Common Residency Questions

Parents’ Residency

If your parent or legal guardian lives in another state and claims you as a dependent, you are not eligible to establish Texas residency unless you qualify on the basis of high school domicile or your parent is away on a temporary absence. You may be eligible for Texas residency if a parent or legal guardian resides in Texas and is eligible to claim you as a dependent on his or her federal income tax return.

Temporary Absence

A temporary absence by a student or parent does not affect your ability to claim residency if the temporary absence is the result of:

• Service in the U.S. Armed Forces, Public Health Service, Department of Defense or Department of State;
• Foreign military conscription;
• Employment assignment; or
• Educational purposes.

To claim a temporary absence, a student or parent must first establish Texas residency, then provide documentation of the reason for the temporary absence. Non-resident classification may result if the temporary absence occurs before completion of at least one year of residency connected to establishment of a domicile. 

Previous Classification Through Another Texas College or University

If you were classified as a Texas resident while you were enrolled at another Texas college or university—and you were enrolled for more than one summer term—you will be classified as a Texas resident at UT Austin. You may be required to verify your residency classification at a previous institution. 

Military Servicemembers

Servicemembers may base residency on the state they list as their legal residence, as found on the Leave and Earning Statement (LES). If you do not list Texas as your state of legal military residence, you may be eligible to apply for a waiver of the out-of-state portion of tuition. College for All Texans publishes information about tuition waivers for military members who are not Texas residents.

Teachers and Professors

Teachers and professors employed at least half time on a regular, monthly salaried basis by any Texas public institution of higher education are entitled to pay resident tuition for themselves, their spouses and their dependent children. The waiver of the out-of-state tuition does not depend on the length of the residence in Texas, as long as the effective date of employment for the teacher or professor is on, or prior to, the official census date of the relevant term(s). 

To obtain this waiver, such employees must submit, before each semester’s enrollment, a statement certifying employment from the director of personnel or a designated representative of the institution of higher education of which he or she is employed. This provision applies to eligible teachers and professors and their dependents, no matter which Texas public institution of higher education they may attend. It is the intent of this rule that the employment be for the duration of the period of enrollment for which the waiver is awarded. Requests for this waiver should be directed to the Office of Accounting, Tuition/Special Billing.