Establishing residency

[Gumbo4x4]

DD is looking at out of state colleges, one of which is in the state where my parents have their primary home (they are also here 4-5 months per year). As it's a public university, in state tuition is much cheaper than out of state. Were she to end up there, I've thought we could change my daughter's permanent residence to my parents' home shortly after HS graduation, pay out of state tuition for one year, and then after she's had residency established for 12 months, pay in state tuition for her remaining time at that school.

Am I on the right track here?

 

[RedAngie]

DD is looking at out of state colleges, one of which is in the state where my parents have their primary home (they are also here 4-5 months per year). As it's a public university, in state tuition is much cheaper than out of state. Were she to end up there, I've thought we could change my daughter's permanent residence to my parents' home shortly after HS graduation, pay out of state tuition for one year, and then after she's had residency established for 12 months, pay in state tuition for her remaining time at that school.

Am I on the right track here?

I'm sure you've already looked into the other state's residency requirements. Sounds like a realistic plan to me.

My younger daughter attended a year of community college in Delaware, then took a year off. She then decided she'd rather return to California to live with her father. She was able to enroll at UCSC (Santa Cruz) at the in-state tuition after only a few months. With her gap year, I suppose there was no way to prove she wasn't living in California for over a year.

 

[gotomu212]

What state? Some require that the student is completely financial independent and parents aren't paying any living expenses or tuition.

 

[AppleDumpling]

It varies by state and university, but is generally not that easy. Some states are stricter than others.

In most cases, the state of the parents' residence is considered. If you are supporting her financially (including any financial aid she might receive based on your income), she will likely not qualify. She would have to be considered independent and self-supporting, and may have to prove that she is not relocating primarily for the purpose of attending college in that state.

Check the website for the schools she is looking at, they may have their residency policies detailed there.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

What state? Some require that the student is completely financial independent and parents aren't paying any living expenses or tuition.

That makes sense. That was the situation for my BIL in Colorado. Looking at Texas.

 

[AppleDumpling]

My younger daughter attended a year of community college in Delaware, then took a year off. She then decided she'd rather return to California to live with her father. She was able to enroll at UCSC (Santa Cruz) at the in-state tuition after only a few months. With her gap year, I suppose there was no way to prove she wasn't living in California for over a year.

It's a different situation if parents are divorced and residing in different states. Angie, your DD got the benefit of attending school as a CA resident, presumably because your ex lived there for some time and had worked and paid taxes there.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Okay, looks like she would need to get a job in TX (or I would) in order to establish residency. That could be doable.

 

[RedAngie]

It's a different situation if parents are divorced and residing in different states. Angie, your DD got the benefit of attending school as a CA resident, presumably because your ex lived there for some time and had worked and paid taxes there.

Yes, I'm sure that was the reason. ExH had lived in California for about 15 years at the time.

 

[NHdisneylover]

it does vary by state. My oldest is in university in Colorado. We live overseas and my child cannot legally reside all sumemr with us or have their permanent legal address here as they no longer have a visa to do so. Grandparents live in Colorado and that IS our kids' permanent address---again beucase they do not have a legal right to live with us parents. Oldest also stayed and worked on campus this summer. They are still legally classified as out of state---Colorado could care less where they acutally live, it's undergrad and htey are under age 26---if we, parents, have not paid taxes in Colorado for 3 years they are not a reisdent. Priod.

On the other hand, they also looked at Utah State. Utah will count any student who lives year round in Utah (no more than 30 days out of the state in a calendar year, must verify with landlord letters, etc) as "in state" after one year (regardless of where parenty live) and if a student has moderately good grades and test scores ouit of state tuition can be waived freshman year while they work on getting residency.

I suggest calling and talking to the financial aide office at the school. Most palcee we looked at (in multiple states) were concerned with where the actual parents pay income tax.

 

[NHdisneylover]

That makes sense. That was the situation for my BIL in Colorado. Looking at Texas.

these days even that is not enough. They must age out, be in grad school, or be married to be considered financially independet--even if parents do not help at all. (or at least that is what the school in Colorado tells DD and us)

 

[Gumbo4x4]

these days even that is not enough. They must age out, be in grad school, or be married to be considered financially independet--even if parents do not help at all. (or at least that is what the school in Colorado tells DD and us)

BIL went there for grad school only, and he & my sister were already married. His bachelor's is from Missouri State. He took a year off in between & worked out there.

 

[cabanafrau]

Out of state tuition has become a major profit center for an awful lot of colleges and universities. Most are not going to make it easy to skirt the rules. The FAFSA is pretty intrusive and will give them a very good look into the financial details.

 

[NHdisneylover]

BIL went there for grad school only, and he & my sister were already married. His bachelor's is from Missouri State. He took a year off in between & worked out there.

ah, that explains it. Grad school funding is really quite different from what we can tell

 

[gotomu212]

Okay, looks like she would need to get a job in TX (or I would) in order to establish residency. That could be doable.

We looked into this exact situation because we also have parents (which would be our son's grandparents) in TX. One thing to remember is it's not an open and shut "do this, this, and this" and you get residency. She'll need to demonstrate that she intends to make TX her home (open checking account, register car and pay tax on it, register to vote). An individual reviews it and determines if it meets it-it's a little subjective and there's no guarantee.

You or your daughter also need to set up a residence (apartment lease counts, dorms do not) for one year. She cannot use your parents home address; only self/parent/court appointed guardian. There's a loophole if they become landlords and rent her space but she'll need to have an actual lease and they will determine if they think it meets the requirements.

She obviously can't be on your taxes and must file independently. TX also requires that you aren't getting "the majority of your tuition from out of state parent" to meet the independent rule. Our admissions contact at UTSA told us that meant 51% of the tuition had to be paid by student and employment salary/wages documentation would be needed for that.

It's doable if you have someone who really does want to move to the new state permenantly, but it's a bit of a risk.

 

[richmo]

As many have said, it varies by state, but I doubt many will allow a quick move to get the discount. Around here, for example, you have to be well established in the state for a minimum of 6 months before eligible for in-state tuition. That would rule out most cases for an incoming freshman, for example. I'm not sure exactly what "well established" entails: I imagine the state would want to see a previous income tax return, driver's license, etc., from the state.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

DS17 is going to go to an out of state university as well. We have researched all residency requirements, and here is our plan:

He will move the day he turns 18 (by choice lol...he has this great idea of spending the first half of his birthday at home with us as a "kid", and at 12noon (which is very close to the time he was born) he will leave for school as an adult. Lucky for him, his birthday is at the perfect time of the year to execute the plan lol)

He has a job lined up in the new state already. And it's a job that will teach him a skill and a lot of people make a career out of, so it won't be viewed as a "college" job (residency frowns on typical server, fast food, or retail jobs!)

He will move in with his Aunt/Godmother and start paying her rent, which he will get a receipt for each month. For the first year, he will attend a (really good, university-type setup) community college and work close to full-time. The following year, he will apply for his University of choice and begin there in the Physical Therapy program.

Basically, the residency requirements for this university state that they have to be living in the new state for at least 12 months, they cannot be living there SOLELY to attend a school, they cannot live with relatives for the sole purpose of attending school, and they must prove that they intend to stay in the state for more than just going to school. DS is ok with that as he misses his home state very much and has always intended to move back as soon as he could and live there forever.

We decided against DS17 applying for the University straight out of HS because they will deny him residency (of course) BUT when he applies again after 12 months, if he was denied once, they will really scrutinize everything. So we thought it was better for him to establish himself FIRST, then apply in a year.

I cannot pay $20,000 for out of state tuition for even one year, so instead of a gap year, he will get some of his basic classes out of the way and save up some serious cash. This is the best route for our family, and my awesome, sensible son is all for it.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We looked into this exact situation because we also have parents (which would be our son's grandparents) in TX. One thing to remember is it's not an open and shut "do this, this, and this" and you get residency. She'll need to demonstrate that she intends to make TX her home (open checking account, register car and pay tax on it, register to vote). An individual reviews it and determines if it meets it-it's a little subjective and there's no guarantee.

You or your daughter also need to set up a residence (apartment lease counts, dorms do not) for one year. She cannot use your parents home address; only self/parent/court appointed guardian. There's a loophole if they become landlords and rent her space but she'll need to have an actual lease and they will determine if they think it meets the requirements.

She obviously can't be on your taxes and must file independently. TX also requires that you aren't getting "the majority of your tuition from out of state parent" to meet the independent rule. Our admissions contact at UTSA told us that meant 51% of the tuition had to be paid by student and employment salary/wages documentation would be needed for that.

It's doable if you have someone who really does want to move to the new state permenantly, but it's a bit of a risk.

The upside is that even with out-of-state tuition, it's the cheapest option she's looked at for one specific major. So, it still may be the route we choose regardless.

And her college fund is in my parents' name (because they started the fund, not because they live in TX).

 

[bcla]

Out of state tuition has become a major profit center for an awful lot of colleges and universities. Most are not going to make it easy to skirt the rules. The FAFSA is pretty intrusive and will give them a very good look into the financial details.

That's been a huge issue with the University of California. At one point it might have actually been easier to get in as an out of state student paying out of state tuition. The rationale was that it was improving the budget situation, even though the state's master plan for higher education said that priority was supposed to be for state residents. Now there's a cap on out of state undergraduate students.

http://www.dailycal.org/2017/05/18/...sident-student-enrollment-policy-uc-campuses/

It wasn't necessarily impacting the ability of state residents to get admitted to the University of California as a whole. There's a guaranteed spot in the UC system for any state resident who qualifies as UC-eligible. However, in-state admission rates were going down as a result at the "impacted" campuses like Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, Davis, etc.

 

[mnrose]

As others have said, it's difficult. It used to be easy, but many states/colleges have closed the loopholes as state funding decreases and they need revenue. At the very least, she needs to be OFF your taxes (if you are claiming any sort of tuition deduction on her, it's gonna be pretty much a non-starter), living truly independently, register her vehicle in state, pay taxes in Texas, etc. I understand the desire to do this, as the savings is huge, but hard to do. It's the big reason my kids are pretty much limiting their searches for colleges in state and in neighboring states where we have in-state reciprocity.

My son IS considering California schools. If he decides on this route, he will delay by one year. We own a home in California, would move there, and he could have residency within a year. Like I said, we already own a home there (have for years) and have paid taxes there on that property, including income taxes. Makes it somewhat easier. My daughter has chosen a Minnesota school though. Hopefully, she will be able to claim continual residency in this state even if we move back to California. I wish it were no so complicated!

 

[Poohforyou]

I don't know about establishing residency but thought I'd bring up our experience with out of state public colleges. My daughter applied to a few (she's currently a college freshman). She got merit scholarships to all that more than made up the difference of the out of state tuition.