@“Erin’s Dad” , not saying it would work for any particular situation, and certainly not for all cases, but I guarantee you it can work at times because I’ve personally used the provisions, as have a number of people close to me, as I’ve said upthread. I can do it right now, I’m fact.
If you file a tax return, and are not claimed on your parents’ tax returns, you can establish residency in a new state - and that residency applies for tuition purposes, too. There are time lines for it - usually it’s six months for community college, and a year for university level. But it most definitely can be done, and is done all the time. There are states where it is more difficult, and many states will not let you become in-state once you’ve started at the school out-of-state, but even in that case, if you take time off while you are establishing in-state residence, they may have to look at your residence status anew, when you apply to return.
@parentologist Not true. In the majority of cases this just isn’t true.
Think about it…if this was true, there would be really no upperclassmen paying OOS tuition.
Residency for residency purposes is very different than for instate tuition purposes.
Residency for tuition purposes is accorded to students whose parents pay taxes to support the public universities in the state. To become an instate resident for tuition purposes, you must follow the guidelines for the specific public university.
And yes, it’s way easier to do so for community colleges in many states. But some students have been very surprised when they went to transfer to a four year public and OOS tuition was required at the four year university.
I will say, there are a few public universities where establishing instate residency IS easy and possible. Utah, For example.
@twoinanddone what others do you know?
One has to check with each college. Even within the same college, standards for Admissions as an instate student can differ from what it takes to get in state tuition. It can also differ from the various schools within a university and programs.
No, and no. Filing your own tax return and dependency status on a parent’s tax return have little, if anything, to do with establishing legal residency in a new state. And as thumper1 points out, establishing legal residency in a new state is a completely different thing than qualifying for in-state tuition rates in a particular state.
Adding…tax filing and dependency status on tax returns has little to do with residency for instate tuition for undergrads. The state of residence is just about always the state in which the parent(s) reside for undergrad students.
OP, I’m unclear about why you want to stay in Arizona at this point. Did you decide to try and establish residency there and feel like you’re part of the way there? Did I miss a reason you don’t want to live at home (and therefore have lower living expenses while you get out of debt)? Unless you think the inheritance is enough to cover college and is imminent why stay where you are?