Texas resident potentially going to HS abroad - how do Texas colleges view residency?

I may have the opportunity/need to work abroad for a couple of years through my job. I have a child in high school (freshman) who would then be attending a top quality international school. The school offers a US high school diploma and she would also pursue the IB diploma.

Question: would Texas universities consider her a non-Texas resident for tuition purposes if her degree was from a European high school? Does a parent needing to work abroad for a couple of years eliminate in-state residency? Assuming she gets into Texas A&M or UT, their OOS cost of attendance is over $50K/year!

Note we have been in Texas out entire lives prior to this. Would hate to give up an opportunity (and a job/career) because of this.

A dependent child is considered resident of the state where their parents reside. Where it gets tricky is if you, the parent, move: you need to keep your drivers license, a property (house, condo…), and your voting registration in Texas (+ of course paying your taxes on car, house, local taxes…)
https://admissions.utexas.edu/residency

If the government moves you (military, state dept, etc), you are fine- you just have to document that.

Otherwise, once you aren’t paying state and local taxes you are no longer a Texas resident (note that no matter where you live in the world, as a US citizen you have to pay Federal taxes- there are dual taxation agreements with many countries, but you still have to file and more often than not you end up owing a bit anyway).

I understand that this is anathema to a true Texan, but (whispers) there are other university options if UT / A&M OOS is not affordable…

thanks for the responses. I was hoping I was missing something but it sounds like it is what it is. Whether it’s UT, A&M, of another public college…they are all much more expensive for out of state. we can always try for a waiver but I wouldn’t put a lot of hope with that.

Looks like moving is going to be significantly more expensive…bummer that we’ll have to chose between a completely uncertain future by leaving a job or keeping a job and paying 3x for college.

Go with the job and travel opportunity. Your kid may not even want to attend college, attend public college in Texas or may get merit, athletic, employer or need based scholarship.

If he is still interested in Texas colleges after high school then he can always do one year at a community college in Texas to establish residency and then transfer to a public university with in-state tuition.

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Not really that different than if you moved to Florida or Maine or Colorado for your job (but you might have instate rates in those states).

Many students who don’t have an option of an instate rate find going to a private school or another state’s public school that offer great merit is the best financial option. Many students pick schools like Alabama, Arizona, NM for a good price. There are some schools (U of Nebraska is one) that reward the IB diploma.

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SUNY Bing is another one, as do most Florida universities.

You could keep your house and rent it, keep your drivers registration&voting registration, and pay taxes in Texas if you really really want him to attend a Texas public university. There’ll be another hurdle since he won’t be in the top 6 or 10%. You may want to ask how UT treat students whose parents are TX residents but attend boarding school elsewhere wrt to top 6%.

In the end, it’d be a shame if you could not take advantage of a great job opportunity because of a college he may not get into or want to attend or may find equal to many others.

Keeping your house and renting it out doesn’t necessarily make you a resident, and whether you can keep your driver’s license when you don’t have a permanent residence in the state is up to state law. There is no income tax in Texas so he can’t claim he still pays taxes as a resident. Lots of people own homes and rent them out in Texas, and that doesn’t make them residents. If this student does apply to a Texas school with a hs diploma from OOS/out of the country, I think the parents’ residency will be examined a little more closely than the average applicant from a Dallas high school.

We had lived in Colorado until my kids started hs and moved to California. Lost the Colorado instate tuition. When they were sophomores, moved to Florida. Lost the California instate tuition. When they graduated from hs, I moved back to Colorado but they started colleges. The one who stayed in Florida got to retain her Florida residency.