FAFSA - I live in NC, moving to TN. If I put address down as TN would that make my tuition instate??

Question

Im moving there in two weeks and was thinking about posting my address in TN as my address now and in hopes they would think I was an instate student to reduce my tuition cost. Would this work on the FAFSA?

Thanks tyo everyone that answers!

Answer 1

Not a chance.  You must legally establish residency in a state before qualifying for in-state tuition.

Simply providing a mailing address in a state won't fool anyone.

Answer 2

It depends.

If you live with your parents and the move to Tennessee is because of your parents, you would likely be eligible for consideration as an in-state resident.

If you are an independent student and moving to Tennessee to go to school, you would not be considered for in-state rates. All your records will show that you were living in North Carolina (previous transcripts, etc) and this will send up the red flag.

You also cannot relocate for the purposes of attending school and be granted in-state consideration.

Changing the address on the FAFSA is one of the oldest tricks in the book, as is relocating six months before school starts, etc. Since subsidies matter a great deal to the school as does non-resident tuition, there are all sorts of checks in the system to prevent students from flying below the radar.

Answer 3

Even if you put down your Tennessee address on the FAFSA, the next question is going to be: were you a resident of the state of legal residence prior to Jan 1, 2005.

Just put your information down 'as of today'.

In most states you must live in the state for 12 consecutive months, register to vote, file state taxes, etc in order to establish residency.

In establishing residency you will then qualify for 'instate tuition'.