Wondering if there’s a benefit to DC living in Washington, D.C. versus Chevy Chase Maryland? Wondering if schools are recruiting particular addresses? My ex-husband and I are trying to figure out whose address should be in common app and who should do the FAFSA, since we share everything equally. My understanding is that we have to make a commitment in common app and can’t go back and change our minds later. If anybody knows about these questions, I would appreciate the info. Thank you!
Are you full pay ? Schools are recruiting that.
Given they’ll have both your info, I don’t think it will matter, especially if you are considering schools in the Eastern Seaboard.
where is the hs ? If you want UMD, hopefully the student is a Maryland resident.
good luck.
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If you are applying to state schools, you may be able to use a DC tuition assistance grant to lower the cost. See here: DCTAG Fast Facts Brochure | osse . My understanding is that it only covers something like $10k, so that might not be the entire difference between in-state and out-of-state. If your child wants to attend a Maryland state school, I’d definitely use that address to lower the cost and get you in state rates. Any other state, and you might want to use the DC address which might qualify you to get the grant. That said, I’d also look pretty carefully at the grant requirements - with two different addresses you may not qualify, or perhaps the student needs to have attended a DC school or who knows what else.
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Here’s the key point re: DCTAG for your situation—you must “be a District of Columbia resident for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the applicant’s first time in college and maintain continued {domicile} throughout the applicant’s college matriculation (Note: Dependent students’ [under age 24] domicile is established through the parent or legal guardian).”
Where does your child go to school? Public or private? If they live with you and your ex 50/50 and attend public school, I would assume the public school’s location would determine their residency for DCTAG purposes. If private, it’s harder to say, but the school should be able to advise.
DCTAG has existed for 25 years, always at the 10K/year level; the point was to try to make up for DC students’ lack of in-state options for college, but of course that $10K per year now does not go as far as it used to. It is funded by Congress so subject to the whims of Republicans, who have threatened to eliminate it many times over the years. Given the current administration’s posture toward DC, I would not count on its long-term survival. There’s also a household income limit of $600K/year for eligibility; if Congress doesn’t want to kill DCTAG outright but wants to make it less accessible, significantly reducing the income threshold would be the most likely move.
I don’t think there’s any application advantage to one jurisdiction over the other; there are tons of highly prepared students applying from both, and the main factor would be your child in their school context.
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Where does this student attend high school?
I think for FAFSA, you would consider same answer as you’ve provided for federal and state tax returns- regarding how you list your student’s residence during past two years.
Would you fill out CSS Profile for some private colleges? If so, I would think you’d want consistency across Common App, FAFSA, Profile, state and federal tax returns.
Edited to add:
Have you seen MD higher ed website about how to fill out FAFSA?
Truest thing I’ve ever read on CC. 
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For FAFSA, it’s the parent who provides the most support. If it’s equal, I believe then it’s the parent with the higher income. @kelsmom
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That’s correct.
It felt to me like you were asking whether there is an admission advantage beyond in-state admissions opportunities.
The recently cancelled Landscape product is a clue to how at least many colleges might think about this.
First, Landscape looked at the area context of both the HS attended and the residence of the applicant.
Second, it did so at a granular level, specifically the census tract level. That is because a lot of potentially relevant area data is reported at the census tract level.
So while I wouldn’t advise this in the first place, if someone WAS trying to “game” all this for college admissions purposes, you would want to game both high school and residence, and you would be gaming based on census tract data and not state-level data.
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For a few kids, the cut off for National Merit Semifinalist might matter. I think historically the DC cut off is higher than for MD.
DC tag has an upper income limit. I think it’s currently about $600,000. I don’t know the rules for divorce.
You get a small amount–I think it’s $2,000 a year–for private schools in DC. HCBUs also get you a grant–I think it’s $10,000.
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DCTAG amounts are:
- $10k per academic year at public colleges and universities in the US, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
- $2.5k per academic year at private non-profit colleges and universities in the DC metro area and four year private HBCUs nationwide.
Eligible colleges and universities are listed here:
DC’s cut-off is always the same as the highest state cut-off. But whether the student is part of the DC or MD pool is determined by school, I believe, not jurisdiction of residence.