Friday August 24, 2001 |

Other western universities' residency policies not as rigid

Out-of-state UA students have a harder time getting in-state residency for tuition purposes than students at University of Washington, University of Oregon or UCLA.

The process of applying for residency at the University of Arizona requires students to prove they have been financially independent for two years, have been living in Arizona continuously for at least one year and plan to make Arizona their permanent home, according to the Arizona Board of Regents' Summary for Classification of Students for Tuition Purposes.

"If I were to give advice to anyone, including freshmen, they have to familiarize themselves with (residency classification) policy," said Abram Rene Lares, residency classification coordinator.

Students must also provide "clear and convincing evidence" that they meet all residency criteria, the ABOR policy states.

But unlike UW, UO or UCLA classification policies, residency officers at UA must make the assumption that out-of-state students who apply for residency are doing so only for the purpose of decreasing their tuition bill.

"All evidence for residency classification is weighed under the presumption that a non-resident student's presence in Arizona is primarily for the purpose of an education and not to establish domicile, which is usually decided after the completion of education and not before," the ABOR policy states.

The policy said students who hope to get residency have to start preparing two years in advance, collecting evidence such as a Arizona driver's license, car registration, leases and rent receipts, proof of auto insurance, proof of health insurance, voter registration, copies of taxes, tax returns, pay stubs, financial aid information and bank statements in the student's name.

Lares said students applying for residency should close bank accounts in other states and register to vote in Arizona one year before they apply for residency as proof that they have severed ties with their former state or country.

Students must prove financial independence from their parents - personal loans and cash gifts may - and often are - scrutinized by UA officials during tuition hearings.

"Generally, your underclassmen will fail the financial independence test," Lares said. Most students cannot work full time and go to class, so they need financial support, he added.

UW requires its students to pay more than half of their own expenses while applying for residency.

While UW and UCLA both expect students to become residents of the states beyond the time students are in school, neither schools ask students to prove that they plan to make their residence in Arizona permanently.

Marriage licenses and proof of a job in Arizona after graduation are two ways that students can show intent to live in Arizona, according to residency classification documents.

Students hoping to apply for residency for this fall have until Monday at 5 p.m. to apply. Students may apply for spring 2002 residency beginning Nov. 15.

Those students who apply are not guaranteed a tuition break. Last fall, the residency classification office approved 240 students - 63 percent of the applicants - for in-state tuition, though Lares claims UA is accepting more students' requests each year.

"In the past, there were greater (residency) denials," Lares said.

But the daunting task of compiling all the forms to prove residency coupled with the assumption that few are granted residency can be enough to deter some students from applying altogether.

"Before I got here, everyone told me 'don't even try (to apply for residency,'" said Sid Schwartz a wildlife science and political science junior. "(The residency classification office said) if you get $20 a week for grocery money from your parents, you're not financially independent."

Officials in Schwartz's home state of New Jersey had said that she was a resident of Arizona when they took away her $400 yearly grant.

UA officials disagreed and discouraged Schwartz from applying.

"It's like I'm not a resident of anywhere," Schwartz said. "It's almost like (UA officials) don't want you to be here. They make (getting residency) as hard as they possibly can."

Schwartz said a staff member in the UA financial aid office reportedly told her "if you were an orphan, or a parent, or married," getting better loans and in-state tuition would be easier.

Lares disagreed.

"There is this misperception that many people have that we're trying to keep people from becoming residents," Lares said. "We don't make people residents. We only make sure that people are (meeting the criteria of) ABOR guidelines."

Former UA student Alex Wakelin is currently attending Pima Community College after attending UA for a year.

When Wakelin returned to Arizona after spending a year in his home state of Colorado, he opted go to Pima where he said getting in-state status is much easier.

"I just had to show that I lived here for a year," Wakelin said. He proved residency with a handful of documents, including a driver's license and pay stubs.