Hi,
My child is a US citizen who will finish high school abroad. I know that we’re out of state/international in terms of tuition at all schools. Do we pay domestic or international “application fee”
Thanks
US citizen is regarded as a domestic student everywhere in the US. If there is no home state then she will be out of state everywhere though. Are you as parents also living abroad?
Only public schools have different tuition for in state vs out of state.
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Yes, we live abroad(although we keep our residence)
Got it, my understanding is also that we pay a domestic application fee but is considered out of state for public schools. Just want confirmation, thank you.
Student will be considered a US domestic student at US universities, but likely has no state residency where that may be relevant (e.g. for admission, tuition, and financial aid at state universities).
We realize this, so we’re full pay all the way for 4 years, is this correct? I don’t think we qualify for fafsa either, and since our child will have graduate from high school abroad, no scholarship either?
You’re certainly eligible to file for FAFSA although my understanding is that reporting foreign income can be tricky (I’m sure someone on CC knows about this). As a citizen the student is eligible for federal aid/funding. For private schools you’d often need to do CSS as well. Private schools may be more generous with funding than publics, especially in a situation like yours where you don’t seem to have instate tuition. Your student may well be eligible for scholarships but again these will be most likely to be from private schools. Some public schools like Arizona, Alabama etc do offer funding for out of state students.
(Just checking: you’re not serving in the US armed forces abroad? Asking as that is an exception to state residence requirements)
(Just checking: you’re not serving in the US armed forces abroad? Asking as that is an exception to state residence requirements)
Unfortunately, we’re not.
My son was in this position and, as others have said above, your child will be treated the same as any other domestic applicant for admissions and financial aid purposes. It’s important to keep this in mind when looking at school websites - we ended up going down a few rabbit holes before we learned better. We were also not in a position to claim residency in any state. In addition to financial aid based on need, many schools offer merit scholarships, and they can be very substantial. In many cases, schools do not require FAFSA in determining merit aid awards. (We would not have qualified for need-based aid and never completed FAFSA.) I had been out of the US for many years when my son was applying, so a lot of this was new to me.
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My child will be graduating abroad and did lose state residency for in-state tuition. It varies, but ours requires 12 months physical residency prior. Owning a home, building and business in the state with plans to return this summer didn’t matter. Sounds like you’re not coming back state side, but if you did you may be able to get tuition break in later years. Your child will be still be able to apply for scholarships.
We would not qualify for FAFSA and we don’t know how to get merit scholarships. Is it after admission, before admission or is it automatic? Looking at my child’s workload, applications and essays, I don’t think she’s up for looking either. If I push or float the idea, I don’t think she will reciprocrate as they’re having midterm at the moment. So many things to balance.
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It depends on the school, so you’ll need to look them up. Here are the possibilities:
- automatic, based on GPA and test scores
- automatic consideration (no extra application, opt-in, or essay required)
- opt-in (separate application and/or essay required)
At the automatic-merit schools you’ll know in advance if you’ll receive any money, and you’ll typically know how much. At the others, the merit award may accompany the acceptance letter, or may arrive weeks later.
Also, with a very few exceptions, filing FAFSA is not required to qualify for merit scholarships at most schools.
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However, the CSS Profile does dig deeper into your finances, which may or may not be favorable to you in terms of getting college financial aid.
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Here is one of the exceptions:
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships
Yes, as a citizen, your student can complete the FAFSA. But keep in mind that the FAFSA doesn’t give money. It is a financial aid application form.
You need to do the net price calculators for the colleges of interest to your student.
It’s possible your student could be eligible for some merit aid at some colleges…so you wouldn’t be paying the full costs there.
Here is your thread from March. Has anything changed?
There is the possibility in a few states of kids qualifying for residency for tuition purposes on their own after the first year. For example in Utah this just requires the student to have a year of physical presence (plus minor other things like not filing as a dependent). It’s apparently also possible (but much more complicated) in Texas if your kid buys a property and has income (ie rents rooms out to other students).
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Adding U Missouri to the list where students can become residents after the first year. Mizzou AOs use this as a selling point. Application Process for Missouri Residency // Office of the University Registrar
As a US citizen, your student can file FAFSA…you probably mean you won’t qualify for need based aid. All students who file FAFSA qualify for the direct student loan ($5.5K first year.) I would run some NPCs at financially generous schools to make sure your family doesn’t qualify for need based aid.
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Nothing has changed.
Beside the 4-5 UCs, we have UO, UW, GA, CMU, MCGill, UBC … we have 12-15(also 1-2 state schools) on the list. You can tell we’re anxious parents 
Here is an example where you can estimate how much merit your student will get, based on GPA and test scores.
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You may know this, but UCs won’t give money to out of state students, so you’re full pay there for sure.
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I am aware. Either way, UC or privates I assume we need to spend about 100 when we put everything in.
Schools give credits for IB diploma, from what I see there’s possibility for maximum credits, thus some savings. Will the scholarship estimator work for IB scores? Where do I find a good IB scores converter? Thank you for your heads up.