Texas residency and in-state tution

September 26, 2014 2:26 PM

Hi, I'm planning on starting graduate school in Texas in fall, 2015. Right now we (my husband and I) are living in another state. Then plan is to move to Texas in Augest, 2015. Husband would physically be in Texas but working remotely for an employer outside of Texas. Is it possible for me to qualify for in-state tuition rate? What needs to be done in order to gain residency in Texas? Thanks.
posted by WizKid to Law & Government (16 answers total)

You usually have to be living in TX to get residency. So a lease, etc. Also, it's advantageous to be paid as a TX resident because there's no state income tax.

Each university has different standards for residency, so look it up.

We were instantly GA state residents for GSU because I was transferred by my company. So whee!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:29 PM on September 26, 2014

This is not legal advice (and I'm not a lawyer in Texas), but Texas State University seems to have a pretty self-explanatory overview of the Texas residency requirements.

This stuff isn't top secret and the school doesn't have an interest in hiding the information. Call the admissions department and ask.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 2:29 PM on September 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I looked at the sites, but too much technical jargon and legal language. Anyway I'll call the admission office too.

So if I move to Texas and sign a lease (and get TX drivers license, etc... ) , do I become a state resident? Because it looks like I need to be living in TX 12 months before the start of the semester to get in-state tuition.
posted by WizKid at 2:37 PM on September 26, 2014

And, again, not legal advice, but the Texas State page says you need to be a resident for a full twelve months before the "Census Date," for the semester you enroll (note, this seems to be your first date of matriculation, not each year). The Census Date is the date enrollments are finalized and reported to the state for funding purposes. Some quick googling indicates this was early September. So, working backwards from Fall 2015, twelve full months of residency is September 2014, which is a great use of your time machine.

Again, talk to the admissions people, but from where I'm sitting, I don't think you'll be an in-state resident for 2015-2016, and possibly ever.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 2:39 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Came in to mention that in most cases, you have to establish residency for a period of time before you can get the in-state discount ... Admiral Haddock beat me to it.

If it's possible, consider moving to TX in August 2015 but waiting until fall of 2016 to start grad school.
posted by zebra at 2:42 PM on September 26, 2014

You should talk to the department. Since the department usually pays tuition for its PhD students, it's not uncommon for departments at state schools to require that their PhD students become residents by their second year, at least in states where the regulations permit such a thing. If this is a thing that is doable, they will likely know how to do it. The admissions department will be more used to dealing with undergraduates, for whom the rules tend to be stricter. That said, YMMV and I don't have any experience with Texas specifically.
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 2:47 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

In addition, there are exceptions to the residency policy, listed here: http://www.admissions.txstate.edu/future/residency#Exceptions

The one that may be most germane to you is:

The student or student’s spouse or parent is employed at least half-time as a teaching or research assistant in a position related to the assistant’s degree program at a Texas public institution of higher education.

Are you going to be employed in an assistantship? Are there other exceptions that may apply to you?

But, as noted above, your best bet is to just call and find out.
posted by joycehealy at 2:49 PM on September 26, 2014

It seems clear that if you move to Texas in August 2015 you will be a non-resident for school year 2015-2016. You will be a Texas resident for the following school year, and should update your status at that point with the university.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 3:13 PM on September 26, 2014

From reading that, it looks like there are two options:

If you are not going to be "employed" by the university as part of your degree program, then if you're moving there in Fall 2015 for a school term starting Fall 2015, you will never be a resident as far as tuition is concerned. Not your second, 3rd, 4th, or 5th year. That page is very clear that you have to live there for 12 months before your initial enrollment (in addition to, not instead of 12 months before the semester in question) to qualify for in-state tuition. This is very common (but not universal) for in-state tuition, otherwise everyone at the UC schools or the Texas schools would qualify after their first year, and that is very definitely not the case.

If you will be "employed at least half-time as a teaching or research assistant in a position related to the assistant’s degree program at a Texas public institution of higher education," then you will qualify for in-state tuition immediately.
posted by brainmouse at 3:21 PM on September 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

Hi I did this at Utexas - Austin by owning property from august 2013 (when I started classes). I paid out of state tuition my first year, and now I pay in state tuition. Your options are own property, be married to a Texas resident, work at least 20 hours a week, own a Texas company. There is an office that only handles residency and they told me everything that I needed. Feel free to me mail me
posted by LaunchBox at 3:29 PM on September 26, 2014

Call and talk to the Dean of the program you are planning to attend. Sometimes they can offer grants or scholarships to offset the out-of-state tuition.
posted by tamitang at 4:55 PM on September 26, 2014

Talk to the school, because Illinois bans you from getting in state tuition even after the first year of residence if you move there for the purpose of attending school. So you'd need to move there, get a job, and then apply to school once you were already residing in the state. Texas rules may be different, but check with your school to be sure.
posted by MsMolly at 5:42 PM on September 26, 2014

Getting a "competitive fellowship over $1,000" is a way to pay at in-state tuition rates before actually becoming a state resident. The link above implies this provision is specific to Texas State University, but I believe that all of the public universities will honor it. (See also: here ). A number of programs will use relatively small fellowships as a way to help recruit students and waive their out-of-state tuition, even if they can't afford to hire them as research or teaching assistants.
posted by Cecilia Rose at 6:35 PM on September 26, 2014

Response by poster: Thank you everyone for your responses.
posted by WizKid at 9:15 AM on September 27, 2014

Make sure that when you contact the university you're very clear about wanting to speak to someone who actually knows the residency policies and works in the office that makes those decisions (it is entirely possible that this person will not work in admissions). Often people in other offices really have no clue how residency is determined and may give you incorrect information (I worked in financial aid for a Texas university and people were often really unhappy to learn that what they'd been told was incorrect).
posted by vakker at 10:08 AM on September 27, 2014

It depends on the university. At UT, for instance, there's a form you can fill out to request that you be considered for in-state tuition. I was granted in-state tuition and I had no reason even why.

Also, our department had exceptions for TAs I think.
posted by tofu_crouton at 10:09 AM on September 27, 2014