools have the same requirements. Please, be sure to check the requirements before you make a decision to try to gain residency in a different state from the one in which your parents reside. You don’t want to go through the expense of relocating in the hopes of getting instate rates only to find out that your school won’t allow it.</p>
<p>And as Happymom noted…the student must demonstrate that they are providing more than 1/2 of their support…which would be rent, utilities, insurance, food, clothing, and college tuition (if you are in college). ALL expenses. You would have to demonstrate that you have sufficient income to support 1/2 of your expenses.</p>