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Residency Requirements for Tuition Purposes

You must establish residency in Arizona before you can pay resident tuition rates. To obtain resident status for tuition purposes, you must meet three requirements:

You must physically reside in Arizona for at least twelve consecutive months immediately before the term for which you plan to request residency classification.
You must demonstrate your intent to establish your home in Arizona. Objective evidence of intent to be a resident of Arizona is demonstrated by an absence of ties to your former state of residence for at least twelve months.
You must demonstrate your financial independence. For purposes of residency determination, financial independence means you are able to meet your expenses from self-generated funds under your own control.

Generally, you will be considered financially independent if:

you have been supporting yourself for two consecutive years prior to the term for which you plan to request residency classification; and

you have not been claimed as a tax deduction on anyone else’s tax return during that time; or

you are a veteran of the United States military.

Please be aware that you do not gain or lose resident status by attending an out-of-state educational institution. Also be aware that any act considered inconsistent with becoming an Arizona resident (such as voting or maintaining a driver’s license in another state) will result in your being classified as a non-resident.

Please Note: In accordance with Arizona law, any person who is a citizen or legal resident of the U.S. or who is lawfully present in the U.S. may be eligible for specified financial aid from the university. Arizona law classifies any person who is a U.S. citizen or who has lawful immigration status and is an Arizona resident as an in-state student for tuition purposes.

Click here to see the ABOR Policy on Residency.

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