Establishing Residency - California and Colorado?!

[arzeller]

I've been accepted to both SDSU and CU Boulder's Speech-Language Pathology master's programs, but currently live in Massachusetts. I'm wondering just how possible it really is to establish residency in both CA and CO for tuition purposes, since the MA schools I'm considering as well are not state schools, and therefore potentially more expensive.

 

From what I've seen around, it seems like it actually may be possible to do after just one year, but I wanted to hear if anyone had concrete experience doing it. It seems as though you need to get a driver's license/state plates on your car, register to vote, have a home (does renting count..??), bank account address, etc.

 

(Here's where I found some of this info: http://www.ucop.edu/general-counsel/_files/ed-affairs/10-things-grad.pdf)

 

Anyone who knows more about this, or better yet tried to do it themselves, please let me know!

Edited March 24, 2013 by arzeller

[rokdrokd]

I was accepted to both schools (different program) as well and have researched this quite a bit. Each website has all the information you need. Basically as far as the states are concerned once you live there primarily without any ties to, in your case mass., you're a CA/CO resident. You have to start the process of establishing residency for a full year before you'll qualify for in-state tuition. So you need things like a CA/CO license, a signed current lease in the relevant state, etc., and then your year starts. Basically becoming a "State resident" isn't too difficult, you just have to live there and no where else, and get a license etc., but residency is for tuition purposes, so you go to the school's admin office and start the process like a previously mentioned.

 

If you google things like "CO residency", or "CU residency", etc. you will find the right info, they all have it online. Let me know if you have any lucky, i can track down links if you don't!

[arzeller]

I was accepted to both schools (different program) as well and have researched this quite a bit. Each website has all the information you need. Basically as far as the states are concerned once you live there primarily without any ties to, in your case mass., you're a CA/CO resident. You have to start the process of establishing residency for a full year before you'll qualify for in-state tuition. So you need things like a CA/CO license, a signed current lease in the relevant state, etc., and then your year starts. Basically becoming a "State resident" isn't too difficult, you just have to live there and no where else, and get a license etc., but residency is for tuition purposes, so you go to the school's admin office and start the process like a previously mentioned.

 

If you google things like "CO residency", or "CU residency", etc. you will find the right info, they all have it online. Let me know if you have any lucky, i can track down links if you don't!

 

Thanks! Yeah, I've done a bit of looking around myself as well, and it does seem like it's possible. I just wanted to see if anyone had experience with the process, because I can foresee schools giving me a hard time about "just being a student" instead of an actual resident of the state.

 

If you've had to do this before, let me know!

[rokdrokd]

The only thing i saw that would give you trouble for "just being a student" was at SDSU, in some wording that sounded like it might be geared more toward undergrads - requiring emancipation and all. I saw no such wording on CUs pages. I've also talked to each department and they say that "you'll apply for instate tuition when you arrive and begin the semester" as if it's not a problem. I know it's not a hard fact, but if you're concerned and can't find the right info, I would just call the dept. admin or your assigned advisor(s) and ask, they're the experts!

 

I understand your concern, SDSU isn't so bad, it's like 2232 a semester of addition tuition on 6 credits out of state. Boulder jumps from around 8 or 9K to 19K, BIG difference. 

[msocean]

Not an expert here...but I think CO would be much easier to establish residency for tuition purposes and that CU Boulder is much more lenient (once you have changed your drivers license, etc for one year) than any of the CA schools.

 

I interviewed at a couple of CA schools and spoke with residency advisors.  It seemed very difficult to establish residency for tuition purposes.

 

On the other hand, I have a friend who goes to Boulder as an undergrad and he qualified for residency very easily after living there for one year.  He moved to Boulder in June, paid out of state tuition for the first year, and got in-state standing starting his second Fall term.