Establishing Residency for Tuition Purposes?

[IndominusTaco]

This pertains to state schools (obviously) but I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience or knowledge on gaining/proving residency in order to qualify for in-state tuition in their second year of study (for out-of-state students)? For example, some of the schools I'm looking at are UC-San Diego and CU Denver. UCSD strongly encourages students to establish California residency to get in-state tuition their second year, while CU Denver seems to "hide" the residency eligibility/requirements on their website. Both schools (and I'm assuming most others) state that your status will be called into question if it appears you're only there for educational purposes.

 

How strict or how easy is it to successfully gain residency? I know each school and each state is different, I was just wondering how generally hard the process is and/or how likely it is to successfully qualify for in-state tuition. Reading all the documentation and evidence you have to provide kinda seems like it's a little arbitrary on whether or not the school will accept or deny/question your status.

 

Edit: and I get the whole "they want you to permanently live & work in the state" but honestly how many students go to school out of state, gain residency to get $10k knocked off their tuition, and then move back home or move somewhere else in the country? I feel like it's a lot more students than those who actually permanently stay in that state after graduation.

Edited November 26, 2022 by IndominusTaco

[LeafJuice]

current student at ucsd, i'm an in-state student, but it is my understanding that in-state tuition is granted to every domestic student for the second year essentially automatically.