NY State Residency for Tuition Purposes

Residency Requirements for New York State Tuition Billing Purposes

At the SUNY campuses, students are generally considered as New York State residents if they have established their domicile, (fixed permanent home to which an individual intends to return whenever absent), in New York State for at least twelve months prior to the start of the semester. Mere presence in New York State such as to attend college does not meet the twelve month residency requirement.

Students who are financially dependent and whose custodial parent(s) lives in a state other than New York are generally not eligible for the resident tuition rate.

Dependent students of divorced or legally separated parents may acquire a NY State domicile if the custodial parent is a NY State resident or if the student resides with a non-custodial parent who is a NY State resident and the student intends to continue to reside with that parent throughout their attendance at SUNY.

Proof of Domicile

The campus relies on documents and circumstances such as the following to determine if an individual's domicile is in New York State . For financially dependent students, the campus relies on documents relating to parents or legal guardian. A residency application plus documents supporting NY State residency must be submitted to the Student Accounts Office for processing. Students are notified in writing of the residency decision. Appeals to the residency decision may be filed with the Vice President for Administration and Finance whose decision is final.

• Duration of physical presence in NY.
• State of residency of student’s family.
• NY State voter registration.
• NY State driver’s license.
• NY State motor vehicle registration.
• NY State real property ownership.
• NY State residential rental lease.
• NY State income tax returns.

Questions about residency and resident and non-resident tuition rates should be directed to the Student Accounts Office, Knapp Hall, Room 118a, 518-255-5539.