Residency for Tuition Purposes

UWF is required to determine the residency status for tuition purposes on every admitted student who might enroll. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is charged as one of the offices responsible for making these complicated decisions. The logic used to execute this decision is laid out in Section 1009.21 of Florida Statutes and obligates each public university in Florida to use the same, broad legal parameters to make these decisions.

Residency Details @ UWF

It is important to note that Florida Statutes declare that all admitted students are non-residents until an independent review provides sufficient information to change the decision permanently. The burden of proof to overturn the original decision remains with the student.

Students who are determined to be a non-resident have until the first day of classes to provide any/all relevant documentation that could result in a reversal of classification. Starting the semester is symbolic of a student’s acceptance of their residency classification for the foreseeable future.

Often, an applicant’s failure to fully complete the application provides the Office of Undergraduate Admissions too little information to make a proper residence determination. Since every applicant is presumed to be a non-resident until sufficient proof is provided, Florida Law prohibits students from being granted the benefit of the doubt on residency-related issues. Students will need to provide sufficient documentation to reverse a residency decision, and they must provide that information prior to the start of classes.

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