Californa Residency

rational vash

I'm planning on going to a UC school my junior and senior years of college. I'm currently finishing up my freshman year of college at a community college in oregon.


I was wondering if i could get state residency while going to a California community college for my sophomore year, since then I would be able to pay in state tuition my first year at an expensive school.

kaliyama

Probably. Google "california residency requirement UC" and click on the first link you find.

Sevorak

I know people who got California residency pretty quickly in college, so you should be good. It'll probably be in your interest to move here over the summer and get a summer job and California driver's license.

I don't know the exact requirements, so do some research. I'm almost positive it's possible though.

3drage

I think you have to reside in CA for a year (drivers license starts the clock), but I'm not completely sure on that.

Thanatos

Generally, you have to reside in a state for a year without being a student (sometimes full-time, sometimes not at all depending upon the state) to be considered a resident by most universities.

Dropping Loads

I'm from Atlanta and I moved to California to go to UC Berkeley for grad school in 2002.

Establishing residency required living in California for a year, but the proof the university required was rather strict:
1. Must get a drivers license within 10 days of moving to California. This is a DMV requirement that most people are not aware of.
2. Documentation of residence (some monthly bill in your name)
3. Proof that you did not leave the state for more than 7 days at any time. This is really crazy, because it essentially means no big trip home to visit your family. Most people take care of this requirement by providing one receipt a week from an ATM or a local store. For the holidays, people would then give their ATM card to a local friend and have them buy something with it.

4. I'm not sure about this one, because I was already financially independent, but I think you have to prove you're independent in terms of your taxes (i.e. your parents aren't claiming you and you filed your own tax return.)

They did not require that I not be a student for that first year, but I also had a full time job (i.e. graduate stipend). The tuition discount did not kick in until the beginning of the second year.

Esh

I know in Oregon, you can establish residency only if you're going part time to school.

Is there a program you really need down there? Oregon has gobs more money than California does for grants and what not.

rational vash

Yea, I have heard alot of conflicting information on the topic.

Some online sources say that you need to not be a student for a year, but others have claimed to get instate tuition while going to school, so I'm kind of confused.

@Esh: I was hoping to go to either UCLA or USC while majoring in Film.

Dropping Loads

USC is a private school, so even if they do give reduced tuition for residents, the method of doing so is entirely at their discretion.

kaliyama

rational vash wrote: »

Yea, I have heard alot of conflicting information on the topic.

Some online sources say that you need to not be a student for a year, but others have claimed to get instate tuition while going to school, so I'm kind of confused.

@Esh: I was hoping to go to either UCLA or USC while majoring in Film.

I wasn't being elliptical - type in the search terms I gave you and go to the first link. Each school has different paperwork requirements. Santa Monica College is good for transferring to UCLA, but USC has a film school whereas UCLA has a pile of filth.

ASimPerson

Yeah, USC is private, so I really doubt they have "in-state" tuition.

Usually it is not possible to gain residency while a full-time undergraduate student.

As it happens, UCLA has a page about this very topic. I'm pretty sure this will answer your questions:
http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/residence/establish.htm

cooljammer00

Not sure how this skirts on the whole legality issue, but do you have any family in California who would be willing to let you send some mail to their house?

Dropping Loads

cooljammer00 wrote: »

Not sure how this skirts on the whole legality issue, but do you have any family in California who would be willing to let you send some mail to their house?

Regardless of legality, this would be insufficient, as you need to have bills in your name that are associated with an address (i.e. water, gas, phone) and not just random mail.


Edit: Also, all these comments regarding "not going to school for a year" do not apply to UC schools. You CAN go to school that first year, you just wont get any tuition break for doing so, and you also have to prove your financial independence, which means you'll have to get at least a part time job as well. I'm not saying this is the easiest route to go, just pointing out that it works for establishing residency.