To apply for in-state, how do we prove independency? The IRS rules says need to prove 50% of living cost should be paid by child. How can we anticipate how much child will use certain year?
Is there a chance that the residency rules will change? Nothing seems to be set in stone with Utah this year.
Something for anyone trusting that it will be the same to think about.
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The rule is that you are not claimed as a dependent by an out of state resident (ie your parents). As parents you are free to not claim your child as a dependent on your tax return even if they would otherwise qualify to be claimed (because they lived with you for more than 5 months in the year they start college). You have to submit the parents’ tax return to show this (ie the 2021 return to qualify from summer 2022).
In subsequent years your kid would generally not be a qualifying dependent anyway if they earned more than ~$4500 (including any taxable scholarships) because they would no longer be “temporarily away” at college once they had changed their official state of residency (voter registration, drivers license etc).
This was debated at some length in 2019. The state rules are 1 year, which won’t change (it would require passing a new law) but the U “reserves the right” to implement stricter qualification standards. At that time there was a suggestion that the U would move to a two year qualifying period. But that would have put them out of step with other universities in the state and the final decision was to increase the OOS premium instead.
It is possible that could be revisited, but it would only happen with a least a year’s notice, so I don’t believe it would affect students starting in 2021/22. And after the pandemic when they bent over backwards to accommodate students who went home to their parents (physical presence was waived for essentially the whole of 2020) I think that such a move is now very unlikely.
As stated on the tuition and fees page, they implemented a 2% increase in tuition from spring 2021, which I think was deferred from last fall. I think that would be a good assumption to use for future increases. Room and board charges have gone up a bit faster, roughly 4% per year.
LOL - we think alike! It says clearly that residency rules can change so I feel like we need to assume the worst case scenario. Our initial thinking was to have D come home his first summer (assuming he wants to do that) and to stay his second summer so that the summer after his jr. year would be free for internships. The smartest course of action would be to establish residency asap to get the tuition break and try to grandfather into any changes they make to the residency rules. Bleh.
BTW @HankCT - I just spoke with someone at the school who informed me they had more applicants than usual this year and that it was such a strong pool they almost didn’t look at anyone with a GPA below a 3.9 (presumably UW). Their cup runneth over this year. I hope you at least get some resolution…waiting is a nightmare!
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Thank you. One more thing, where can I check amount of ~$4500? Is it in IRS?
See https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
Once your kid no longer lives with you they could still be a qualifying relative for the purposes of the $500 credit, but not if they earn more than $4300 (I think this figure may be adjusted for inflation but am not sure).
I hear you, but this isn’t really the Utah reality. The average SAT at Utah is around 1200, maybe a hair higher. This is MUCH lower than most schools who truly have their cup running over with 3.9+ students. The truth is more likely that they have less funds this year to work with, or they are not equitably looking at GPAs (i.e. allowing 3.9 GPAs from less rigorous schedules or from easier states to get A’s in). If that is the case, it’s a poor measurement, but it is of course their choice, and they are not alone among state schools who don’t really do the diligence.
Every single school we have applied to - even the safety school that was not high ranked - has said in emails that this is the best applicant class they have ever had and their pool is so high that (blah blah blah). It didn’t stop them from giving out large awards to lots of kids anyway. It’s just the standard line every school uses. Some schools this year have more money to give than others. I am sensing the real reason is they have a very reduced money pool. I doubt that overnight the profile of Utah applicant jumped from “good student” to “valedictorians only”.
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Do you know if the child can remain on your family health insurance plan?
Can I introduce my son to his new auntie?
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Double check with your insurance but I know my kids can stay on ours until they are 26 even if they marry or get insurance through a job.
I just saw this on the UofU parent Facebook page. Tuition is increasing next year.
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Yes the key question is if you have in network coverage in Utah on your existing plan. The U’s campus health insurance (from United Healthcare) is detailed here: https://www.uhcsr.com/uhcsrbrochures/Public/BenefitSummaryFlyers/2020-2310-1%20Summary%20Brochure.pdf
We found it to be cheaper than our existing policy in CA with a much lower deductible but YMMV. Like other health insurance, the price has gone up about 6-10% each year.
I’m sure that part of it is that they have less money available, given the expenses incurred in Covid. However, they’ve also been able to gradually reduce the amounts on offer as the college becomes more attractive for other reasons like the facilities, courses, sports success, etc. We certainly see a lot more interest here in NorCal as it becomes harder to get into the UCs, and it would cost a lot more at some of the other traditional OOS PAC-12 options like Oregon and Boulder that don’t have any WUE or residency options. D was the only student in her HS class of ~400 to attend, but since then there have been 2 or 3 per year going to Utah.
The U’s ambition is to get to about 40% OOS students over the next 5 years or so, and increase enrollment from around 20K to 30K students, i.e. essentially all of that growth will come from OOS students, mainly from the western US. That will only happen if they are seen as a relatively economical option compared to other PAC-12 colleges (note that is the specific benchmark they use in the Salt Lake Tribune article above). Since most of the PAC-12 colleges with the exception of Arizona/ASU are very stingy with merit (and Arizona/ASU don’t have main campus WUE IIRC), offering WUE and the path to residency may be enough to achieve their goals.
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Yeah, you mentioned D was one of 400 to get in. I actually think for our HS (she is 1 of about 500 for her grade), she may be the first person to apply to U of U, since it’s quite a ways out there from the East Coast. Most people here tend to look at Colorado, or skip right to California, as Utah is less known. She found it because it was strong in the major she is interested in (Video Game Design and 3D Animation).
The WUE is probably putting a bit of hurt on people in our shoes, as the reduced advertised cost would attract more OOS good students, but only from that specific region.
My D received an email that she did not get the Eccles Scholarship. Hopefully someone else on here did!
My son didn’t get it either.
Thank you
I got my financial aid offer. Is it normal this offer does not include scholarships I got? It’s based on full OOS tuition.
When I check FA (piggy bank icon) on the cis page my D’s financial aid shows OOS tuition and just federal loans. The scholarship page doesn’t show the scholarship awarded.