This
section of the policy statement conforms to the regulations of the New
Jersey Administrative Code, Volume 9A: 5-1.1-1.2 and 9A:9-2.6.
Classification
A
student shall be classified as a resident for tuition purposes upon
admission to a public institution of higher education in the state of
New Jersey if the student or the parent(s)/court-appointed legal
guardian(s) (ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the
time the student becomes 18 years of age) upon whom the student is
dependent (see section 7) has been domiciled within the state of New
Jersey for at least one year immediately prior to enrollment.
Persons
who have been domiciled within this state for less than 12 months prior
to initial enrollment are presumed to be nondomiciliaries for tuition
purposes. Persons presumed to be nondomiciled or persons who are
presumed to be domiciled but whose domiciliary status is challenged by
the institution must prove their domicile according to the following
regulations.
Domicile
Domicile is a legal concept
defined by New Jersey law. In general terms, domicile means the place
where a person has his or her true, fixed, permanent home and principal
living establishment, and to which, whenever he or she is absent, he or
she has the intention of returning. New Jersey domicile must be
acquired prior to the beginning of the semester for which you are
requesting a change in residency status. Although actual presence is
not necessary to preserve domicile once it has been acquired, a person,
if absent from the state, must have the intention of returning to New
Jersey in order to remain a domiciliary. Domicile is distinct from
residence--while a person may have several residences, he or she can
have only one legal domicile. Therefore, in order to establish a new
domicile in New Jersey, a student [or the parent(s) or guardian(s)]
must first abandon the prior domicile in which he or she previously
resided and sever all legal connections to that former domicile.
In
determining whether domiciliary status has been shown, mere physical
presence and declaration of intent to remain in the state may not be
sufficient. To assist in determining whether a person is a New Jersey
domiciliary, the primary evidence is, but is not limited to, a
notarized affidavit setting forth domicile and a state-certified copy
of a New Jersey Resident Income Tax Return or in the case of a
dependent student, a state certified copy of his or her
parent's(s')/U.S. Court-appointed (prior to the student attaining age
18) legal guardian's(s') New Jersey Resident Income Tax Return. The
following additional items may be considered: voter registration
materials for the individual in New Jersey; a New Jersey driver's
license; New Jersey motor vehicle registration; a long-term
apartment/house lease or a house/condo deed; presence of spouse and children
in New Jersey; the use of a local New Jersey bank(s); and copies of
monthly bills (utility, phone, etc.) addressed to the claimant. In
unusual circumstances, if primary evidence is not available, the
institution may make a determination of New Jersey domicile based
exclusively on supplementary evidence. However, supplementary evidence
may be deemed insufficient to justify a determination of domiciliary
status.
Dependent/Independent Student Defined
In determining whether a student is independent, the following is considered (New Jersey Administrative Code 9A:9-2.6.).
The term independent when used with respect to a student means any individual who:
1.
Is 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year.
Documentation: birth certificate, secondary school transcript, driver's
license, draft registration letter; or
2. Meets the requirements below:
a. Is an orphan or ward of the court; or was a ward of the court until
age 18. Documentation for orphan: death certificate or a letter from a
social services agency or from a respected member of the community who
is unrelated to the applicant (minister, school administrator, etc.).
Documentation for ward of the court: court document or a letter from
DYFS or other social agency; or
3. Is a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States. Documentation: DD214; or
4. Is a graduate or graduate professional student (not applicable for undergraduate students); or
5. Is a married individual. Documentation: marriage certificate; or
6.
Has legal dependents other than a spouse. Documentation if dependent is
a child: birth certificate. Documentation if dependent is other than a
child: if the person was dependent on the applicant in the prior year,
IRS or New Jersey Division of Taxation certified copy of the
applicant's prior year tax return showing the person listed as another
dependent. If the person was not dependent on the applicant in the
prior year, a document such as a driver's license, a post office
address change, or a statement from the landlord or respected member of
the community confirming that the person currently resides in the
student's household; or
7. Is a student for whom a financial
aid administrator makes a documented determination of independence by
reason of other unusual circumstances as provided under Title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1087vv, and its
implementing regulations and rules. For purposes of receiving state
financial assistance as an independent student due to unusual
circumstances, the following conditions apply:
a.
Determinations of independence must satisfy all applicable federal
standards set forth under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965,
as amended, and its implementing regulations and rules;
b.
Individual determinations of independent student status for state
student aid programs shall be made in a manner consistent with the
institutional policies regarding the awarding of all need-based
financial aid, including federal and state aid; and
c. The
institution shall share with the Office of Student Assistance any
material findings or audit exceptions related to the determination of
dependency status at any time they are revealed in the course of an
audit or program review.
A dependent student shall be any
student who does not meet any of the eligibility criteria listed above
for independent student status.
The university reserves the
right to request a student to have the Internal Revenue Service and/or
New Jersey Division of Taxation forward tax records to the appropriate
university office for review.
An individual who claims to have
established a new domicile in New Jersey must show (1) a physical
abandonment of the previous domicile, together with an intent not to
return to it, and (2) actual presence in New Jersey with the intention
of remaining permanently in the state.
An individual from
another state who has enrolled in any type of educational institution
in New Jersey will be presumed to be in New Jersey primarily for
educational purposes and will be presumed not to have established
domicile in New Jersey. Although the student may present proof to
overcome these presumptions, it must be noted that continued residence
in New Jersey during vacation periods or occasional periods of
interruption to the course of study does not of itself overcome the
presumptions. All students who are not domiciliaries of New Jersey will
be assessed out-of-state tuition rates. Residency for tuition purposes
is governed by New Jersey Administrative Code 9A:5-1.1 et seq. which
requires that individuals must be legally domiciled in the state for 12
months before becoming eligible for in-state tuition rates. The law
also permits those living in the state for less than 12 months to
petition for resident status through the admissions office or the
Office of the Registrar, as appropriate. Petitions for resident status
will be granted only in those cases where there is clear and compelling
evidence that New Jersey is the legal domicile of the student or of the
parent(s) or of the U.S. Court-appointed (prior to the student
attaining age 18) legal guardian(s) on whom the student is dependent.
The Effect of Marriage
A
nonresident student who marries a bona fide New Jersey domiciliary
assumes the domicile of that spouse for tuition purposes in the semester
following marriage. The same test for residency will be applied to
spouses when a marriage is claimed as the basis for domicile. No change
in status will occur when a domiciliary student marries a
nondomiciliary.
Foreign Nationals
Alien nationals
who are in the United States with resident immigrant visas, or special
refugee visas (being processed for permanent residency), will be
considered the same as U.S. citizens for purposes of assessing tuition.
In either instance, the approval date on the visa must be prior to the
first day of the semester for which the change in status is sought.
However, any other nonimmigrant alien will be classified as a
nonresident for assessment of tuition unless he or she demonstrates by
affirmative proof that he or she has a domicile in New Jersey.
Presence in New Jersey Due to Military Service
As
a general rule, in the absence of any intention to effect a change of
domicile, the domicile of a New Jersey resident is not affected or
changed by reason of his or her entry into the military service. By
action of the New Jersey legislature (N.J.S.A. 18A: 62-4.1), United
States military personnel and their dependents that are living in New
Jersey shall be regarded as residents of the state for tuition purposes.
In Every Instance
A
record of the evidence utilized in determining domicile pursuant to
this section shall be maintained with the student's records.
