Residency Requirements for US Unis

I know there is a three year residency requirement before you don't pay international fees in the UK.  Does anyone know if there is anything similar in the US?  Specifically in NY?

I'm at uni in New Mexico (well, for another few days at least) and the residency requirements are 1 year of residence in the state for out-of-state US students. At the moment, I haven't been able to find out whether international students can qualify for in-state tuition after 1 year or not - I'll keep looking though.

As an international PhD student, I am actually considered to be a resident for tuition purposes because the department pays my tuition as part of my funding and can't afford to pay international fees (however, I am not considered a NM resident for any other purpose, such as scholarship applications etc.).

Edited to add: I've just found a page on the UC Berkeley  website to say that international students cannot gain residency for tuition purposes and have to pay full tuition for the whole period of study - not sure if this is the same in every state though (am getting a bit confused by the info on NY university websites).

It was a year of residence in Washington state as well.  I think you'd only qualify as an international student if you started right away, or were on a student visa.  What I mean is, if you're over there a full year before starting your degree, you will have had some other form of visa residence, and the same laws for US student should apply.   

Just found this on the Hunter College (NY) website:

Am I eligible for in-state tuition rates?
Non-resident tuition for state colleges is higher than in-state tuition. In New York, students who are not citizens or permanent residents are eligible for in-state tuition if they meet the following requirements;

    * Have lived in New York Sate more than one year prior to the first day of school and are “lawfully present in the US.” To fulfill this requirement you need to have one of the authorized visas: A-1, A-2, A-3, E-1, E-2, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, G-5, H-1, H-4, I, K, L, N, R, S, T, U, or V (please note that, F-1 and J-1 are not included). Alternatively, individuals who have been granted the status of refugees, asylee, or parolee are also considered lawfully present in the US.
    * Have attended for at least two years and graduated from an approved New York State high school and applied for CUNY within five years of receiving a high school diploma.

International exchange students get J-1 visas and international students pursuing a degree get F-1 visas (I am on F-1) - according to the website, people on these visas are not eligible for in-state tuition .

Thanks for that.   It's only a possibility for my daughter at this stage.  She's a US citizen so that part of it is easy.  It's just the delaying another year that would be an issue.

Thanks for all you help.

What if she studied for a year in the US as an international exchange student? When I came over here my US Uni had an agreement in place with certain schools in the UK that I would only get charged the same tuition and accomidation charges as I would have to pay for a year at my home US university... and it worked the other way around as well for UK students coming over. If you could do that I think it would work out ALOT cheaper for you. (my home University was in New York State)

Thanks. That's a strong possibility.  She's just really taken with the US at the moment.  I want to have my facts when it comes down to 'the talk'.  Unfortunately it's all part of being an international family.  Tough decisions all around.

What if she studied for a year in the US as an international exchange student? When I came over here my US Uni had an agreement in place with certain schools in the UK that I would only get charged the same tuition and accomidation charges as I would have to pay for a year at my home US university... and it worked the other way around as well for UK students coming over. If you could do that I think it would work out ALOT cheaper for you. (my home University was in New York State)

Yeah, that's a good idea if you don't want to have to pay all those extra fees (as long as she's happy to only spend a year in the US rather than do a whole degree). I was an international exchange in the US through Exeter University in 03/04 - the entire year only cost me £550 in fees! However, this has gone up now, since the top-up fees came in. You only have to pay half the UK fees for a year abroad (due to the rules of the ERASMUS scheme) - when I went, full UK fees were only £1,100, so I only had to pay £550.

Just a thought though, that if your daughter is currently doing/has done A-levels she might find the work in the US extremely easy for the first year or two (unless she can test out of the freshman classes)... I was a TA in Freshman Geology in the US last semester and the kids I was teaching were barely at GCSE level Science and were learning topics in their Science and Maths classes that I had covered when I was doing my GCSE's in the UK system.

Thanks. That's a strong possibility.  She's just really taken with the US at the moment.  I want to have my facts when it comes down to 'the talk'.  Unfortunately it's all part of being an international family.  Tough decisions all around.

When we moved here, I always had in the back of my mind that when it came time for Uni she might choose the US. I was so relieved when she wasn't at all interested in going back. Good Luck through the 'talk' I know they aren't easy to try to share your ideas, while supporting their decisions.
Just counting down the days until Thursday for results day here to find out whether it is Durham or London....fingers (and everything else) crossed!

Hope the choices in your household work out for the best

Just counting down the days until Thursday for results day here to find out whether it is Durham or London....fingers (and everything else) crossed!

OH! Good luck!

Just a thought though, that if your daughter is currently doing/has done A-levels she might find the work in the US extremely easy for the first year or two (unless she can test out of the freshman classes)... I was a TA in Freshman Geology in the US last semester and the kids I was teaching were barely at GCSE level Science and were learning topics in their Science and Maths classes that I had covered when I was doing my GCSE's in the UK system.

That was a big concern of mine.  Plus I don't think she'd be too thrilled having to do general requirements like math and science. 

It's just in the discussion phase at the moment.  Hopefully, she'll come to her senses when she comes home.

On the other hand, University of Rochester in upstate NY, where I did my PhD, only considers students who need a visa to be international students. It's a private university, so there's no in-state or out-of-state distinction for tuition. They also operate on a "cluster" system for undergrads, so much less in the way of random gen ed requirements.

A lot depends on the particular school, especially private vs. state schools.

Best of luck with the decision process!