Residency

If this is your first term at USF, you may contact the Office of Admissions to correct your status no later than the last day of your first term:

• Freshman Students: admissions@usf.edu 
• Transfer Students: transfer@usf.edu 

If you have completed your first term, or first year as a non-Florida resident, you may submit a Florida Residency for Tuition Purposes Request to the Office of the Registrar no later than the 5th day of the term in which you wish to have your residency status changed. Requests received after the published deadline will be considered for the next term.

No, once you are classified as a Florida resident, you will keep that status until you become inactive and/or reapply to the university.

If you meet the Latin American/Caribbean Scholarship exception, your status will be reviewed on a term by term basis to ensure you meet the residency exception requirements. 

First, you must provide a copy of the front and back of your permanent resident card to the Office of International Services to request that they change your citizenship status. Then, you may submit your Florida Residency for Tuition Purposes Request to the Office of the Registrar with copies of your legal ties. Your citizenship status must be updated and your request must be submitted no later than the 5th day of the term in which you wish to have your residency status changed. Requests received after the published deadline will be considered for the next term.

You may complete the Florida Residency for Tuition Purposes Request and provide evidence of your citizenship status (a valid passport from a Latin American or Caribbean country). We will verify your eligibility and update your residency status automatically if you attend on a full-time basis, you receive a qualifying scholarship of $500 or more from the State of Florida, U.S government, or other entities, and maintain satisfactory academic progress. If you do not meet full-time enrollment criteria, scholarship criteria, and maintain satisfactory academic progress, you will be responsible for out-of-state tuition costs for that term. We will monitor your status every semester to verify all criteria is met.

You may email the Florida Residency for Tuition Purposes Request form to residency@usf.edu no later than the 5th day of the term in which you wish to have your residency status changed. Requests received after the published deadline will be considered for the next term.

What is your intent for establishing your residence in Florida? Non-resident students who come to Florida and enroll in a Florida post-secondary educational institution will not normally meet the Florida residency requirement for in-state tuition, regardless of the length of time enrolled. In order to best ensure you have the benefit of paying tuition at in-state rates, students seeking residency reclassification must provide clear and convincing evidence of legal ties to the State and continuous physical presence in Florida for at least 12 consecutive months which predates initial enrollment in an institution of higher education. Generally, non-resident students who enroll in a post-secondary institution at any point during the twelve-month qualifying period will automatically be precluded from Florida residency status.

Continuous full-time employment that began prior to enrollment, proof of permanent home in Florida occupied as the primary residence a consecutive year prior to enrollment, immediate relatives currently living in Florida a year prior, marrying a Florida resident, or part-time enrollment in a Florida higher education institution during the initial year.

If you are not a Florida resident for tuition purposes, you will be assessed an out-of-state fee. This fee will make the tuition bill for an undergraduate out-of-state student approximately 3 1/2 times higher than the tuition bill for an undergraduate Florida resident. The graduate tuition bill for an out-of-state student is approximately 2 1/2 times higher than the graduate tuition bill for a Florida resident.

Information on tuition and fees can be found through the University Controller's Office.

Yes. A dependent child may not be denied classification as a Florida resident for tuition purposes based solely upon the immigration status of their parent(s).

No, however, you may be eligible for a waiver of the out-of-state fee. Eligibility for the waiver is determined based upon evidence of attendance at a Florida secondary school for three consecutive years immediately prior to graduation and application for admission to an institution of higher education within 24 months of high school graduation. The Office of Admissions actively works to provide waivers to known Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students and those foreign nationals who do not indicate their legal status on the application for admission, so you are encouraged to contact them after your admission to determine your eligibility for the waiver. Please contact the Office of Admissions at 813-974-3350 or admissions@usf.edu.  

Home ownership does not automatically qualify you for Florida residency for tuition purposes. Residence in Florida must be as a bona fide domicile rather than for the purpose of maintaining a residence incident to enrollment at an institution of higher education. Owning property in Florida, while residing in another state, will not of its own merit meet residency requirements.

To be considered a "Florida Resident for Tuition Purposes" you must prove through official and/or legal documents that you or the claimant have established bona fide domicile in the state of Florida for at least 12 months preceding the first day of classes of the term for which Florida residency is sought. You do not receive credit for any time that you spent in the state in prior years.

No. Living near Florida does not grant the student residency for tuition purposes. However, active duty military personnel and their dependents stationed within 50 miles of the Florida border may claim residency based on the submission and review of official military orders. 

Just graduating from a Florida high school is not sufficient proof of Florida residency for tuition purposes. You must still submit the appropriate documentation to prove your bona fide domicile in the state of Florida for at least 12 months preceding the first day of classes of the term for which Florida residency is sought.

If your documentation was recently renewed in accordance with state policy/regulation, you may submit the original date of issue on the residency declaration. However, you may be asked to provide additional documentation to verify time in state.

As per the guidelines set by the State of Florida, a student must show documentation that they provide for more than 51% of the cost of attendance as defined by the institution. We need to see documentation where the money is coming from and not where the student puts the money received. Savings and checking accounts are fluid and we cannot verify who is making deposits. We accept pay stubs, W-2's, tax returns, 529 college plan, traditional IRA or mutual funds as supporting documentation for financial independence.

Additionally, we need a copy of you and your parent's most recent tax return/transcript so we can verify that you were not claimed as a dependent. 

Please provide a notarized letter indicating the family relation, how long the individual(s) have lived in Florida, and a copy of their driver’s license.