Rules For Determination Of Student Status

(1) Students and applicants with a domicile in the state of Tennessee are to be classified in-state for tuition and fee purposes and for admission purposes. Domicile is defined for these rules as a person’s true, fixed, and permanent home and place of habitation; it is the place where he/she intends to remain, and to which he/she expects to return when he/she leaves Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) without intending to establish a new domicile elsewhere. (2) MTSU will comply with all applicable federal and state statutes and regulations pertaining to residency classification of students. (3) Absence from Tennessee for short periods of time will not affect the establishment of a residence, provided domicile was not established in another state during that time. (4) Students and applicants not having domicile in Tennessee shall be classified out-of-state. (5) The domicile of an unemancipated person is that of his/her parent, except as provided in Paragraph (6) below. Students who are unemancipated must submit parent, legal guardian, or foster parent documentation in lieu of their own. An emancipated person is someone who has attained the age of eighteen (18) years, and whose parents have entirely legally surrendered the right to the care, custody, and earnings of such person and who no longer are under any legal obligation to support or maintain such deemed emancipated person. (6) Unemancipated students of divorced parents shall be classified in-state when one (1) parent, regardless of custodial status, is domiciled in Tennessee. (7) A student is classified in-state for tuition and fee purposes if the student is a citizen of the U.S. and has resided in Tennessee for at least one (1) year immediately prior to admission and meets one (1) of the following: (a) Graduated from a Tennessee public secondary school; (b) Graduated from a private secondary school that is located in Tennessee; or (c) Earned a Tennessee high school equivalency diploma. (8) The spouse of a student classified as in-state will also be classified as in-state. (9) Regular full-time employees at institutions governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) or a Locally Governed Institution (LGI), along with their spouses and children shall be classified as in-state students for purposes of fees and tuition when enrolled in courses at any TBR institution or LGI. RESIDENCY CLASSIFICATION CHAPTER 0240-07-02 (10) Graduate assistants at MTSU shall be classified as in-state for purposes of fees and tuition. (11) Continuous enrollment at MTSU is defined as enrollment in at least one (1) course in successive Fall or Spring terms during the student’s enrollment.