Application for New York State Residency Status

Non-residents of New York State will be charged the out-of-state tuition rate. Students are generally considered New York State residents if they have established their domicile in New York for at least twelve months prior to the last day of the registration period of a particular term. Your domicile is the fixed and permanent home to which you intend to return whenever absent. The sole purpose of attending college does not meet the domicile requirement.

If you have been charged as an out-of-state student and think you are eligible for a change in resident status after reading the eligibility criteria below, you must submit the Application for New York State Residency Status to the Office of Financial Aid, Erwin 104, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454 or financialaid@geneseo.edu. 

Here is the full SUNY Policy on Residency Tuition.

Eligibility Basics

  1. Generally, individuals who have maintained their domicile in New York for a period of fewer than twelve months prior to the end of registration are presumed to be out-of-state residents and are not eligible for the resident tuition rate.

  2. Individuals who are financially dependent and whose custodial parent(s) lives in a state other than New York are generally not eligible for the resident tuition rate. However, students of divorced or legally separated parents may acquire a New York State domicile if the custodial parent is a New York State resident or if the student resides with a non-custodial parent who is a New York State resident, and the student intends to continue to reside with that parent throughout their attendance at SUNY.

  3. Individuals do not meet the twelve-month residency requirement if domiciled in New York State to attend college. (Years spent in New York State while attending college do not count toward residency. Individuals must be able to establish residency before they attend to be considered for in-state tuition.)

  4. Note: Non-resident students may be eligible for resident tuition if they have graduated from an approved New York high school or received a NYS high school equivalency diploma within 5 years of application to SUNY. See below for details under exceptions to the Domicile Rule.

Proof of Domicile

Proof of a New York State domicile is demonstrated by documents that support an applicant’s contention that his or her permanent home is located in New York State, including but not limited to:

  1. Duration of the student’s physical presence in New York State for purposes other than education (copy of signed lease, deed or property tax bill);
  2. State of residency of the student's family i.e., parents, spouse or children (copy of signed lease, deed or property tax bill)
  3. New York State voter registration;
  4. New York State driver's license or non-driver identification card (Note for civilian employees of the U.S. State Department working overseas, an international driver’s license issued by the State Department will not disqualify a person from establishing NYS domicile), and such New York State driver’s license or New York State non-driver identification card must have a New York address listed, and any student shall not have an out-of-state driver’s license and New York State non-driver identification card;
  5. New York State motor vehicle registration;
  6. Proof of ownership of New York State real property;
  7. Residential lease for property in New York State;
  8. New York State income tax returns;
  9. New York State bank accounts;
  10. Proof the applicant receives public assistance from New York State or from a city, county, or municipal agency in New York State;
  11. Proof the applicant paid New York State income tax on all taxable income including all taxable income earned outside the State and has filed a New York tax return; and
  12. For civilian employees of a federal agency who are working in a non-NY location, the “Home of Record” listed on their personnel records. Federal agencies do allow civilian employees to designate Home of Record or Home Leave, which is basically where the civilian employee intends to return after leaving federal employment. Evidence of this type of Home of Record does not carry the same weight of evidence of domicile as it does for military personnel, since it can be changed by the civilian employee. It can, however, be treated as one form of documentary evidence of domicile.