A. 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 has been domiciled within the state of New Jersey
for at
least one year immediately prior to enrollment.
Students who are classified as dependent students are
presumed to share the domicile of their parent(s) or legal guardian.
Persons
who have been resident in this state for more than 12 months prior to
initial
enrollment are presumed to be domiciliaries of New Jersey for tuition
purposes.
In those cases in which a dependent student with out-of-state parent(s)
or
legal guardian has resided in New Jersey for 12 consecutive months prior
to
enrollment, the student may petition on his or her own to establish
domicile in
the state.
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.
B. 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 person
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')/U.S. Court-appointed
(prior to
the student attaining age 18) legal guardian(s') New Jersey Resident
Income Tax
Return. The following additional items should be submitted: New Jersey
voter
registration materials; a New Jersey driver's license (or nondriver's
ID); 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
location
of a local New Jersey bank(s); and copies of recent monthly bills
(utility,
phone, etc.) addressed to the claimant(s). 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.
C. Dependent/Independent
Student Defined: In determining
whether a student is independent,
the following is considered: N.J.A.C. 9A:9-2.6 (examples of
documentation given
below).
(a) The term independent when
used with respect to a student
means any individual who:
1.
Was born
BEFORE January 1, 1987.
Documentation: birth
certificate, secondary school
transcript, driver's license, draft registration letter; or
2. Meets the requirements of (b) below.
(b) An individual meets the requirements of this
section if
such individual:
1. 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 the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) or other
social
services agency; or
2. Is a veteran of the Armed
Forces of the United States.
Documentation:
DD214; or
3. Is a graduate or graduate
professional student (not
applicable for undergraduate students); or
4. Is
a married individual.
Documentation: marriage
certificate; or
5. 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 an "other 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
6.
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:
i. 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;
ii.
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
iii. 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.
(c)
A dependent student shall be any student who does not
meet any of the eligibility criteria listed in (a) or (b) 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 certified 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.
D. The
Effect of Marriage or Civil Union:
A nonresident student who marries or enters into a
civil union with a bona fide New Jersey domiciliary assumes the domicile
of
that spouse or civil union partner for tuition purposes in the semester
following marriage or civil union. The same test for residency will be
applied
to spouses or civil union partners when a marriage or civil union is
claimed as
the basis for domicile. No change in status will occur when a
domiciliary
student marries or enters into a civil union with a nondomiciliary.
E. Foreign Nationals:
Alien nationals who are in the United States and hold permanent resident
status
or special refugee visas (being processed for permanent residency) will
be
considered the same as United States 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 foreign national will be classified as a nonresident for
assessment
of tuition unless he or she has the right to remain permanently in the
United
States and can demonstrate by affirmative proof that he or she has a
domicile
in New Jersey.
F. 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.
G. In Every Instance:
A record of the evidence utilized in determining domicile pursuant to
this
section shall be maintained with the student's records.
