In-state tuition classification status requires students to prove domicile (legal, primary resident) in Colorado for 12 months before the beginning of the term in which you plan to attend. During this time, you must take all actions that would be expected of any persons who make Colorado their permanent home. These actions include separating from your former state of residence and creating ties to Colorado by filing Colorado state income tax as a resident, working in Colorado and obtaining a Colorado driver’s license or ID, vehicle registration, and voter registration.
Students younger than age 23 (unemancipated minors) are eligible for in-state tuition
if a parent or court-appointed legal guardian has been domiciled in Colorado for a
minimum of one year. Documentation proving court-appointed guardianship is required.
Although people who have lived in Colorado only a short time are considered state
residents for voting and other legal purposes, they are not classified as in-state
for tuition purposes until they can prove domicile in Colorado.
Changes to tuition classification will not occur after the first 15 percent of the semester (the drop deadline for full-term courses).
Students who live in the Aims Tax District (most, but not all, of Weld County) may qualify for the in-district tuition rate. This rate is lower than the in-state tuition rate. Students who move into the Aims Tax District may request the tuition discount by filling out an Information Change Form and submitting it to the Student Enrollment and Registrar's Office with appropriate documentation by the first day of the term. Requests for a change in tuition classification will not be accepted after the full-term drop deadline for the semester in which the change has been requested.
Domicile is defined as your true, fixed and permanent home and place of habitation. Domicile is a legal characteristic that everyone has, and you can have only one domicile at any one time. Your domicile is your legal, primary residence. You must be a qualified person to establish domicile in Colorado.
A qualified person is defined as
Your in-state eligibility will be lost if you or your parents (depending on your age
and parental support) maintain domicile outside Colorado for one year.
You may leave the state for vacations or for other temporary reasons and need not
maintain a residence in Colorado during a temporary absence. To maintain Colorado
domicile during a temporary absence, you should keep Colorado connections, particularly
voter registration and declaration of any out-of-state income on your Colorado state
income tax return.
On any other state tax return, you must file as a nonresident. However, residing in your previous home state for a substantial period of time (including summer) is some evidence of continued domicile in that place, although such residence does not by itself disqualify you for in-state status.