Utah residency similar to other states
Although Utah State University now requires non-resident students to complete 60 credit hours to gain residency, residency policies around the nation also require a student to be financially independent.
Troy Archuleta, admissions representative at the University of Wyoming, said a student is considered to be a dependent until they are 24-years-old for financial aid purposes, he said, but if they wish to become a resident and pay in-state tuition a student must be financially independent and meet all other residency requirements.
A student must prove he or she did not come to Wyoming only for educational purposes, he said.
He said, “If their primary reason in Wyoming is to go to school, they won’t be considered for residency at all,
“We also look to see if a student has lived here and worked full time continuously for one year,” he said.
This requirement cannot be concurrent with enrollment in the university, Archuleta said.
However, like many other universities, if their parents or spouse is a resident or if they graduated from a Wyoming high school, they can automatically claim residency, Archuleta said.
Similarly, Kathleen Mass, the residency specialist at Arizona State University, said in order to pay in-state tuition a student must work in Arizona for one year and, in addition, must be financially independent from their parents for two years.
Financial independence cannot start until a student has graduated from high school, she said, and they are 18 years old.
As a result, a student may have to pay out-of-state tuition for two years before they can petition for residency, she said.
Shannon Kelly, the director of residency classification at the University of Maryland, said the university’s residency requirements also considers financial independence, but the requirement has changed slightly since November of 2002.
The university used to look at financial independence as one of the main considerations for residency, but now it looks at it as only an additional consideration when looking at a student’s petition, Kelly said.
And just like Wyoming requirements, Debbie Hermann, a residency officer at Texas A&M, said “It’s presumed a student has come to Texas for educational purposes and as a result will remain a non-resident in school.”
To prove a student did not come to Texas only for education, she said, they must be employed full time for one year in Texas prior to enrolling in the university to gain residency.
According to the Utah State University’s Web site at www.usu.edu/admissions, whether a student is financially independent or dependent is not taken into consideration for Utah residency requirements as of right now, but requirements are subject to change at any time.
Utah institutions also allow students to be concurrently enrolled in classes while gaining residency, according to the Web site, but is also subject to change.
However, Archuleta said, “It is very possible USU will experience a drop in enrollment because many students cannot afford two years of out-of-state tuition.”