Funding and Residency?

[Rockerika]

I am finishing an MA in Political Science and have begun the process of selecting schools to apply to for my PhD. I have noticed that several schools (notably Berkeley) state something to the effect of " United States citizens and Permanent Residents are required to achieve California residency by the end of their first year in California to receive continued fee support." Most states define this as something like proving that you are "living in the state for a purpose other than education" ( or, "proving" something that is entirely false by meeting arbitrary state defined standards of reality) by attaining some degree of non-academic employment. I know that no one is taking a year off from school to work in Berkeley, California or Boulder, Colorado just to get residency so they can continue getting funded in a PhD program.  

Has anyone encountered this that can explain how this situation is usually resolved?

TIA

[TakeruK]

You don't have to take time off of school in order to work in California for 1 year in order to attain California residency. All of my American friends attending UC schools are able to attain California residency within 12 months of arriving in California.

The requirement is that you are moving to California permanently, which in reality just means being able to honestly say "I have no plans to leave California to leave California during my school's ''off season'' and after I am finished school." So, in effect, this means: remaining in California the entire year, even if you don't have to stay in California for the summer and as others said above, it means you must transfer everything you can to California residency if possible. As others said, this means changing your driving license, changing your permanent mailing address and everything that is related to your home state should be changed to California. Registering to vote in California is probably a good idea too (I don't think you have to register to vote in California, but you definitely should not be registered to vote in your old state).

In essence, you just need to actually make California your home, and take actions that reflect this. In today's world, "permanent" doesn't mean that you have to live in California for the rest of your life. It just has to mean that as of the moment you apply to become a California resident, you have no plans on moving out of state. Note: wanting to live elsewhere / dreaming of leaving elsewhere doesn't count as "plans", I mean things like having a job offer or keeping your old state residency etc.

[drivingthoughts]

@Rockerika I'm not sure about Berkeley, but in a nearby state, Utah, and where I am now, Michigan, things are fairly simple. In both cases, simply changing my "permanent" mailing address, and moving over my driver's license and insurance counted me as having local residency for my schools. I think what the school means is that you have to prove that you physically live there with no immediate plans to go back to Montana. I suppose I'd recommend you call the school's grad office and just ask.

Either way, good luck in your applications.

[Rockerika]

@drivingthoughts thanks for sharing your experience. Maybe some states have more stringent rules than others. Obviously I plan to ask if I am offered admittance to these schools, I just was not sure if anyone had ever run into an issue with these kinds of requirements. In Montana, you have to be in the state for a full year and any time spent here while attending school half time or more does not count. Its ludicrously difficult unless you're willing to take a year off and work full time just to come here for school on in state tuition.

And they wonder why our enrollments are declining, eh? 

[MathCat]

I attend another UC school and what that sentence means for us is that if you are a US citizen or permanent resident, you must do what TakeruK says: during your first year, change things like bank accounts, mailing addresses, driver's licenses, voting registration, etc. to California to establish ties here. There are explicit instructions provided by the school on how to do this, and it definitely does not require taking a year to live in California before applying. All PhD students in my program are funded, but the bit about "to receive continued fee support" means that if you are a citizen or permanent resident and do not establish residency by the end of your first year (which everyone has been able to do, as far as I know), the department will no longer include the out-of-state tuition fees in your funding package in later years.

[Quickmick]

I imagine their interest is related to in-state tuition and your tax filing status. For example, they would not like you to file state taxes in FL (@ 0%) and take advantage of their instate tuition rates. Even if as a student your state tax bill is probably minimal or nil, my understanding is that they are really asking you if you are going to be a taxpayer.