Residency, on the surface, means that you live there…kind of difficult to do when you are in two places at once so geographically distant. But…if you were “living” at home but going to school “out of state” in Ohio, one way to maintain your CA residency is to file your income tax there so you do have a “home of record” address. Also, if all of your permanent records for school in Ohio show the CA address, it reinforces the fact that CA is really your home. This becomes the foundation for all other issues that arise…so make sure this one is solid before doing much else.

Also, for the return to CA and claiming CA residency…many of the schools here ask to see utility bills in your name for an in-state address. So, if you are living at home, arrange for a utility bill to come in your name..phone, gas, water, electric…any one of these will do…and of course, for added safety, file an CA income tax return each and every year.

Keeping your CA drivers license can get dicey, so you have to check with Ohio on that one….for the school, you are a non-resident for tuition purposes. Try checking with the Ohio folks at http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/bmv.asp and also ask at the college/university about how drivers licenses are handled for out of state students…campus police might be a good start.

Opinion: my gut feeling is that if you have your car with CA plates on it, and obvious parking permits for the university…the local police can figure you are an out of state student. But the fact of the matter is you are in their state…and are thus subject to their laws.

If you MUST get an Ohio Drivers license….start the process clean as though this is your first one. In some cases, States issuing a driver’s license to an out of state person with an existing out of state driver’s license will ask you to surrender the CA one in order for you to get the OH one.

sorry I couldn’t cover all the questions for you. Hope this helps. Good luck in your edcuation plans.

So yes, if you return to CA after having spent time in OH as an out of state college student, then logic would have it you could return to CA and pay in-state. But just to be sure – keep your last tuition bill from the OH school showing out of state tuition you paid. And call the cal school you want to go to just to be sure.

Good Luck.

PS Don’t get distracted by where your drivers lic is from or what address you file your taxes from. Honestly, I don’t think it matters.