HEC Board gears up to change residency rules
May 28, 2003
The Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board met at the UW yesterday to clarify changes on establishing residency.
The board is scheduled to take action on the proposed changes June 12. If approved, the new rules would take effect July 14 and would apply for the upcoming fall quarter.
Yesterday's meeting was for members of Seattle-area institutions to pose questions and voice concerns about the proposed rules.
One of the new requirements makes it more difficult for students to prove financial independence.
The changes to the Washington Administrative Code were proposed by residency offices from a number of state colleges and universities, according to Nina Oman, the board's associate director for policy.
"The reason for the changes are basically to apply the rules and regulations concerning residency more fairly," said Virjean Edwards, assistant registrar for the UW. "A lot of the rules were too vague before and we want to make them more explicit."
According to Oman, there has been a lot of confusion among state institutions as to what constitutes financial independence. The new rules would narrow the definition.
To be considered financially independent under the new rules, a student must provide evidence of earning enough money to pay for tuition and living expenses for the year of and before applying for residency.
Loans, gifts and cash earnings would not be counted as income in this calculation, and students would not be able to rely on trust accounts either.
"Trust accounts used to be considered evidence of financial independence, but under the new rules, they would be evidence of dependence," Oman said.
According to Oman, there would be stronger provisions that a student living in Washington state must reside in the state for purposes other than education in order to gain residency.
Another hearing will be held at Washington State University Friday.
"We want people to come to us and let us know if the language of the new rules are unclear," Oman said.
The public hearings are the next step in a process that began Feb. 26 when the board filed a formal notice to revise the rules on student residency.
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