Hello,
I’m an OOS applicant and got accepted to UMass Nursing with Honors College and 18K Chancellor’s award.
I really want to commit to UMass but I know they won’t give me a lot of financial aid and unfortunately my family is unable to pay for it. (I’ve ran the net price calculator and it says $53,446, so I might be paying about 35K?)
Is it possible to change my residency to Massachusetts and pay the in-state tuition?
Are there any cases?
Thank you! 
File under “If it were that easy, everyone would do it.”
You would need to live and work in MA for a year first before going to college. Your time spent as a student does not count.
Yes, it’s possible, but not easy. You would need to show that you had been living in Massachusetts for a full 12 months before starting school and show that you had real intent to make Massachusets your home, not just for school purposes. For example you could rent an apartment there, and work a full time job, filing taxes there. Here are the rules:
Is your whole family moving to Massachusetts? But that won’t help you now.
You can move to Massachusetts yourself, get a job, and work there until you are 26 when you will be in independent student for financial aid purposes. That won’t help you either.
Fact is…you applied and were accepted as an out of state student, with out of state costs. Public universities look very carefully at requests for a change to instate status. If you are at all looking for this change for college cost purposes, it will be declined.
There is no easy way to get instate status at UMass as an undergrad when your parents reside in another state. That other state is where they are paying taxes that help support the public universities. They don’t live in Massachusetts.
Please note that in the residency guidelines posted above, the residency of parents is considered for unemancipated students.
Are you getting regional tuition ?
I don’t believe UMASS offers. Umass Dartmouth offers.
SO tuition and room and board are nearly $60k. So how do you get $53k?
The NPC is likely including a $5500 loan - which you should not count as cost reduction because it has to be paid back and with interest. It’s not like the $18k merit/discount which is free money.
Did you get into other schools that are affordable ?
There’s so many colleges out there where kids can excel, not just one.
Short of taking a year off to work and meeting residency requirements, find the good things about your other admissions so you set yourself up to thrive there.
The good news is there is a shortage of nurses and no matter where you go, you’ll be in great shape.
Best of luck
https://www.umass.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/undergraduate-costs
If you were an in state student, you would not have received an $18,000 scholarship for each year. Three of my kids were offered that scholarship, it got it close to in state Rutgers, which offered them $0. Public universities offer a lot more merit money to oos students as a bribe not to go to their in state flagships. I’ve had 2 at oos public’s, getting in state tuition is almost impossible (and mine lived and paid rent off campus for 3 years). University of Utah is pretty much your only option (need to stay in Utah the first summer).
What if the parents moved to Massachusetts before classes start? Would the student then be considered in-state for years 2-4?
I believe most states require the move at least a year before classes start, and a lot of documentation will be needed.
You may not - you might consult with the school. This says you have been there 12 months b4 starting. So moving may not help subsequent years - but the school can tell you.
Undergraduate Residency : Office of the Bursar : UMass Amherst