Residence for Tuition Information

Tuition Fee for Nonresident Students

If you have not been living in California with intent to make it your permanent home for more than one year immediately before the residence determination date for each term in which you propose to attend the University, you must pay a nonresident tuition fee in addition to all other fees. The residence determination date is the day instruction begins at the last of the University of California campuses to open for the quarter, and for schools on the semester system, the day instruction begins for the semester.

Law Governing Residence

The rules regarding residence for tuition purposes at the University of California are governed by the California Education Code and implemented by Standing Orders of the Regents of the University of California. Under these rules, adult citizens and certain classes of aliens can establish residence for tuition purposes. There are particular rules that apply to the residence classification of minors; see Who is a Resident?, below.

Who is a Resident?

If you are an adult student (18 years of age or older) you may establish residence for tuition purposes in California if: (1) you are a U.S. citizen; (2) you are a permanent resident or other immigrant; or (3) you are a nonimmigrant who is not precluded from establishing a domicile in the U.S. Nonimmigrants who are not precluded from establishing a domicile in the U.S. include those who hold visas of the following types: A, E, G, H-1, H-4, I, K, L, N, NATO, O-1, O-3, R, or V. To establish residence you must be physically present in California for more than one year and you must have come here with the intent to make California your home as opposed to coming to this state to go to school. Physical presence within the state solely for educational purposes does not constitute the establishment of California residence, regardless of the length of your stay. You must demonstrate your intention to make California your home by severing your residential ties with your former state of residence and establishing those ties with California. Evidence of intent must be dated one year before the term for which you seek resident classification. If these steps are delayed, the one-year durational period will be extended until you have demonstrated both presence and intent for one full year. Effective Fall 1993, if your parents are not residents of California you will be required to be financially independent in order to be a resident for tuition purposes; see Requirement for Financial Independence, below.

Your residence cannot be derived from your spouse, registered domestic partner, or your parents.

Requirement for Financial Independence

You will be considered “financially independent” if one or more of the following applies: (1) you are at least 24 years of age by December 31 of the calendar year for which you are requesting resident classification; (2) you are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces; (3) you are a ward of the court or both parents are deceased; (4) you have children or other legal dependents other than a spouse or registered domestic partner; (5) you are married or in a registered domestic partnership, or a graduate student or a professional student, and you were not claimed as an income tax deduction by your parents or any other individual for the tax year immediately preceding the term for which you are requesting resident classification; or (6) you are a single undergraduate student and you were not claimed as an income tax deduction by your parents or any other individual for the two tax years immediately preceding the term for which you are requesting resident classification, and you can demonstrate self-sufficiency for those years and the current year. Note: Graduate or professional school students who are employed at UC Davis 49% or more (or awarded the equivalent in University-administered funds; e.g., fellowships, grants, stipends) during the term for which classification as a resident is requested are exempt from the financial independence requirement.

Establishing Intent to Become a California Resident

Indications of your intent to make California your permanent residence can include the following: registering to vote and voting in California elections; designating California as your permanent address on all school and employment records, including military records if you are in the military service; obtaining a California driver's license or, if you do not drive, a California Identification Card; obtaining California vehicle registration; paying California income taxes as a resident, including taxes on income earned outside California from the date you establish residence; establishing a California residence in which you keep your personal belongings; and licensing for professional practice in California. The absence of these indicia in other states during any period for which you claim residence can also serve as an indication of your intent. Documentary evidence is required and all relevant indications will be considered in determining your classification. Your intent will be questioned if you return to your prior state of residence when the University is not in session.

General Rules Applying to Minors

If you are an unmarried minor (under age 18), the residence of the parent with whom you live is considered to be your residence. If you have a parent living, you cannot change your residence by your own act, by the appointment of a legal guardian, or by the relinquishment of your parent’s right of control. If you lived with neither parent, your residence is that of the parent with whom you last lived. Unless you are a minor alien present in the U.S. under the terms of a nonimmigrant visa which precludes you from establishing domicile in the U.S., you may establish your own residence when both your parents are deceased and a legal guardian has not been appointed. If you derive California residence from a parent, that parent must satisfy the one-year durational residence requirement.

Specific Rules Applying to Minors

1. Deceased Parents. You may establish your own residence if both of your parents are deceased and a legal guardian has not been appointed for you.
2. Divorced/Separated Parents. You may be able to derive California resident status from a California resident parent if you move to California to live with that parent on or before your 18th birthday. If you begin residing with your California parent after your 18th birthday, you will be treated like any other adult student coming to California to establish residence.
3. Parent of Minor Moves From California. You may be entitled to resident status if you are a minor U.S. citizen or eligible alien whose parent(s) was a resident of California who left that state within one year of the residence determination date if: (1) you remained in California after your parent(s) departed; (2) you enroll in a California public postsecondary institution within one year of the time your parent(s) depart and establish residence elsewhere; and (3) once enrolled, you maintain continuous attendance in that institution. Financial independence will not be required in this case.
4. Self-Support. You may be entitled to resident status if you are a U.S. citizen or eligible alien, a minor, and can prove the following: (1) you lived in California for the entire year immediately preceding the residence determination date; (2) you are self-supporting and were self supporting the entire year preceding the residence determination date; and (3) you intend to make California your permanent home.
5. Two-Year Care and Control. You may be entitled to resident status if you are a U.S. citizen or eligible alien and you have lived continuously with an adult who is not your parent for at least two years prior to the residence determination date. The adult with whom you are living must have been responsible for your care and control for the entire two-year period and must have been residing in California during the one year immediately preceding the residence determination date.

Exemptions from Nonresident Tuition

1. Member of the Military. If you are a member of the U.S. military stationed in California on active duty, unless you are assigned for educational purposes to a state-supported institution of higher education, you may be exempt from the nonresident tuition fee. You must provide the residence deputy on campus with a statement from your commanding officer or personnel officer stating that your assignment to active duty in California is not for educational purposes. The letter must include the dates of your assignment to the state.
2. Spouse, Registered Domestic Partner, or Other Dependents of Military Personnel. You are exempt from payment of the nonresident tuition fee if you are a spouse, a registered domestic partner, a natural or adopted child or stepchild who is a dependent of a member of the U.S. military stationed in California on active duty. If you are enrolled in an educational institution and the member of the military is transferred on military orders to a place outside California where he or she continues to serve in the armed forces, or the member of the military retires from active duty immediately after having served in California on active duty, you may retain this exemption.
3. Child, Spouse, or Registered Domestic Partner of Faculty Member. To the extent funds are available, if you are an unmarried dependent child under age 21 the spouse, or the registered domestic partner of a member of the University faculty who is a member of the Academic Senate, you may be eligible for a waiver of the nonresident tuition fee. Confirmation of the faculty member's membership on the Academic Senate must be secured each term this waiver is granted.
4. University Employment Outside of California. You may be entitled to resident classification if you are a full-time University employee, or the unmarried dependent child, the spouse, or the registered domestic partner of a full-time University employee who is assigned to work outside of the state of California (e.g., Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California Washington D.C. Center). The University employee's employment status must be ascertained each term.
5. Child, Stepchild, Spouse, or Registered Domestic Partner of Deceased Public Law Enforcement or Fire Suppression Employee. You may be entitled to a waiver of the nonresident tuition fee if you are the child, the stepchild, the spouse, or the registered domestic partner of a deceased public law enforcement or fire suppression employee who was a California resident at the time of his or her death and who was killed in the course of fire suppression or law enforcement duties.
6. Dependent Child of a California Resident. A student who has not been an adult resident of California for more than one year and who is the dependent child of a California resident who has been a resident for more than one year immediately prior to the residence determination date may be entitled to resident classification until the student has resided in California for the minimum time necessary to become a resident so long as continuous attendance is maintained at an institution.
7. Native American Graduate of BIA School. You are eligible for an exemption from the nonresident fee if you are a graduate of a California school operated by the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and you enroll at one of the University of California campuses. Currently, Sherman Indian High School in Riverside is the only California high school operated by the BIA.
8. Employee of a California Public School District. A student holding a valid credential authorizing service in California public schools and employed by a school district in a full-time certificate position may be exempt from nonresident tuition.
9. Student Athlete in Training at U.S. Olympic Training Center, Chula Vista. An amateur athlete in training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista may be exempt from nonresident tuition until s/he has resided in California for the minimum time necessary to become a resident.
10. Graduate of California High School. A student who attended high school in California for three or more years (9th grade included) and graduated from a California high school (or attained the equivalent) may be exempt from nonresident tuition.
11. Surviving Spouse, Registered Domestic Partner, or Dependent Child of a California Resident Killed in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. An undergraduate student who is the surviving spouse, registered domestic partner, or dependent child of a California resident killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon Building or the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, may be exempt from nonresident tuition and mandatory system-wide fees. Eligible students must meet the financial need requirements for the Cal Grant A program.
12. Recipient of a Congressional Medal of Honor or the Child of a Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. An undergraduate student who is a recipient of a Congressional Medal of Honor or who is the child of a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor may be exempt from nonresident tuition and mandatory system-wide fees. The recipient of the Medal of Honor must be a California resident or must have been a California resident at the time of his or her death. The student may not be older than 27 and the student's annual income may not exceed the national poverty level.

Temporary Absence

If you are a nonresident student who is in the process of establishing a residence for tuition purposes and you return to your former home during non-instructional periods, your presence in the state will be presumed to be solely for educational purposes and only convincing evidence to the contrary will rebut this presumption; a student who is in the state solely for educational purposes will NOT be classified as a resident for tuition purposes regardless of the length of his or her stay. If you are a student who has been classified as a resident for tuition purposes and you leave the state temporarily, your absence could result in the loss of your California residence. The burden will be on you (or your parents if you are a minor) to verify that you did nothing inconsistent with your claim of a continuing California residence during your absence. Steps that you (or your parents) should take to retain a California residence include:

1. Continue to use a California permanent address on all records; educational, employment, military, etc.
2. Satisfy California resident income tax obligations. Note: If you are claiming California residence, you are liable for payment of income taxes on your total income from the date you establish California residence. This includes income earned in another state or country.
3. Retain your California voter’s registration and vote by absentee ballot.
4. Maintain a California driver’s license and vehicle registration. If it is necessary to change your driver’s license and/or vehicle registration while you are temporarily residing in another state, you must change them back to California within the time prescribed by law
5. Maintain active bank accounts.

Classification to Resident Status

If you are classified as a non-resident student and you wish to be classified as a resident, you should file your petition at least three weeks before the first day of instruction for the quarter for which you seek resident status. Late petitions will not be accepted.

Incorrect Classification

If you were incorrectly classified as a resident, you are subject to reclassification and to payment of all nonresident tuition fees not paid. If you concealed information or furnished false information and were classified incorrectly as a result, you are also subject to University discipline. Resident students who become nonresidents must immediately notify the campus residence deputy.

Inquiries and Appeals

Inquiries regarding residence requirements, determination and/or recognized exceptions should be directed to the Residence Deputy, Office of the University Registrar, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, (530) 752-4749. NO OTHER UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL ARE AUTHORIZED TO SUPPLY INFORMATION RELATIVE TO RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR TUITION PURPOSES. You are cautioned that this summary is not a complete explanation of the law regarding residence. Please note that changes may be made in the residence requirement between the publication of this statement and the relevant residence determination date. Any student, following a final decision on residence classification by the residence deputy, may appeal in writing to the legal analyst at Legal Analyst—Residence Matters, 1111 Franklin St., 8th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607-5200 within 30 days of notification of the residence deputy’s final decision.