Students should refer to Administrative Regulation 5015 Residency Determination for a full explanation of California Residency and requirements to be classified as a California resident for enrollment fees/tuition purposes. Students should also see the SMC Residency webpage at smc.edu/residency for additional information, deadlines, webinars, and more.
At Santa Monica College, a student's residency status determines whether the student pays resident enrollment fees or nonresident enrollment fees plus tuition. To qualify for California resident enrollment fees, most students must show that they have lived in California for at least one year before the residency determination date, and that they intend to make California their permanent home. The residency determination date is the day immediately before the term begins.
A student's residency is reviewed when the student applies for admission and may be reviewed again if the student has been away from the college for more than one semester. Students are notified of their residency status when they apply to SMC. Students should check their “Admissions Tasks” email and their Corsair Connect portal.
Residency is not based only on where a student goes to school or how long the student has lived in the state. Living in California primarily to attend college does not automatically make a student a California resident for enrollment fees or tuition purposes. Retaining residency in another state disqualifies a student from California residency for enrollment fees or tuition purposes.
Residency Determination Factors
Per California Education Code, residency determination is based on these factors:
- Physical presence: Has the student actually lived in California for the required period?
- Intent: Do the student's actions and records show that California is the student's permanent home?
- Qualifying U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status (e.g., permanent resident, eligible visa): Does the student qualify under the law used for residency classification?
Financial independence from parents or legal guardians is also a factor in residency reclassification requests from nonresident to resident.
A student who is 19 years of age or older and who has lived in California continuously for the last two years shall be presumed to have the intent of making California his or her home.
A student under 19 years of age shall be presumed to have the intent to make California his or her home if both the student and his or her parent(s) or legal guardians have lived in California continuously for the last two years.
A student who is 19 years of age or older applying for admission who has less than two years, but more than one year, of residence in California should be prepared to show proof of residence.
Unmarried minors (those younger than 18 years of age) are, by law, incapable of establishing their own residences, notwithstanding their physical presence within California. The Admissions Office will use the following guidelines for determining a minor’s residence:
- A minor’s residence is the residence of the parent or legal guardian with whom the minor is living;
- If the minor is not living with a parent or legal guardian, then the residence of the parent or legal guardian with whom the minor last lived will be the residence of the minor.
When the residence of a minor student is derived from the parent or legal guardian, the durational requirement (one year in California) must be met by the parent or guardian, but is not required of the student. A minor whose parents are not living and who does not have a legal guardian may establish his or her own residence.
What Counts
Living in California is not enough by itself. SMC looks at both how long a student has been in the state and whether the student's actions show that California is truly the student's home.
Examples of things that may help a student show intent include:
- Getting a California driver’s license or state ID.
- Registering to and voting in California.
- Filing California state taxes as a resident.
- A permanent California address, employment, utilities and bank records tying the student to California.
Exemptions for Nonresident Tuition
Some students may qualify for in-state enrollment fees under special rules, even if the standard one-year rule is not met. Special provisions exempting payment of nonresident enrollment fees and tuition are available for certain minors, self-supporting minors, some students whose parents moved out of state, credentialed school employees, agricultural worker families, and other categories created by California law.
Some students may also qualify for nonresident tuition exemptions, such as AB 540-based exemptions, which are different from being classified as a California resident. That means a student might qualify to be exempt from nonresident enrollment fees and tuition rates without actually being classified as a resident for legal residency purposes.
Refer to the SMC Residency webpage at smc.edu/residency for more information.
Requesting Reclassification from Nonresident to Resident Status
Students who believe their status should be changed because they meet California residency requirements must submit the Residency Questionnaire and any requested documents by the college’s deadline for reclassification. All residency reclassification requests must be made before the start of the term in which the student seeks to reclassify. Regrettably, missed deadlines will result in denial.
Students claimed as dependents on a parent or legal guardian’s tax return filed in another state cannot establish California residency for enrollment fees or tuition purposes. Financial dependence in the current or prior calendar year also weighs more heavily against residency than dependence from earlier years. Receiving financial support in the amount of $750 or more also disqualifies a student from resident status.
Documents for Reclassification Requests
Students should submit documents that help show physical presence, intent, and, when required, proof of financial independence from parents and legal guardians. At least three sets of documents are generally required, with at least one set supporting each area, and no single set can satisfy all three by itself. The Residency Questionnaire will show what a “set” means for any given category of documents.
Examples may include:
- California resident tax return.
- California driver’s license or ID.
- California bank statements.
- Employment verification or paycheck stubs.
- Utility bills, voter registration, or proof of California benefits.
A full listing is available on the SMC Residency webpage and the Residency Questionnaire at smc.edu/residency.
Most documents should generally be dated at least one year and one day before the semester starts, and documents older than three years are not considered. The college may also ask for additional documentation before making a decision.
If a student is on active duty, a veteran, or a dependent of someone in the military, the student may be eligible for lower enrollment fees/tuition at Santa Monica College through special military-related residency rules. These options can apply even if the student does not meet the standard one-year California residency process used for other students.
Who May Qualify
A student may qualify if the student is:
- An active-duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces stationed in California.
- The dependent spouse, stepchild, natural child, or adopted child of an active-duty service member stationed in California.
- A veteran discharged or released from at least 90 days of active service, or that veteran’s dependent, when the eligibility conditions listed by SMC are met.
- The spouse or child of a service member who died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, if the student lives in California.
- A student using transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits through a qualifying service member relationship.
- The dependent child of a federal civil service employee who moved to California because of a military mission realignment involving at least 100 employees.
Veterans: VACA Nonresident Enrollment Fee Exemption
Under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act (VACA), military personnel and their eligible dependents stationed in California for noneducational purposes may qualify for in-state enrollment fees.
The VACA exemption is for students who meet the federal definition of a “covered individual” and are using qualifying VA education benefits while living in California. This may include a veteran with at least 90 days of active-duty service, a spouse or child using transferred education benefits, a spouse or child using Fry Scholarship benefits, certain students eligible for vocational rehabilitation benefits, and some Chapter 35 recipients.
To qualify, students must provide documentation such as a Certificate of Eligibility, DD-214, proof of California residence, and, if applicable, a Transfer of Entitlement approval form. SMC advises students to submit the VACA form at least four weeks before the payment deadline to avoid being charged nonresident fees while the request is under review.
Students who qualify initially may continue to keep covered individual status after the standard three-year period following discharge or death, as long as they remain continuously enrolled, other than normal academic breaks. This exemption applies to nonresident enrollment fees and related charges, but it is different from standard California residency classification.
Active Duty Military Members
Active-duty service members stationed in California may qualify for resident tuition at SMC. This option does not apply when the California assignment is for educational purposes at a state-supported institution of higher education. To qualify under this category, students must submit a statement from a commanding officer or personnel officer confirming the date of assignment to California and that the assignment is not for educational purposes.
Dependent spouses, stepchildren, natural children, and adopted children may also qualify when the military member is on active duty in California. Their documentation must verify that the service member’s duty station was in California on the residency determination date, or that the service member was later transferred outside California or retired after that date.
A student who qualifies through an active-duty military connection can usually keep that status if the service member is later transferred out of California under military orders or retires from active duty, as long as the student remains continuously enrolled at SMC. This continuing eligibility also applies to qualifying dependents.
For students connected to a federal civil service mission realignment, the classification continues until the student independently qualifies as a resident, as long as the student remains continuously enrolled in public higher education.
Any student, other than one with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) nonimmigrant visa status (see exception below for students who have been granted T or U visa status), who meets all of the following requirements, shall be exempt from paying nonresident tuition (this exemption is often referred to “AB 540” after the Assembly Bill which enacted the exemption):
- A student is exempt from paying nonresident tuition if the student meets all of the
following four requirements:
- The student must have:
- Three (3) years of attendance at a California high school, or
- Three (3) or more years of high school coursework and three (3) years of attendance in California elementary schools, California secondary schools, or a combination of California elementary and secondary schools, or
- Attended or attained credits at a combination of a California high school, California adult school, and/or California Community College for the equivalent of three (3) years or more, and
- The student must have:
- Graduated from a California high school or attained the equivalent prior to the start of the term (for example, passing the GED or California High School Proficiency exam), or
- Completed an Associate degree from a California Community College, or
- Completed the minimum requirements at a California Community College for transfer to the California State University or the University of California, and
- The student must register as an entering student at, or current enrollment at, an accredited institution of higher education in California, and
- The student must file an affidavit with the college stating that if the student is a non-citizen without current or valid immigration status, the student has filed an application to legalize immigration status, or will file an application as soon as the student is eligible to do so.
- The student must have:
- Students who are nonimmigrants who are victims of trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes who have been granted T or U visa status, under Title 8 of the United States Code §§ 1101(a)(15) (T) or (U) are eligible for this exemption.
- Students who are nonimmigrants, other than those with T or U visa status as noted above, [for example, those who hold F (student) visas, B (visitor) visas, etc.] are not eligible for this exemption.
- A year’s equivalence at a California Community College is a minimum of 24 semester units of credit or 36 quarter units of credit. For noncredit courses, a year’s attendance is a minimum of 420 hours, 210 hours for a semester, and 140 hours a quarter.
- The accumulation of credit and/or noncredit in any academic year shall be calculated in reference to a year’s equivalence. Partial completion in an academic year is allowed. (Example: 12 units of credit courses in an academic year is equal to a semester for purposes of determining eligibility.)
- Attendance in credit courses at a California Community College toward the attendance requirements shall not exceed two years of full-time attendance.
- The student must file an exemption request including a signed affidavit with the college that indicates the student has met all applicable conditions described above. Student information obtained in this process is strictly confidential unless disclosure is required under law.
- Students eligible for this exemption who are transferring to another California public college or university must submit a new request (and documentation if required) to each college under consideration.
- Nonresident students meeting the criteria will be exempted from the payment of nonresident tuition, but they will not be classified as California residents. They continue to be “nonresidents.”
- The California Dream Act extends Cal Grant A and B Entitlement awards, Cal Grant C awards, the California College Promise Grant, and institutional financial aid to students that meet these criteria as well as the applicable criteria for eligibility for specific types of financial aid.
- AB540 does not provide federal student financial aid eligibility for undocumented students. These students remain ineligible for federal financial aid.
Federal law requires men age 18-25 to be registered with the Selective Service System (SSS) if they are US citizens or immigrant aliens (international students who hold valid student visas are exempt from this requirement). Men must be registered before they can receive federal or state financial aid (including loans and grants) for their education. Registration forms are available online at sss.gov and at any post office.