Lesson 2 Definition of Terms Norma Houston UNC General Administration State Residency Classification for Tuition Purposes TrainingNorth Carolina State Residence Classification Manual A Manual to Assist the Public.

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Transcript Lesson 2 Definition of Terms Norma Houston UNC General Administration State Residency Classification for Tuition Purposes TrainingNorth Carolina State Residence Classification Manual A Manual to Assist the Public.

Lesson 2
Definition of Terms
Norma Houston
UNC General Administration
State Residency Classification for
Tuition Purposes
Training
2010
North Carolina
State Residence Classification Manual
A Manual to Assist the Public Higher
Education Institutions
of North Carolina in the Matter of State
Residence
Classification for Tuition Purposes
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
Definitions of terms used in the Manual.
Understanding these terms will enable
campus administrators make classification
decisions consistent with state law and public
policy.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
In good faith with earnest intent.
A person must demonstrate that he or she
has established a bona fide, as opposed to a
temporary, domicile when seeking residency
classification.
Establishing domicile in North Carolina just to
become eligible for in-state tuition is not a
bona fide domicile.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
The responsibility borne by the applicant to
convince the institution of higher education,
by a preponderance of the evidence, that the
student is a bona fide domiciliary for tuition
purposes.
This burden may be met by providing
tangible evidence to support relevant conduct
of legal residence and its duration as may be
required by officials of an institution of
higher education.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
Legal ability to establish residence
unimpeded by other factors, such as age or
non-immigration status.
For purposes of legal residence for tuition
purposes, capacity includes the ability to
remain in North Carolina permanently
through one’s own financial resources.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person defined under federal law as a
“qualifying child” or “qualifying relative” for
income tax purposes.

To claim someone as a dependent, the
dependent must have legal status in this country,
Canada, or Mexico for some part of the year.
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A spouse is never a dependent.
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IRS regulations should be consulted!
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
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To be a dependent for income tax purposes,
specific requirements for the follow factors
must be satisfied:
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Relationship
Age
Residence
Level of financial support
Tax Filing Status
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
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A student may still be financially dependent
on his or her parents even if the parents don’t
claim the student as a dependent for income
tax purposes.
Financial independence must be established
as part of the residence classification
process.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person’s true, fixed, and permanent home
and place of habitation of indefinite duration
(for an indefinite period of time); it is the
place where he or she intends and is able to
remain permanently and to which, whenever
the person is absent, he or she expects to
return. A person may have more than one
residence, but may have only one domicile.
For purposes of the Manual, “domicile” is
synonymous with “legal residence.”
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms

Domicile may be established by:
◦ Birth
◦ Law
◦ Choice
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Residence for tuition purposes is not
guaranteed – it must be established by the
student.
The burden of proof is on the student.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
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Evidence of domicile includes (but is not
limited to):
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Where the student lives
Voter registration and voting
Driver’s license and vehicle registration
Employment and payment of taxes
Ownership of real property
There is no “residence checklist” – each
application is considered on its own merit.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person who is a legal resident of (is
domiciled in) North Carolina.
For purposes of the Manual, “domiciliary” is
synonymous with “legal resident.”
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
The status of being registered as a part-time
or as a full-time student for an academic
term that has begun.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
Documents and other proof verifying conduct
that is provided to officials of an institution
of higher education regarding legal residence
and its duration necessary to prove that an
applicant is entitled to in-state tuition.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person who is legally entitled to claim, and
in fact does claim, himself or herself on
income tax returns, is not claimed by another
person as a dependent on that person’s
income tax return, and possesses sufficient
funds to live and pay tuition and fees at the
person’s current residence classification
without outside financial assistance.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
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Generally, students who are financially dependent
on parents who are not domiciled in North
Carolina will not be eligible for in-state tuition.
A student may still be financially dependent on
his or her parents even if the parents don’t claim
the student as a dependent for income tax
purposes.
Failure to claim a student as a dependent for
income tax purposes does not automatically
make the student “independent” from his or her
parents.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms

Factors relevant to determining whether a
student is “independent” include:
◦ Employment, income, & assets
◦ Level of financial support from parents
◦ Level of outside financial assistance from other
sources
◦ Status for financial aid purposes

There is no “independence checklist” – each
application must be considered on its own
merit.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
The first classification of residency for tuition
purposes assigned to an applicant for
admission to a public institution of higher
education based on information received as a
part of the application for admission to that
institution.
Initial classification decisions by one institution
are not binding on another institution, nor are
initial classification decisions at one academic
level binding on another academic level within
that same institution.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
Institutions, both public and private, that
offer post-secondary instruction in North
Carolina, including all UNC constituent
institutions and all Community Colleges.
Independent colleges and universities in
North Carolina also follow the definitions of
residency in the Manual for purposes of
administering state-funded assistance.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person who is court-appointed to act in the
place of an individual’s parents (usually
referred to as a “guardian of the person” or
“general guardian”).
A guardianship ends when the person reaches
age 18 or is otherwise emancipated.
“Custody” or “legal custodian” is not the same
as legal guardian.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person’s legal residence is the person’s
domicile.
For purposes of the Manual, “legal residence”
is synonymous with “domicile.”
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person who is a domiciliary of (is domiciled
in) North Carolina.
For purposes of this Manual, “legal resident”
is synonymous with “domiciliary.”
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
The legal union of a man and a woman in
accordance with the laws of the State of
North Carolina.
North Carolina law defines marriage as being
between a man and a woman. North Carolina
does not recognize marriages between
persons of the same gender performed in
another state even if those marriages are
legally valid under the laws of that state.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person under the age of eighteen (18)
years.
A person is no longer a minor on the date of
the person’s eighteenth birthday.
Generally, a minor is presumed to have the
same domicile as that of his or her parents or
legal guardians.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A false and fraudulent misstatement of fact.
If an applicant or someone acting on the
applicant’s behalf knowingly makes a
misrepresentation in connection with a state
residency application or appeal, that
misrepresentation could lead to a
misdemeanor charge.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
The greater weight of the evidence; more
probable than not; proof which leads one to
find that the existence of the contested fact is
more probable than its nonexistence.
This standard is less stringent than “beyond a
reasonable doubt.”
It is not necessarily established by a greater
number of witnesses testifying to the fact,
but instead by evidence that has the most
convincing force.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A legal inference used to place the burden of
proof and of producing supporting evidence
on one party to a proceeding in order to
overcome that presumption.
Under North Carolina law, a minor’s domicile
is “presumed” to be that of his or her living
parents or legal guardian.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
At first appearance or first view – before
investigation.
Under North Carolina law, the legal residence
of the applicant’s parents shall be prima facie
evidence of the applicant’s legal residence.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
The process of an applicant's formal request
to review pertinent residentiary facts to
determine the correctness or an update of the
initial classification of residency for tuition
purposes by public institutions of higher
education.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A place of abode, whether permanent or
temporary.
“Permanent residence” means the legal
residence or domicile, whereas “temporary
residence” means one’s abode for an
undetermined or temporary duration.
A person may have many residences but only
one permanent, legal residence (domicile).
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person who has established legal residence
(domicile) in North Carolina and maintained that legal
residence for at least 12 months (365 days)
immediately prior to his or her classification as a
resident for tuition purposes.
The applicant must establish that his or her presence
in the State is, and during the required preceding 12
months was, for the purpose of maintaining a bona
fide domicile rather than maintaining a temporary
residence incident to enrollment in an institution of
higher education.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
A person who is legally married to another
person in accordance with the provisions of
North Carolina law.
North Carolina law defines marriage as being
between a man and a woman. North Carolina
does not recognize marriages between
persons of the same gender performed in
another state even if those marriages are
legally valid under the laws of that state.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
The sum charged to students by an
educational institution for credit instruction
at the time of registration, regardless of the
means by which the instruction is delivered.
Tuition does not include any other fees
charged by the institution of higher education
or the costs of textbooks.
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms
Lesson 2: Definition of Terms