State residency for Armed Forces personnels for in-state college tuition.

[Sam]

Questions for members of the Armed Forces:

1) Is it true that you and your spouse are considered residents of any of the 50 states for the purpose of in-state college tuition rate?

2) If so, is it also true for your children?

3) If so, is it still true after you have been honorably discharged or retired from the Armed Forces?

More questions might follow depending on the answers to the above. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rustic23]

I inquired about 'State Residency' when I was still in the service. The JAG told me that the US does not have any residency laws. You establish residency by your actions. i.e. registering and voting, register your car, buy property. Things that indicate you intend to make the state your residence.

Your wife would establish her residency in the same way. As far as in-state tuition, that veries by state. In Texas, I had to prove I lived in the state when I joined the service in order for the kids to get in-state tuition. (I was stationed outside Texas at the time) However I have a friend that lived outside the state who's daughter went to Texas. She paid out-state tuition for one semester, then claimed she was a state resident and paid in-state after that.

So the answer to all three is 'It depends'. You will have to research the state you are interested in.

 

[Nords]

Questions for members of the Armed Forces:
1) Is it true that you and your spouse are considered residents of any of the 50 states for the purpose of in-state college tuition rate?

Never heard of that. Your state of residence is usually the name printed on your driver's license or the location where you send your state tax payments.

But some states may be exceptionally lenient like TX, FL, IL, & PA, so I'd ask their state U's admissions office and maybe a legislator's office. I've heard good things about the way some states treat their active-duty residents and the military stationed in their state. Others like, oh, say, California might be filthy money-grubbing opportunists who'll hound you for years with scary looking official correspondence saying things like "Send your payment & penalty to:". Not that I'm bitter.

2) If so, is it also true for your children?

Generally a family benefit accruing to the military parent is also available to their kid holding a dependent's ID card (like reduced tuition fees). I think this is generally age 18 or, for full-time college students still a dependent on a parent's tax return, age 21. I'm vague because these rules are perpetually threatened to be changing as cost-saving measures.

3) If so, is it still true after you have been honorably discharged or retired from the Armed Forces?

Nope, after that point you typically have 30 days to take some sort of action to declare your state of residence. In our case it was taking a driver's license exam and turning in our 19-year-old Florida licenses. If we'd waited any longer then Hawaii would have assessed some sort of penalty for not meeting their (somewhat arbitrary) deadline.

 

[Sam]

Thank you, Rustic and Nords.

 

[WM]

I know that in CA, spouses of active duty military stationed there are considered instant residents for state schools (or they were 10 years ago). I'm not sure what Nords' experience was, but we moved from OH to CA and I started attending San Diego State U as a CA resident a couple months later.

I'm now in CO and have heard rumors of similar rules, but I'm not sure what's true.

I also don't know for children or what the rules are for after you're out. I would guess the advantage goes away, since the rule is presumably to give a break to people who moved there "involuntarily."

 

[Sam]

Thank you WM. A friend of mine (Army) stationed in Tulsa, OK for a while. His wife got a degree there and qualified for in-state tuition too. I asked him about it, he said he believed it's a "rule", but could not point me to the actual writing.

 

[WM]

Hmmm...As I recall, I just looked through the residency rules for the university. Not sure about the actual laws.

 

[ArmyIT]

Once again, just a newbie reading posts and making comments where I can help...
For in-state tuition, it varys by state according to their specific state laws. The Army's Human Resources Command has a good breakdown at:

https://www.hrc.army.mil/site/education/InState/index.htm

Hope this helps...

ArmyIT

 

[Sam]

Thank you ArmyIT. This is the first time I've seen it in writing.

Fort Detrick Standard, May 27, 2004.
by Duble, Ann

Governor Robert Ehrlich signed HB 172, which exempts military families enrolled in state schools from paying out-of-state tuition fees when the sponsor is relocated. The previous law did not continue the in-state tuition benefit when the military sponsor was reassigned out of the state. Maryland became the 24th state to support the residency tuition exemption. The new law went into effect on July 1st.

 

[ArmyIT]

Glad to help... also don't know your military status, but now spouses can use a portion of a service members GI Bill for their education needs also... Unfortunately this is only a re-enlistment option for mid-career service members (primarily the Army and Air Force is using it now), may change in the future, but is now currently only a re-up thing, but can save military service members alot of money for their spouses education that they can throw into a retirement fund instead... also applies to eligible dependent children...

More at: http://www.dantes.doded.mil/dantes_web/library/docs/sea/GI_Bill_Handoff-7aug061.pdf

ArmyIT