Become an illegal foriegn national of Mexican decent and the state is required to charge u in state fees only.

Texas state residency is one year even if u come from CA. get a job , work a yr u’ll have the residency and money.

who knows u might even move back to CA.

Texas out of state school cost are some of the lower costs in USA .

OH the INTENT clause applies to state schools

I would consider DrHenry’s advice regarding delaying school and find out how long you and your husband have to work there not to be charged out-of-state tuition. At this point in your and your husband’s life, it doesn’t matter where your mom lives or paid taxes.

Honestly, $166.00 per credit hour is not much in the grand scheme of higher education. It sounds like you ARE getting the free grants to pay for some of it, Be HAPPY! Horray!! You have the opportunity to go back to school! Upon graduating, your young family will reap the rewards for years to come! You should still be eligible for low-interest student loans, take them if you must, and both of you should start working at least part-time (do work-study, your income won’t count when you apply for future grants), or better yet – ask your Mom to help out… maybe she has an extra room. Sometimes college means giving up what you are now for what you can become….sacrifice, ditch the cell phones, share a car, … is it SO worth it in the long run!!

It could be a lot worse, my hubby started at the closest 4-year college. Unfortunately, it was across the state line, less than 20 miles away. We were charged out of state tuition, which in-of-itself wouldn’t have been too hard to swallow. The whole “you don’t pay state taxes and should therefore pay more”, does actually make sense when you really think about it.

But the truth was WE DID pay state income taxes to that state. I physically worked in that state and was required to pay taxes on my earnings. The college didn’t care, we still had to pay 3 times as much in out-of-state tuition.

One more tip, my friend moved out-of-state to start a graduate program. She borrowed a crap load of money to cover the extra costs and just ASSUMED she could have her status changed and be charged in-state after she and hubby had been here a year and had been working here a year. But the admissions office quoted some fine print she never saw in all the shiny brochures they used to recruit her.

Something about “intention” is used when determining residency (at least it was at this 4-year school). She was told because she moved here “specifically to go to school”, it didn’t matter how long she lived here, she would ALWAYS be charged out-of-state tuition. Two years and $60,000 later she still is angry about her assumption.

Good Luck and DON’T GIVE UP!

BTW, in most states you must live there as a resident intending to remain there for at least 6 months to a year (you need to ask about this one, depends on the state, could be longer) before you qualify for in-state tuition at state schools. You cannot be considered for in-state tuition if you are not intending to remain a resident once you graduate. Most states indicate that they will not give in-state consideration for those who attend for the sole purpose of obtaining their education. If a state did that people would simply come for the cheap education and leave, leaving the state without an educated citizen base.

Oh, yes, you asked for a suggestion on what to do. Convince your mom to move back to California with you to care for your child and go to school at in-state rates there.

Assessing out-of-state students a higher tuition rate is a rational attempt by states to achieve a partial cost equalization between those who have and those who have not recently contributed to the state’s economy.

That is why in order to be considered a resident for tuition paying purposes a student usually has to live and work in the state for a year, without going to school.

Unfortunately in your situation it is irrelevant that your mom has lived and paid taxes in Texas for two years; you have not. You are an independent student who made a choice to move to Texas and so will need to comply with your school’s rules regarding residency (and it may not even be your school’s rules – it is most likely the rules governed by the Board of Regents for your state). Good luck!

Residency rules are so tight because of people coming to the state for school, not paying taxes or contributing to the economy there, and leaving. It is sad that this happened to you, but they don’t do case-by-cases because it would be an overwhelming amount. Instead, they use the policy of how long you have been there and if you work in that state.

It happened to me. I was born in Texas, worked in Texas for awhile, then moved away. When I came back I was not considered a resident and had to work for a year to get residency before coming to school.

You got a bargain. In my state, non-residents pay $450 MORE THAN a resident.

Your total cost is $166 – a steal.

It is regrettable that YOU did not do your homework before making such a major life decision. As a wife and mother, you will need to be more informed when making choices that effect your entire family.