yes
But I followed everything they said
You are an American citizen who has followed all the rules EXCEPT since you were not born in the US, you do not have an “instate residency”. If you’d been born in NY, one of the NY public U’s would be your (most likely) best affordable option.
But you were not born in NY or Ohio…. which is why I think a lawyer who deals in immigration (who has no doubt seen your exact case before- you aren’t the first naturalized citizen with a US passport to discover that although you are a citizen, you do NOT have instate status ANYWHERE.)
You can keep arguing with folks here. I know you are frustrated and I know you have already climbed high mountains. But you can’t keep charging away at the same windmills without help. Which again- is why an Ohio law school legal clinic is your best bet for getting on track.
I’m not sure why are you are pushing back here. There are tens of thousands of young people in the US in the same boat as you. Wouldn’t it be great to benefit from their experience by hearing from a lawyer “do this, then this. Don’t do that. Ever”.
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I called all the representatives, including the state representative, and I went in person to Buckeyelink multiple times. They keep saying we are not trained for residency. When I kept emailing residency with questions, they called the sheriff on me. The sheriff spoke with me, and I was told that was the last time, and I could be suspended.
I’m a good student with a high GPA, and I’m a first-generation student. I can’t even qualify for anything because of my situation. I feel like all my hard work since the beginning of school year is crap I have 2 exams this week and after this news I can’t imagine myself going to study
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Maybe contact Clark State - it’s less than half the price.
But I think you need to slow down.
Re-read the rules. Someone here thinks you need to not be in school 12 months. There has to be someone you can ask.
Thank you
That college is 50 min away form home and being at osu or even cscc can cause me to lose my lease bc it’s for people enrolled at these institutions I have to submit a prove that I’m a student when I applied for the lease
And it will be hard to go to work and take care of family with going to school at Clark college
And I ready the rules very carefully you can take classes if u are doing the E1 and you can work either part or full time
It clearly states that for E1, you must be self supporting…and that includes the amount you are paying for college costs. How would you demonstrate that on the income you are earning.
It also says E1 is a conditional situation and you must continue to apply under these terms for every term of enrollment.
And it further states that it is for part time students…enrolled in less than 12 credits per term.
Is that you?
If you are enrolled for less than 12 credits, I think your need based aid would be affected. @kelsmom?
Yes I am less than 12 credit enroll
And the only reason why college is expensive for me is that I’m oos
I get full amount of fafsa
at cscc I was in state under the same circumstances
it’s the same law for all schools so why it’s so hard for osu to look more in depth into my situation
This is why you need to find someone to talk to. No one here can.
Have you looked at Sonography at COTC - or is that the same as you mentioned above - CSCC.
What people are suggesting is - these classes may be what’s keeping you from getting in-state tuition - that you need to stop going to school.
This is the question to ask OSU - on the chat line or find someone. If you visit enough people, enough offices, you will be put in touch with someone who can help you.
This is COTC - which has a sonography program:
Non-Resident Tuition
Out-of-State Residents pay a per credit hour surcharge on top of the in-state tuition rate.
Nonresident fee: $344 per credit hour (Additional $115 per credit hour added to the $229 in-state tuition rate)
Non-Resident tuition is capped at $4,128 total tuition for any student taking 12-18 credit hours (full-time enrollment).
In some states, community colleges are more lenient and allow for instate costs for residents where the CC is located.
The FAFSA does not give you money. The money is federally funded money. You are eligible and are receiving a Pell Grant, and can take a federally funded Direct Loan.
Please keep in mind, there are limits to the amount of Pell dollars you can take. Same with the Direct Loan.
@kelsmom are these awards reduced because if this student’s part time status?
Do what @blossom has suggested numerous times. Go for a legal consult about this. tOSU has a law school. Someone there should be able to point you in the right direction for a free consult at least.
I honestly think you might have jumped the gun by enrolling in college BEFORE you attained instate status for tuition purposes.
From tOSU website:
Residency Classification E-1
The Residency Classification E-1 is temporary and applies for only one term. A student who is requesting reclassification under the Residency Classification E-1 is required to complete a reclassification application (the Online Residency Form) each term. After the student has lived in Ohio for 12 consecutive months, they may be eligible to apply under the Residency Classification C-2.
To qualify for the E-1 classification you must satisfy the requirements and be able to provide documentation to validate ALL the following statements are true:
- are employed in Ohio on a self-sustaining basis (if the student has dependents, then the self-sustaining amount will increase)
- have employment minimally covering all living expenses (rent, food, utilities, transportation, insurance, cell phone, etc.)
- have tuition that can be covered by employment and/or financial aid packages solely in student’s name
- are enrolled less than full-time (undergraduate-less than 12 credit hours; graduate-less than eight credit hours)
NOTE: Residency Classification E-1 does NOT apply to students who are enrolled full-time, nor those who cannot support themselves on employment income alone.
Documentation for Financially Independent Students
All reclassification applications require supporting evidentiary documentation. If you submit incomplete or incorrect documentation, your reclassification application will not be approved.
Note above…incomplete or incorrect documentation will not be approved. When you submitted with your uncle, that was incorrect. When you were living with your mother and didn’t include her, I believe that was incorrect.
Regardless of what I think…you need to find out what was deemed incorrect or incomplete on your previous applications…and why they were denied.
This application for instate tuition status probably needs to be done before you pay the out of state costs. That is something you need to check also. Did you miss a deadline for doing this for this term (which is already well underway).
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I meet all these requirements and I applied for residency reclassification July and I got a response from them Thursday
I applied before semester starts
Pell is paid based on number of credit hours, so it is reduced for part time. Loans are only available if the student is at least half time. Effective July 1, 2026, loan amounts will also be prorated based on number of credits (the details have not yet been finalized).
I got denied and I asked what other documents they need and they said that it’s unlikely I will get approved even with the documents bc I have a self employment job it’s more like tutoring and baby sitting and I provided documentation and I will claim it once IRS releases a form I tried to ask osu tax services they said they don’t help with that and that I need to talk with tax experts but I went to irs no form form 2025 is available! And they said my CVS income is not sufficient to cover my tuition I make around 1500 a month and it’s very sufficient for me and I emailed buckeye link and they only said to do fafsa email advisor dopayment plan which I already did
So the only reason why I’m denied is bc of that document 
and there is a deposit they need to know the resource for, and it was my savings. I just deposited it into my account when I opened one.
I tried to email OHE, but they said only my institution can help.
All clinics for immigration told me they can’t help because when I came to the USA, I didn’t come through a visa; I was already a citizen. And they said me coming from a war zone can be considered humanitarian case ESPECIALLY when I didn’t go to a different state BUT only the institution can determine that. Lawyers want like 3 k every month I can’t do that
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@blossom suggested you contact the law school at tOSU and ask for help. Or look for a legal aid society. There are legal resources for folks who don’t have the means to pay.
For reference, OOS tuition at tOSU is over $43,000 a year. You would need to show evidence that you earned enough money to pay that PLUS all of your living expenses to show “independence”. From what you have posted, you are not earning over $5000 a month, which is about what that would need to be.
Even adding in a full Pell Grant and the full Direct Loan, your earnings are not enough.
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Osu law clinic and student advocacy and SLS all said they can’t help with that and even canceled the appointments I made
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Law clinics are often very specific in what they focus on - landlord tenant, domestic violence, criminal law, employment, even civil rights. I really doubt there is one that focuses on fixing the classification of students from out of state to instate. This isn’t a tax issue. It isn’t an employment issue (no employer is discriminating against you). It is an administrative issue of being misclassified or not having the ability to reclassify.
You are trying to get a decision made by the admissions office overturned, that you are an out of state student FOR TUITION PURPOSES. It doesn’t mean you are an OOS resident for voting, for getting a driver’s license, for paying taxes. You were deemed an OOS student (right decision or not) and you have to follow the steps for getting that overturned. OR you can go to another school that grants you instate residency FOR TUITION PURPOSES. It is costing you a lot of time and money fighting this. Paying a lawyer is unlikely to get the decision changed because no attorney is going to specialize in this problem. A smart one will go step by step through the original decision and will go thru the forms people have posted above, and he might find just the right person to follow the logic that you were always an instate resident and you weren’t just using your uncle’s address to get instate tuition (which is my opinion of why they deemed you OOS, that you hadn’t lived in Ohio long enough to get the right status). A good attorney might say “Look, she moved here in 20xx, she lived with her mother and she was a minor and went to hs HERE. Mother was a resident but couldn’t support them herself so got money from her family but this student and her mother were always residents. She was misclassified. Please fix this retroactively.” Can the person at the counter fix this? No (probably a student worker). Can the next person up the line fix this? Probably not. This is the job for a higher level person in the admissions/bursar’s office as it is rare.
But just go to another school. This is not worth the aggravation and money to fight with OSU. There are other schools.
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This is the right answer but when you bring one up, 45 mins away, you get - but I have to go to OSU based on my lease.
OP doesn’t want to face reality. I understand the frustration.
In the end, love the one that loves you. tOSU doesn’t love you - or at least their policies don’t.
Otterbein is a private university that may be able to help you. What is the major you are trying to study? Affordability of an Otterbein Education
The work around for Ohio State is not to enroll anywhere, get a full time job at Ohio State (their hospital is always hiring) and eventually utilize the employee tuition benefits to attend part time. Anyone new to the Columbus area with aspirations of attending Ohio State (or having their children attend) should consider what tuition benefits are available to employees. Student employment is different. Don’t expect to be a student, get a part time job with the university and think you will get a tuition break. Lots of colleges offer tuition benefits to their regular employees (again not to their student employees - this can be confusing).
The biggest issue you face is a mounting debt to Ohio State if you are unable to pay their out of state tuition bill. That debt might eventually keep you from enrolling anywhere until it is paid.
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Marion Technical College has Sonography. There is private student housing within walking distance. It shares a campus with Ohio State Marion and allows some cross registration.
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@SarahWli who was or is currently paying your OOS tuition costs at tOSU. Clearly, on a $1500 a month income, you can’t be doing this yourself. This is part of your issue about showing “independence”.
- You are not earning enough money to pay for everything…tuition, feels, books, room, board, personal expenses…on a $1500 a month income…
AND
- You didn’t establish instate residency for tuition purposes prior to enrolling as an out of state student at tOSU.
At some point, tOSU is not going to allow you to register for classes if you haven’t paid your OOS costs. And if you DO pay your OOS costs, getting a change to instate for tuition status just isn’t going to happen. The numbers do not add up.
1. I am fully financially independent.
I pay for my rent, food, utilities, and all my living expenses. My rent is cheap and I get food through low income Resource.
No one pays my tuition for me. If someone was paying, I wouldn’t be here trying to fix this. And they saw my bank statement
2. I did NOT move to Ohio “for OSU.”
I am a U.S. citizen
My mother was a Hurricane Katrina survivor who returned to our home country because her family are there and we later came back to the U.S. because of war. We came way way before I enrolled and my mom is getting treatment at osu
3. I was misclassified as an out-of-state student.
Other Ohio schools classify me as in-state, but OSU classified me as OOS.
I never lived in another state, never used anyone else’s address, and have no ties outside Ohio.
I meet the exact indicators listed by ODHE. I tried to reach ODHE but they said I’m wrong osu is right
4. An OSU admission counselor gave me incorrect instructions and this created confusion in my file.
He told me to submit BOTH my mother’s documents and my uncle’s documents together in 2024
I followed his instructions exactly because he said, “Don’t worry, this person handles this all the time and can help you.” He even gave me a name. Later, when I met with the residency office, they asked:“Why did you submit documents for two different people? You should only submit information for ONE person.”
and financial aid office people told me that the person the counselor referred me to cannot make residency decisions and that this created confusion in my file. Why did the counselor said that !
I help mom and also I help taking care of my family only 2 people speak English and drive at my household .
I have been doing everything they asked me to do, submitting documents, asking questions, working, and trying to navigate all this and they told me even with an appeal, it’s unlikely to be approved, so it feels like all my effort has been wasted.
I look into all these options but they are far from home. I struggle getting to work at time even though I live like 20min away from work imagine I move 50 min. Maybe I should find new job?
And I’m looking for a way to start a career at osu medical center and i know that ohio means job can cover sole certifications o don’t want to use fafsa so I don’t lose my money /// I’m looking for phlebotomy certification I mentioned this because I’m not running from the reality I’m trying
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