Tuition Residency Requirements

Requirements & Documentation

For more information about requirements, exceptions, and documentation please download the Residency Informational Flyer.

• You must be a Citizen or Permanent Resident of the United States to apply for residency and be admitted to Utah State University.
• You must obtain a Utah Driver's License, Voter Registration, and Vehicle Registration (if you are using a vehicle in Utah). These three items must be obtained at least 3 months before you apply for residency. For example, if you are applying for residency for the fall semester, you would need these items by May 1st. For spring semester, you must obtain these items by October 1st. If you are using a vehicle in Utah, even if it is in your parent's name, it needs to be registered in Utah.
• You must live in Utah for 12 continuous months. You cannot be absent from the state for more than a total of 30 days during this time frame (this includes Christmas Break, Spring Break, and summer). You must provide two different types of evidence as verification, which are:*
  • Verification of Housing in Utah: This must cover the full 12-month period. This can include rental agreements, letters from your landlord, or your mortgage statement.
  • Verification of Physical Presence in Utah: This must also cover the full 12-month period, and is verification of what you were doing in Utah. This can be your unofficial transcripts if you were a student, paystubs if you were working, letters from coaches or volunteer organizations, or bank statements showing transactions in Utah. If you are unable to provide any of these types of verifications, please contact our office regarding other options. You must be able to provide proof of your physical presence for the full 12-month period.
• You must be declared financially independent. This means you cannot be claimed as a dependent by anyone outside of Utah on your most recent tax return when you apply for residency. For example, if you are applying for residency for the fall 2016 semester, you must not be claimed as a dependent by anyone outside of Utah on taxes filed by April 2016 for the 2015 tax year. To prove this, you will need to submit a copy of your 1040 Form (the first 2 pages of your federal tax return). If you did not file any taxes, we will accept your parent's 1040 Form showing you are not listed as a dependent instead. For your own security, please black out any sensitive information on documentation that you submit for your residency application. This includes any social security numbers on tax forms and the account numbers on bank statements.

A typical example would be a student who attended school, fall and spring semesters but did not attend school in the summer and instead got a job. Immediately after filling out the online application, this student would need to provide the rental contracts for the full 12 months to verify housing, unofficial transcripts for fall and spring semesters if they were attending another educational intuition in Utah, paystubs for each month of the summer to verify you were physically present in Utah, and a copy of his or her 1040 tax form, or parents' 1040 tax form if this student did not file taxes in the current tax year. 

Other requirements may apply. For further residency information, please contact the USU Admissions Office at 435.797.1079 or email residency@usu.edu.

THE LAW: IF A STUDENT WHO HAS NOT PREVIOUSLY ACQUIRED DOMICILE IN UTAH ENROLLS AT A UTAH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION, THE STUDENT MUST RESIDE IN UTAH FOR 12 CONTINUOUS MONTHS AND MEET THE OTHER CRITERIA BELOW OR QUALIFY FOR AN EXCEPTION IN ORDER TO GAIN RESIDENCY FOR TUITION PURPOSES.

Residency policy is written by the Utah System of Higher Education. For more detailed information regarding residency requirements, please refer to the Utah System of Higher Education's website under Regent Policy R512 for the Determination of Resident Status Policy or feel free to contact the Admissions Office at 435.797.1079.

*Note: Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) and Nonresident Alumni Legacy Waiver recipients are not eligible to apply for residency for tuition purposes using the time spent receiving the waivers since they are still considered to be residents of their former state while participating in these programs.

Exceptions

There are certain provisions in the law that enable a person to be granted Utah residency for tuition purposes as an exception to the requirements listed above. However, all exceptions still require you to be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident of the United States. Exceptions to the normal 12-month rule are listed below, but please contact the Admissions Office for more information regarding requirements and restrictions for each exception.

• Persons who marry a Utah resident
• Dependent persons who have a parent who has lived in Utah for at least the most recent 12 continuous months
• Persons recruited or transferred to Utah for full-time employment, their dependents, and spouses (students must reside in Utah for at least 4 months prior to applying for admission to qualify for this exception)
• Recipient of State Social Services Benefit (i.e. Vocational Rehabilitation)
• Participation in Olympic Training Program
• Native Americans registered on the tribal rolls of Tribes whose lands border Utah (no residency application required)
• Other extenuating circumstances, including reasons relating a persons divorce, death of a spouse, or long-term health care responsibilities of immediate family members

Military Exceptions

• Veterans of the armed forces and their dependents who establish domicile in Utah (students must prove they were discharged within the last 5 years)
• Military servicemembers and their dependents, whether active duty or on reserve assignment, assigned to Utah (includes members of the Utah National Guard)
• Eligible person entitled to benefits under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 30, Montgomery G.I. Bill – Active Duty Educational Assistance Program, or Chapter 33, Post 9/11 Educational Assistance Program
• Utah resident assigned outside of Utah pursuant to federal permanent change of station orders (must maintain strong ties to Utah, such as Utah state taxes, Utah driver's license, etc.)

Please print and complete the Application for In-State Tuition Based Upon Military Service Exceptions, and include the documentation listed on page two that corresponds with your exception. You may submit the documentation by mail, in person or by email to the information listed at the top of the application form.

Residency for Missionaries

Serving Outside of Utah: Students must live in Utah for 12 continuous months and have their Utah Residency Application approved prior to leaving Utah in order to keep their Utah residency while on their mission. They cannot split the 12 months before and after their mission. If they leave the state before they have completed the 12 consecutive months and been granted residency for tuition purposes, they will have to start the 12 months over when they return.

Time spent in Utah at the Provo Utah Missionary Training Center can be used towards the 12 months required for residency, but students must send verification of this time spent in Utah. Please note that students cannot be absent from the state of Utah for more than a total of 30 days during the 12 months required to gain residency for tuition purposes. Time spent outside of Utah before reporting to the Provo Mission Training Center is counted against the 30 day limit.

Serving in Utah: Students serving missions in Utah can use this time toward gaining residency for tuition purposes. They must obtain their Utah driver's license and register to vote in Utah before they are released from their mission and they must return to Utah within 30 days of their release date. The student will also need to provide verification that they served at least 12 months in Utah – not any of the surrounding states.

 

Residency Verification

If you need verification of your residency status sent to another school, please fill out the Request for Residency Verification Form and submit it to our office. Requests are usually processed within 3-5 business days.

For further residency information, please contact the USU Admissions Office:

Admissions
Taggart Student Center 102
0160 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-0160
Fax: 435.797.3708
Phone: 435.797.1079
Email: residency@usu.edu