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Residency Guidelines

Students are classified for tuition purposes under one of the following resident classifications following Arizona Revised Statute 15-1802:

  • Resident, in-state

  • Non-resident (includes out-of-state, F-1 nonimmigrant students and students without legal immigration status)

Resident status will be assigned under the following conditions:

  • Students who are U.S. citizens;

  • Dependent students who have lived in Arizona for less than a year, but reside with their parents or legal guardians who have established domicile in Arizona for one year and claim the student as an exemption for state and federal tax purposes;

  • Financially independent students who have resided in Arizona for at least 12 months prior to the start of the semester in which they are enrolling and have established Arizona as their permanent domicile;

  • Students who have transferred to Arizona by their employer for employment purposes;

  • Students who are members of Native American tribes whose reservation lands lie in Arizona and extend into another state and who are residents of that reservation.

  • Students or spouses who are members of the armed forces of the United States, stationed in Arizona pursuant to military orders

  • Under the provisions of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, the following individuals shall be charged a rate of tuition not to exceed the in-state rate for tuition and fees purposes:

    • A Veteran using educational assistance under either Chapter 30 (Montgomery – Active Duty Program), Chapter 31 (Veteran Readiness and Employment), Chapter 33 (Post-9/11), or Chapter 35 (Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program [DEA]) of title 38, United States Code, who lives in Arizona while attending a school located in Arizona (regardless of their formal State of residence) and enrolls in the school with a period of active duty service of 90 days or more

    • Any student using transferred Chapter 33 (Post-9/11 benefits, 38 U.S.C. § 3319) who lives in Arizona while attending a school located in Arizona (regardless of their formal State of residence)

    • Any student described above while they remain continuously enrolled (other than during regularly scheduled breaks between courses, semesters, or terms) at the same school

    • Any student using benefits under the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (38 U.S.C. § 3311 (b)(9)) who lives in Arizona while attending a school located in Arizona (regardless of their formal State of residence)

Non-resident status will be assigned under the following conditions:

  • Students who are claimed as exemptions by parents or legal guardians for U.S. federal or state income tax purposes and the parent or guardians are not residents of Arizona;

  • Persons who have lived in Arizona less than one calendar year;

  • Students who have not established Arizona as their permanent domicile after moving to Arizona;

  • Winter visitors who have not established Arizona as their permanent domicile, even if residing in Arizona for more than one year;

  • Students who are not U.S. citizens.

Proposition 308:

In November 2022, Arizona voters cast their ballots in support of Proposition 308, allowing qualifying non-citizen Arizona high school graduates to receive in-state tuition at Arizona’s community colleges. This was signed into law in December 2022.

To be eligible, these students must have done both of the following:

  • Attended a public or private high school or homeschool equivalent while physically present in Arizona for at least two years

  • Graduated from any public or private high school option or homeschool equivalent while physically present in the state or obtained a high school equivalency diploma in this state

Official Residency Guidelines

The following guidelines concerning the determination of residency for tuition purposes are a compilation of statutory law (and A.R.S. 15-1801). Due to the complexity in interpreting these laws, students having difficulty in determining their residency should contact the Records Office for further explanation.

Questions/concerns? Email admissions@centralaz.edu.

Implementation of Guidelines

  • Each student shall have the question of legal residence determined prior to the time of registration and payment of fees. It is the responsibility of the student to register under the correct resident determination.

  • Enforcement of residency requirements shall be the responsibility of the President of Central Arizona College. The President has designated the Records Office to make the initial domicile classification. In determining a student’s classification, the college may consider all evidence, written or oral, presented by the student and any other information received from any source that is relevant to determining classification. The college may request written sworn statements or sworn testimony of the student.

  • A request for a review of the initial classification may be made to the Records Office. The request must be in writing, with a completed Domicile Affidavit signed by the student and accompanied by a sworn statement of all facts relative to the matter. The Domicile Affidavit must be filed prior to the end of the semester. Failure to properly file a request for review within the prescribed time limit constitutes a waiver of review for the current enrollment period. The decision of the Records Office shall be final.

Definitions

  • “Armed Forces of the United States” means the: Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Services and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

  • “Continuous attendance” means student is enrolled at an Arizona educational institution; as such term is defined by the institution’s governing body, for a normal academic year. Such person need not attend summer sessions or other such intercessions beyond the normal academic year in order to maintain continuous attendance.

  • “Domicile” means a person’s true, fixed and permanent home and place of habitation. It is the place where he/she intends to remain and to which he/she expects to return when he/she leaves without intending to establish a new domicile elsewhere.

  • “Emancipated person” means a person who is neither under a legal duty of service to his parent nor entitled to the support of such parent under the laws of this state.

  • “Parent” means a person’s father or mother; if one parent has custody, that parent (or if there is no surviving parent or the whereabouts of the parents are unknown) or a guardian of an unemancipated person. There may not be circumstances indicating that such guardianship was created primarily for the purpose of conferring the status of an in-state student on such unemancipated person.

Proof of Residency

When a student’s residency is questioned, or when a student wishes to have his/her residency status reviewed, the following proof will be required:

  • A complete domicile affidavit signed by the student must be filed with the Records and Registration Office;

  • Submitting evidence of one of the following items will be used in determining a student’s domicile in Arizona:

    • Arizona driver’s license

    • Arizona income tax return

    • Arizona voter registration

  • The following items may be submitted as supporting information to the evidence listed above but will not be accepted as primary evidence:

    • Source of financial support

    • Notarized statement from employer

    • Place of high school graduation

    • Honorably discharged from the armed forces and demonstrates evidence of intent to be a resident of Arizona

Concurrent Enrollment: Non-resident Tuition

  • It is unlawful for any non-resident student to register concurrently in two or more public institutions of higher education in this state, including any university or community college, for a combined student credit hour enrollment of more than six semester hours without payment of non-resident tuition at one of the institutions.

  • Any non-resident student desiring to enroll concurrently in two or more public institutions of higher education in this state, including any university or community college, for a combined total of more than six semester hours shall pay the non-resident tuition at the institution of his choice in an amount equivalent to non-resident tuition for the combined total semester hours at all institutions in which he/she is currently enrolled.

Western Undergraduate Exchange Program

Students from 16 Western states are eligible to participate in the Western Undergraduate Exchange Program (W.U.E.). The program allows full-time students who are seeking degrees or certificates to pay 150 percent resident tuition, rather than out-of-state tuition. Central Arizona College participates in the program along with other colleges and universities in Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

New Mexico Resident Tuition Waiver Program

Central Arizona College and Western New Mexico University in Silver City have established a tuition waiver agreement, which is subject to renewal. A New Mexico resident who attends Central Arizona College may qualify to be assessed in-state tuition. There are a limited number of waivers available and may only be used for four semesters. Contact the Records Office for an application form or additional information.