Residency Rules & Regulations

 

MASSACHUSETTS STATE COLLEGE SYSTEM

53 State Street Boston, Massachusetts

Tel (617) 722-3400

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF

STUDENTS FOR TUITION PURPOSES 

These rules and regulations shall apply to the classification of students Bridgewater, Fitchburg, Framingham, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Salem, Westfield and Worcester State Colleges and the Massachusetts College of Art and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy as Massachusetts or non-Massachusetts students for tuition purposes. 

Section 1.  Definitions 

(1)  ACADEMIC PERIOD – A term of semester in an academic year or a summer session, as   prescribed by the Board of Trustees or under their authority.

(2)  CONTINUOUS ATTENDANCE - Enrollment at the Colleges for the normal academic year in each calendar year, or the appropriate portion or portions of such academic year as prescribed by the Board of Trustees or under their authority.

(3)  DOMICILE – A person’s true, fixed and permanent home and place of habitation, where he intends to remain permanently or for an indefinite time.

(4)  EMANCIPATED PERSON – A person (a) who has attained the age of 18 years, or (b) if under 18 years of age, whose parents have entirely surrendered the right to the care, custody and earnings of such person and who no longer are under any legal obligation to support or maintain such person, or (c) a person who has no parent.  If none of the aforesaid definitions apply, said person shall be deemed an “unemancipated person”. 

(5)  HIS – Shall apply to the female as well as the male gender. 

(6)  PARENT – With respect to a person (in the case of an adopted person, inserting the adjective  “adoptive” before the words “father” and “mother” wherever used): 

            (a)  the person’s father; 

(b)  if the person’s father dies, either the legal guardian or if no legal guardian is appointed, the person’s mother; 

(c)  if neither the father nor mother is living and no legal guardian is appointed, the person who then stands in loco parentis to the person; 

(d)  if the father and mother are divorced, the person to whom legal custody of the person is awarded; 

(e)  if the father and mother are divorced, separated or unmarried and legal custody has not been awarded, the father or the mother, as the case may be, with whom the person lives, or if he lives with neither and the father is living, the father. 

(7)  RESIDENCE – A place of habitation.  

 Section 2.  Rules for Determination of Domicile 

(1)  Domicile is not acquired by mere physical presence in Massachusetts while the person is carrying on a course of study at a State College or while the person is engaged in employment for a specific term unless Massachusetts is otherwise the domicile of the person. 

(2)  Domicile at birth may be changed thereafter, by action of the parent in the case of an unemancipated person or by action of the person himself in the case of an emancipated person. 

(3)  A person claiming Massachusetts as his domicile shall furnish evidence to support such claim.  The burden of proof in all cases is upon the person making the claim.  The following shall be of probative value, although not necessarily conclusive, in support of a claim of domicile within Massachusetts. 

            (a)  Birth certificate; 

(b)  Motor vehicle registration and/or operator’s license; 

(c)  Voting or registration for voting; 

(d)  Certified copies of Federal and State Income Tax returns; 

(e)  Property ownership; 

(f)  Continuous physical presence in Massachusetts during periods when not enrolled as a student; 

(g)  Permanent employment in a position not normally filled by a student; 

(h)  Reliance on Massachusetts sources for financial support;  

(i)  Former domicile in Massachusetts and maintenance of significant connections therein while absent; 

(j)  Domicile of parent within Massachusetts.

 

Evidence submitted in support of an assertion  of domicile or of parental relationship shall be in such form as the State College may require.  Copies of official records or documents shall be authenticated by a proper officer.  Assertions of fact made other than by an authenticated copy of an official record shall be certified as to accuracy and completeness by the person submitting the same. 

Section 3.  Proof of Parental Relationship 

A person asserting that he is an emancipated person shall furnish evidence to support such assertion.  Such evidence may include:

           

(a)  Birth certificate or any other legal document that shows place and date of birth;

 

(b)  Legal guardianship papers – court appointment and termination must be submitted;

 

(c)  Statements of the person, his parent(s), guardian(s), or others certifying no financial support;

 

(d)  Certified copies of Federal and State Income Tax returns filed by the person and his parent(s);

 

(e)  Where none of the foregoing can be provided, an affidavit of the emancipated person in explanation thereof and stating fully the grounds supporting the claim of emancipation. 

Section 4.  Rules for Classification 

(1)  Every emancipated person applying for admission to the State Colleges who has maintained a residence in Massachusetts for a period of not less than one continuous calendar year next preceding the beginning date of the academic period for which he registers and has established a domicile in Massachusetts shall be eligible for classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes. 

(2)  Every unemancipated person applying for admission to the State Colleges, whose parent has maintained a residence in Massachusetts for a period of not less than one continuous calendar year next preceding the beginning date of the academic period for which he registers and has established a domicile in Massachusetts, shall be eligible for classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes. 

(3)  Every emancipated person seeking a change in classification who has maintained a residence in Massachusetts for a period of not less than one continuous calendar year next preceding the beginning date of the academic period for which he registers and has established a domicile in Massachusetts shall be eligible for classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes for such academic period.  

(4)  Every unemancipated person seeking a change in classification, whose parent has maintained a residence in Massachusetts for a period of not less than one continuous calendar year next preceding the beginning date of the academic period for which the person registers and has established a domicile in Massachusetts, shall be eligible for classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes for such academic period.

(5)  A person having his domicile elsewhere than in Massachusetts shall not be eligible for classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes except as herein provided. 

(6)  Any person who is registered at a State College as a Massachusetts student shall be eligible for continued classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes during continuous attendance at such institution (until attainment of the degree for which he is then enrolled). 

(7)  A member of the Armed Forces of the United States and his spouse and unemancipated children shall, while he is on active duty and stationed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, be eligible for classification as Massachusetts students for tuition purposes. 

(8)  The status of a person who marries an emancipated domiciliary of Massachusetts shall be considered the same as the spouse immediately upon the date of marriage.

 Section 5.   Change in Classification 

No application for change to classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes submitted later than the first day of classes shall affect a classification during the then current academic period.

 Section 6.  Penalty for Misrepresentation 

Misrepresentation in or omission from any evidence submitted of any fact which if correctly or completely stated would be grounds to deny classification as a Massachusetts student for tuition purposes shall be cause for expulsion from or other disciplinary action by the College. 

Section 7.  Appeals 

Appeal from a determination denying classification as a Massachusetts student shall be initiated by filing a written request with the Chief Fiscal Officer of the College or his designee specifying the particular grounds for said request.

Section 8.  Miscellaneous

Nothing contained herein shall be construed as limiting or prohibiting the authority of the Board of Trustees to waive or reduce tuition charges.

Last Modified: August 9, 2004