Residency Questions

How is residency determined?

Review why Boise State must ask for state residency and how to determine your status.

Can you appeal residency status?

Find out if you can change your status from nonresident to resident.

Is there financial assistance for nonresidents?

Check out two great programs – Western Undergraduate Exchange and Gem Scholarship – to help you pay the additional cost of out-of-state tuition.

When you apply to Boise State, the university classifies you as either a resident student or a nonresident student and uses this classification to determine your tuition and fees. Please refer to the undergraduate or graduate catalog for complete resident/nonresident classification information. For further information, please contact the Residency Coordinator, Administration Building, Room 110, telephone (208) 426-4249.

For the purpose of calculating tuition and fees, your status is determined by your responses to several questions on your application for admission. These questions are based on Idaho Code 33-3717. Here are several options but not the complete and full code.

*One or more of your parents/legal guardians or spouse's parents is a resident of the State of Idaho and has maintained a bona fide domicile in Idaho for at least one year prior to the opening day of the school term during which you plan to enroll.
You receive less than fifty percent of your support from parents or legal guardians who are not residents of Idaho for voting purposes, and you have continuously resided in the State of Idaho for at least twelve months before the opening day of the school term at Boise State for reasons other than educational purposes.
You have been employed full-time in the State of Idaho for at least twelve months before the opening day of the school term at Boise State.
*You are a graduate of an accredited high school in the State of Idaho and will attend Boise State University during the term immediately following graduation.
You are married to an Idaho resident.
You are a member of the Armed Forces stationed in the State of Idaho on military orders.
One or more of your parents or legal guardians, from whom you receive fifty percent or more of your support, is a member of the Armed Forces stationed in the State of Idaho.
You have been separated under honorable conditions from the Armed Forces after at least two years of service. At the time of separation, you designated the State of Idaho as your intended domicile or indicated Idaho as your home of record, and you are entering Boise State University within one year of the date of separation.
You have been away from the State of Idaho for a period of less than one calendar year. You have not established legal residence elsewhere, and you were a resident of the State of Idaho for a continuous twelve-month period immediately prior to departure.
*You are a member of one of the following Idaho American Indian tribes: Coeur d'Alene tribe, Shoshone-Paiute tribe, Nez Perce tribe, Shoshone-Bannock tribe, Kootenai tribe.

*May not be applicable to determine residency for community colleges.

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Requesting change in residency status

Students can petition to change their nonresidency status if they feel they qualify as an Idaho resident for tuition purposes. It is not guaranteed that your status will be changed if you appeal. The decision will depend on how you have met the determining factors listed above.

To appeal, print out a Residency Information Form at http://registrar.boisestate.edu/Forms.html. Complete the form and submit it according to the instructions provided by the 15th day of class during the semester in which you are enrolled. You will be notified if your appeal is approved or not.