Student Resources: Your Path to Getting Started

In Washington, the state uses residency requirements for tuition at public colleges and state financial aid programs. There are several ways to meet residency requirements. Students’ residency options depend on their citizenship or immigration status. To be considered for resident tuition and state aid, students must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or non-citizens with a qualifying immigration status. 

Students must meet residency requirements to qualify for resident (in-state) tuition and fees at public colleges. Resident tuition is typically less expensive than out-of-state rates. A student’s residency is determined at admission by each school. Students who are admitted as nonresidents, but think they meet student residency requirements, can apply for resident tuition via the residency reclassification process.

Each public college has a residency coordinator. The residency coordinator uses state laws, rules, and guidelines to decide if students are residents or nonresidents for tuition and fee purposes. Residency coordinators are usually located in the registrar's or admissions office. The financial aid office at public colleges uses the residency officer’s determination to award state financial aid.

At Skagit Valley College, the residency coordinator can be found within Enrollment Services office.

The student must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident ("green card") or qualify for another non-citizen discount status (see Non-U.S. Citizen Student section on this page). The student must maintain a primary residence in Washington for at least 12 consecutive months immediately before their first term at the college determining residency. The Washington residence must be for purposes other than college. 

Nonresident Status

Once residency has been determined at the point of admission, support documentation will be needed to change residency. 
  
Please note that residency does not automatically update after living in Washington for 12 months as there are other factors that apply.  It is up to the student to provide the institution proof that residency has been established.

Undetermined Resident Status

If you are coded as undetermined, please email residency@skagit.edu and we can send you the residency forms needed to determine your residency and if needed, support documentation. 

There are a variety of reasons why a student is coded as undetermined. The most common is when a student is admitted into a program where the residency questions were not asked. This includes programs such as Running Start, College in the High School, Transitional Studies, English Language Acquisition, or Continuing Education.

Documentation for reclassification must be submitted to the residency coordinator before the 30th calendar day of the intended quarter. Please visit our Important Dates and Deadlines for more information.

It is the student’s responsibility to request a change in residency status once all requirements have been met. Failure to turn in documentation by the deadline may result in residency reclassification for the next quarter. 

Option 1: Residency Affidavit

This option is open to all Washingtonians, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. It is the only option available to undocumented people who have never had DACA or to people who are pending asylum without an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Students who qualify:

To be eligible for the affidavit:

• Earn a high school diploma, GED, or diploma equivalent before your first term at the college determining residency, and
• Maintain a primary residence in Washington for at least 12 consecutive months immediately before your first term at the college determining residency. The Washington residence must be for purposes other than college. If you take any courses at another Washington college during the prior 12 months, you cannot have taken more than six credits in any given term. If you exceed that limit you must prove that you have a Washington residence for non-college reasons.
• `Affirm that they are a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or that they will file an application to become a permanent resident of the United States as soon as they are eligible to apply.

If you meet all the above requirements and would like to request a change in residency status, please contact the residency coordinator at residency@skagit.edu.

Option 2: Residency Information Update Form

To be eligible for the update form:

• Primarily used for students who have not earned a high school diploma, GED, or diploma.
• Maintain a primary residence in Washington for at least 12 consecutive months immediately before your first term at the college determining residency. The Washington residence must be for purposes other than college. If you take any courses at another Washington college during the prior 12 months, you cannot have taken more than six credits in any given term. If you exceed that limit you must prove that you have a Washington residence for non-college reasons.
• Affirm that they are a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or that they will file an application to become a permanent resident of the United States as soon as they are eligible to apply.

If you meet all the above requirements and would like to request a change in residency status, please contact the residency coordinator at residency@skagit.edu.

Not all immigration statuses are eligible to establish residency due to different immigration laws. Immigration documentation will be requested as part of the reclassification process.

Students with the following status are eligible for domicile and can possibly qualify for resident tuition if they have lived in Washington for 12 months: A-1, A-2, A-3, DV-1, DV-2, DV-3, DV-6, DV-7, DV-8, E-1, E-2, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, G-5, H-1B, H4, I, K-1, K-2, K-3, K-4, N-8, N-9, NATO-1, NATO-2, NATO-3, NATO-4, NATO-5, NATO-6, NATO-7, O-1, O-2, O-3, Q-1, Q-2, Q-3, R-1, R-2, S, U-1, U-2, U-3, U-4, U-5, V-1, V-2, or V-3 visa status

The following visas are not eligible for domicile or resident tuition: B-1, B-2, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, D-1, D-2, F-1, F-2, F-3, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, J-1, J-2, M-1, M-2, M-3, P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4, TD, TN, WB, or WT visa status.

Active Duty Military Members, Spouses and Dependents

To be eligible to pay resident tuition via a waiver under this provision, active-duty military members must be currently stationed in Washington. To apply for in-state tuition waiver and fees as an active duty military member or as a member’s spouse/dependent, students must email a copy of their military ID and orders to residency@skagit.edu.

Veterans

If you are a veteran or a dependent of a veteran you may also qualify as a resident for tuition purposes if you meet the requirements as a “covered individual” as defined in the Veterans Access Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (Choice Act) that went into effect on July 1, 2015. The Choice Act requires states to charge in-state tuition and fees to “covered individuals”.

• A Veteran, spouse or dependent child who lives in state in which the institution of their learning is located (regardless of their formal state of residency) and enrolls in the school within three years from the date of discharge located on the Veterans DD-214 from active duty from the armed forces. This includes benefits and entitlements that were transferred to the spouse and dependent child.
• A spouse or dependent child using educational entitlements under the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship who lives in a state which the institution of higher learning is located (regardless of their formal state of residency) and enrolls in the school within three years of the service member’s death in the line of duty.
• Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020: Removes the requirement for covered individuals to enroll in a course at a public institution of higher learning within three years of being discharged to receive in-state tuition. Also, VA will make publicly available on the VA website a database explaining any public institution’s requirements for beneficiaries to be charged in-state tuition. Effective: August 1, 2021.
• Be eligible for VA educational benefits or VA worker retraining entitlements as a Veteran, spouse or dependent child by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
• You maintain resident student status as long as you stay continuously enrolled at the school.

Tribal members who meet the following two conditions are Washington resident students: ·

• Membership in one of the federally recognized tribes whose traditional and customary tribal boundaries included portions of the state of Washington, or whose tribe was granted reserved lands within the state of Washington.
• For at least one year immediately prior to enrollment, students must have been domiciled in one or a combination of the following states: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington. 

These students:

• Pay resident tuition and fees at all public colleges and universities.
• Meet residency requirements for Passport to Careers, State Work Study, the American Indian Endowed Scholarship, and the National Guard Postsecondary Education Grant. Students must also meet program requirements . Some programs have limited funds and are not awarded to all eligible students.

The following documentation can be sent to residency@skagit.edu: 

• Proof of Tribal Membership
• WA, ID, MT, OR ID issued 12 months prior to the start of the quarter.
• Proof of living in WA, ID, MT, OR (lease agreement, letter from a landlord, mortgage statement showing that you have lived there 12 months prior to the start of the quarter

If you would like to appeal your residency reclassification determination, please submit the following materials to residency@skagit.edu:

• Personal Statement explaining why you think you meet in-state residency.
• Supporting documentation that shows WA domicile 12 months prior to the start of the intended quarter.
• Please include any supporting documentation if you feel that there was an institutional error.
• Appeals must be received within 30 days of the original residency reclassification determination.