Legal Residence
| The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education have a specific policy concerning legal residence in the state of Oklahoma for the purpose of determining whether students are to be classified as in-state (resident) or out-of-state (nonresident) students. A complete copy of the Regents' policy is available upon request in the Tanner Hall office of admissions. Below, the policy is summarized for prospective students of the college. |
| Principles |
| 1. Attendance at an educational institution is interpreted as temporary residence. A student neither gains nor loses resident status solely by such attendance. |
| 2. A nonresident student attending an Oklahoma college or university on more than a half-time basis is presumed to be in the state primarily for educational purposes. |
| 3. Individuals do not acquire status as a resident of Oklahoma until they have been in the state for at least a year primarily as a permanent resident and not merely as a student. Also, an individual classified as a resident of Oklahoma is not reclassified as a nonresident until twelve months after having left Oklahoma to live in another state |
| 4. All married persons shall be treated as equal under this policy. Each spouse in a family shall establish his or her own residence status on a separate basis. (An exception includes when a nonresident marries an already established resident of Oklahoma, the nonresident may be considered a resident after documentation of the marriage and proof of domicile are satisfied.) |
| 5. The burden of proof of residence status or domicile is upon the applicant. Students filing an appeal for reclassification of residence status must use forms provided or approved by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. |
| 6. Initial classification as nonresident students does not prejudice the right of individuals to be reclassified for following semesters or terms of enrollment as Oklahoma residents provided they can establish proof of residence in accordance with criteria and procedures detailed as "Proof of Residence" and "Reclassification" in the Regents' policy. |
| Definitions |
| 1. Resident of Oklahoma - A resident of Oklahoma is one who has lived continuously in Oklahoma for at least twelve months duration and whose domicile is in Oklahoma. A person's domicile is his or her true, fixed, permanent home or habitation. It is the place where he or she intends to remain and to which he or she expects to return. A person can have more than one residence, but only one domicile. Domicile has two components–residence and the intention to remain. When these two occur, there is domicile. |
| 2. Independent Person - An independent person is one enjoying majority privileges (or is legally emancipated from the parental domicile) and who is responsible for his or her own care, custody, and support. |
| 3. Dependent Person - A dependent person is one who is under the care, custody, and support of a parent or other legally sanctioned parental surrogate |
| 4. Full-time Student - A full-time undergraduate student is one enrolled in a minimum of twelve credit hours per semester in an academic year or a minimum of six credit hours in a summer session. |
| Independent Persons |
| If students who are independent of parental domicile can provide adequate and satisfactory proof of having come to Oklahoma with the intent of establishing domicile, they may be granted resident student classification at the next enrollment occurring after expiration of twelve months following the establishment of Oklahoma domicile. A spouse must establish proof of domiciliary status on a separate basis. |
| Dependent Persons |
| The legal residence of a dependent person is that of the individual's father; or that of individual's mother if the father is not living or if the parents are separated and the dependent person habitually resides with the mother; or, if both parents are dead, the residence of the legally appointed guardian or anyone else with whom the person habitually resides in the absence of formal legal designation. A dependent person may become emancipated (freed from parental domicile) through marriage, formal court action, abandonment by parents, or positive action on the student's part evidential of alienation from parental domicile. To qualify under the latter category, a dependent person must have completely separated from the parental domicile and have proof that such separation is complete and permanent. Mere absence from the parental domicile is not proof of its complete abandonment. If applicants can provide adequate and satisfactory proof of complete emancipation and having come to Oklahoma with the intent of establishing domicile, they may be granted resident student classification at the next enrollment occurring after expiration of twelve months after establishing Oklahoma domicile |
| Foreign Citizens |
| Individuals who are not citizens of the United States may become eligible for classification as an Oklahoma resident provided: 1) they hold "permanent resident status", as defined by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, evidenced by the issuance of a green card; 2) they resided in Oklahoma for at least twelve consecutive months following issuance of the green card; and 3) meet the criteria for establishment of domicile. |
| Military Personnel |
| Students attending institutions while on full-time active duty in the armed forces are considered to have temporary residence in the state where attending school. Students neither gain nor lose resident status solely by such military service. Members of the armed forces stationed in Oklahoma, their spouses and dependent children will be admitted without the payment of nonresident tuition so long as they continue to be stationed in the state in full-time military service and under military orders. |
| Full-Time Professional Practitioner or Worker |
| An individual who provides evidence of having come to Oklahoma to practice a profession on a full-time basis, conduct a business full time, or work on a full-time basis shall be declared an Oklahoma resident along with the spouse and dependent children so long as the person continues in such full-time employment capacity. |
| Proof Of Residence |
| The burden of proof of residence is upon the applicant. Some of the various types of evidence that may serve as proof of one's residence in Oklahoma are: year-round residence, ownership of property, registration for and voting in State general elections, filing an Oklahoma income tax return for the most recent calendar year, and payment of ad valorem property taxes. Since residence or domicile is at least partially a matter of intent, each case is judged on its own merits, and no definitive or "magic" set of criteria can be established as sufficient to guarantee classification as a resident of Oklahoma. |
| Reclassification |
| In addition to the aforementioned criteria, an independent person seeking to be reclassified as a resident of Oklahoma must meet the following criteria for the current and immediately preceding year. |
| 1. The person must not have been claimed as an exemption for state and federal tax purposes by nonresident parents. |
| 2. The person is self-supporting as evidenced by having provided the majority of funds for the individual's own upkeep. |
3. The person must have maintained a continuous residence in Oklahoma for the period set forth above. |