Education- Any Ideas?

[Guest jangrin]

Went to the community college with my son. We have lived here since November of 2006, and our son had been in school since then and recently graduated from our local public high school. Went to enroll him at the community college as a freshman and they are considering him to be a NON resident and must pay out of state tuition.

We are paying taxes property taxes for this year as well as living in the community college district for the past 10 months. His fees for classes are $279.00 an hour. So his 12 hour (unit) full time fees are 3348.00 plus books and student health fees and parking.Probably a little over 4000.00 for one semester.

His high school counselor told him he would be considered a resident. The college advisor said the high school people don;t know what their talking about. This is pretty expensive for Community college. Does any one know of any options, as his Chapter 35 benefits don't come into play until after tuition is paid.

Jangrin

Edited July 4, 2007 by jangrin

[free_spirit_etc]

Jangrin -

If you are talking about Austin Community College - here is info from their website. Our community college only requires a 30 day residency period. It looks like a lot of states require a one year period. Texas is one of those states. The regs do state that if you reside outside the district - but pay property taxes within the district - you can get a waiver. However, they might expect you to do that for a full year also. But - if property taxes in Texas are like propery taxes here - you have already paid a years worth of propoerty taxes. They charge them by the year - not the month. So you might try appealing on that basis. It would seem like if they allow people who actually LIVE out of district to pay in district rates if they pay property taxes - they could certainly allow people who live IN district - but just not long enough to establish that they are real Texans B) to pay in district rates if they have paid an annual property tax.

You could also protest to the Tax Board and ask for a refund of the property taxes you have paid this year to support the community college - B)

If you can't beat them on this - you should only be charged out of state tution for the fall semester - as you would have established residency by the beginning of Spring Semester.

As far as online classes - you could also see if your son would qualify for in district rates still at your OLD address - and if so - he could take online classes through THAT college for Fall Semester and then transfer over to the local college for the Spring Semester.

It is odd that with our society being based on flexibility and moving - that people are in limbo at to their residency in respect to attending college - for an entire year after they move.

http://www3.austincc.edu/catalog/fy99/admiss.htm

Residency Requirements

To be considered a Texas resident, students must legally establish residence in Texas for the 12 months preceding their enrollment.

1. An in-district student is an individual who is a resident of Texas and who resides in the ACC tax district, based on the address on file at ACC at the time of registration.

2. An out-of-district student is an individual who is a resident of Texas and who resides outside the ACC tax district, based on the address on file at ACC at the time of registration.

3. An out-of-state student is an individual who has not resided in Texas for the 12 months preceding registration, or whose permanent resident card is less than 12 months old.

4. International students should consult the International Student Office about registration requirements.

Property owners and their dependents living outside the tax district, but who pay ad valorem taxes to ACC, are eligible for in-district tuition. A current property tax statement is required for verification. Property owners on most temporary visas are not eligible for this classification.

The responsibility for registering under the proper residency classification is that of the student, and any question concerning this classification should be clarified prior to enrollment. Rules and regulations for determining residence status are defined under Title 3 of the Texas Education Code.

[Guest jangrin]

Thanks Free,

Yes I was talking about ACC. We really did follow-up on this and there really is no way around it except to pay the higher tuition. I feel it is a poor policy on the part of the State but then I'm not a politician, but I am a voter and I plan on writing a couple of letters.

We will have lived in this area for 10 months when school begans. Our son spent the first month of his senior year at his old school and the remainder of the senior year from October until June when he graduated, at his Texas High School. (this is a story in itself)

In the region here we don't pay property taxes until the year has past. The bill comes out around September and is due in January for the PAST year. So there is no refund of taxes as we will not have paid tem unitl January.

Our son will get the Chapter 35 benefit, but with Chapter 35 you pay first and then the checks will start coming in a couple of months when the colleges "drop class" period has passed. It looks like ACC will do a partial payment/ installment plan. So we will figure out a way to pay for 1/2 of tuition up front and then our son could pay the payments when the Chapter 35 payments start. Hopefully they will let him sign the agreement as he is not yet 18 years old and the student is the one who has to sign (?). I'm not sure how they will work that since he is not of legal age to sign a contract.

Thanks to the people here at Hadit, we are checking into the options of grants such as the pell grant. Also book scholarships. I think it will work out OK, it's just for the one semester. But when some states waive the tuition for the kids of disabled vets, it is somewhat frustrating.

Our son wants to go into aeronautical engineering, and eventually work in a space program or join the Air Force. He has big ambitions and it's his dream, so we will do whatever it takes to fullfill our part as his parents & support network.

All of your suggestions are excellent. Thank you for taking the time to sort through the possibilities, I bet your a terrific teacher. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness. B)

Jangrin

[free_spirit_etc]

Maybe that is why they make you live there a year - since you don't pay property tax until the end of the year. I don't see Texas being very kind to veterans/ dependents/ survivors either. I looked at the laws and saw that if a vet is killed in action then their child can pay in state tuition IF the vat had lived in Texas for a specified time..

Geez..Yankee Doodle and all that jazz...

ABout the books -- there are all kinds of ways to save money on those..especially on the early classes.

1. Many teachers don't even USE the textbooks - so find out first.

2. I have had lots of students buy their books online - and sell them back to the school at the end of the semester for more than they paid for them.

3. In this area -- the libraries have an interlibrary loan program. So for most of my classes - I would find out what books were required and go to the library and do a search on the computer --and check the book out from a different school through the interlibrary loan program (FREE). Usually the college itself has copies - but keeps them on reserve -only to be used in the library.

4. Following up on 3. There is usually VERY LITTLE difference in a textbook's 5th edition or 6th edition. The textbook company has the author do a new edition - juggle some information around within the book -- add a few pages - and then they start printing a NEW edition (which of course, means they STOP printing the OLD edition). So when the college gets low on books and tries to order 50 more copies of the 5th edition - they are told those are no longer in print. So what does the college have to do now? Stop using the 5th edition because there are not enough copies for all the students.

So now the college has to order 1000 6th editions because 50 5th editions are not available.

Now students have to pay a higher price for the books because there are no used books for the college to offer - and the students who used the book the semester before can no longer sell their books back at the end of the semester because the college is no longer using them. (They can try selling them back at an online site though).

Anyway --there is very little difference in the editions. Unless you are taking something that is constantly updated --like computers -- you can usually get by with the older edition of the textbook -as all the info is in there -- but just maybe two chapters got combined, or a little bit of info has been added.

If it is extremely important to have the added info - you can check out the book in the library - and read the four pages right there.

And MANY, if not most, instructors lag behind anyway. If I have been teaching out of the 5th edition - I am not going to run out and change all my tests and assignments because of the three added pages in the 6th edition.

So your son can be pretty creative in the text book area.

As far as him signing a contract under 18 - I don't think you will get much protection there. If he dropped out of school and never attended again - it would be hard for the school to come after him for the money.

However, they have their own protection on that (the schools). They will not give you grades, let you sign up for other semesters, release transcripts, transfer credits, etc. etc. until ALL MONEY is paid in full.

I dropped out of college when I was young - went back 13 years later - and had to pay two 13 year old parking tickets before I could be readmitted. Even if I tried to apply somewhere else - they wouldn't release my transcripts until I paid off the tickets.

I am lucky they didn't charge interest.

But if you owe a college money - and you want to go to school - they will get their money.

Free