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My son is wanting to move from SC to NC with a friend who will be in the National Guard in NC. My son is finishing his freshman year here, and would want to continue college there. I have read the requirements for in-state tuition, and have some questions. He was planning to move this summer and go to a tech school this fall. then in fall of 2012 enroll in UNC Asheville. I have read that you will be denied in-state tuition if they see you have moved there just to go to school. Does that mean that when he goes to apply to UNC in 2012 that they will say that even though he has lived there 12 months, that because he started tech shortly after he moved that he cannot get in-state tuition?
Well, the deal is they require that you moved here for reasons other than going to school, but I'm here to tell you there are ways around that. It might be stricter at UNCA, but at AB-Tech, my roommate and another guy I know both got granted in-state tuition. What they did was take a year's worth of lease paperwork up there (for proof of residency), and when asked about why they moved here, all they said was "personal reasons". That was all AB-Tech needed to hear; they gave both of them their in-state status. I'm gonna get mine real soon.
He will need to change his driver's license, voter registration, car registration and pay rent or a mortgage, and state taxes for 366 days. One day more than one year. Also, he cannot change his status during the semester so all this has to be done before classes begin. In other words, if he is moving up this summer he will not be eligable for in-state until the following fall semester. (2013). Went through this with my oldest a few years back.
Oh, and he will need to be financially independent from you. If he is still your dependent, it will be your status they look at as well. My son moved to Boone for college 6 months before we moved up here and it was our status they went by as he was still our dependent. My husband took a job and it went by his hire date and the date we changed our driver's license, car registrations, and voters registration.
^ Definitely don't need to change car registration, and probably not voter registration either. My friend who was granted his in-state tuition like I said above did it with an Alabama license plate still on his car, and it actually might have even been before he got his new DL. Not sure if that's just the person being lenient or what, but I would say that doing all of that is overkill. Also, my friend is still registered as a dependent of his mother and father (he is 22). And like I said, he was granted in-state tuition status.
I'm not trying to be the mean one here, but I just wanted to point out that the public colleges in NC are largely paid for by taxes. So when someone moves here just to go to school, its unfair to the rest of us who along with our parents have been tax payers in the state for years.
I'm not pointing fingers at anyone here, but I just wanted to throw it out there for those to think about.
As far as I understand, Ship, your friend should still be paying out of state tuition but someone just didn't care enough to enforce it. I had a friend at UNCA who was dependent to her parents who were in TN and she had to pay out of state all 4 years. I have a feeling UNCA is much stricter/better at following the rules set by the state than AB tech too though. I know I had to provide a lot of information through the CFNC website including parents place of employment and all addresses ever lived at in the state to be granted in state tuition my freshman year. After that they didn't care.
Last edited by saucystargazer; 04-30-2011 at 02:46 PM..
^ Definitely don't need to change car registration, and probably not voter registration either. My friend who was granted his in-state tuition like I said above did it with an Alabama license plate still on his car, and it actually might have even been before he got his new DL. Not sure if that's just the person being lenient or what, but I would say that doing all of that is overkill. Also, my friend is still registered as a dependent of his mother and father (he is 22). And like I said, he was granted in-state tuition status.
This might have happened to one person, but I used to hear again and again from out-of-state people in the system that the more you can "document" that you plan to remain in NC (even if you don't), the better your chances are. It's a subjective call in the end (in addition to objective criteria), so I would still say change everything you can to NC if you are serious about it. It's precisely people trying to "rook" the system that made the requirements more strict in the first place. Even though I am an NC native, I was on a student committee in grad school at UNC who helped people learn about this process since many in our program were out-of-staters. The ones from out of state who had actually succeeded in declaring in-state residency stressed all the stuff mentioned above about registering to vote, changing your car, even joining a church or other volunteer group--"putting down roots", in other words. And even all of that often didn't work.
As mentioned about, NC taxpayers foot a portion of the bill in order for in-state students to get a cheaper deal. It SHOULD be difficult to bend the rules on residency.
Thanks for all the information guys. My son is planning to stay in Asheville even after school. He loves it and spends a lot of time there already. I hope he can work it out to get the in-state rate. Otherwise he may have to wait until he graduates before moving there. On being dependent of parents, would we need to prove that by not filing him on our taxes?
So what about a student who plans to move in with his aunt and uncle who are 20 year residents of NC? UNCA is his school of choice because of what they have to offer in the field he wishes study. I assume for residency he needs to change his DL, new plates for his truck and all that. At what point do you call him a resident?
So what about a student who plans to move in with his aunt and uncle who are 20 year residents of NC? UNCA is his school of choice because of what they have to offer in the field he wishes study. I assume for residency he needs to change his DL, new plates for his truck and all that. At what point do you call him a resident?
Sounds like hes moving in with the aunt and uncle to go to school huh?
When he has been living in the state full time for a year and a day he MIGHT be granted in state tuition. Just changing a license and registration doesn't mean anything and unless his uncle and aunt have been his sole providers and hes in their custody it doesn't matter if they are residents. Come on! If that was the case anyone and everyone would say OH my great aunt twice removed lives in NC, clearly I should get in state tuition for colleges?!?!
But again, he is not going to be granted in state tuition, or legally he shouldn't be, if he moved specifically to go to school.....That's not what public colleges in NC are for....
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