2025-26 Audit and Reporting Guidelines Format Final- Harsha

Re: Determination of residence for purposes of in-state tuition and allocation of funds

Wayne Stonecypher

Executive Director State Board for Community and Junior Colleges 3825 Ridgewood Road Jackson, MS 39211

Dear Dr. Stonecypher:

Attorney General Jim Hood received your request for an official opinion and assigned it to me for research and response. In your letter of request, you state: This correspondence is to seek an Official Attorney General's Opinion on the questions set forth herein. Section 37-103-1 et seq. establishes the requirements for setting tuition and out-of-state fees for Mississippi's public universities and community and junior colleges. Section 37 - 103 - 25 has been interpreted for many years as requiring total out-of-state tuition and fees to be set at a minimum at the amount of state funds appropriated for community/junior college support divided by the number of full- time students or “FTE's.” Recently, questions have arisen regarding the treatment of certain students for purposes of in-state or out- of-state tuition and for purposes of inclusion or exclusion from the community and junior college funding formula. Section 37-103-13 states “The residence of an adult is that place where he is domiciled, that is, the place where he actually physically resides with the intention of remaining there indefinitely or of returning there permanently when temporarily absent.” We also direct your attention to a 2006 amendment to Section 37-103- 7 which reads in part “A student residing within the State of Mississippi who, upon registration at a Mississippi institution of higher learning or community college, presents a transcript demonstrating graduation from a Mississippi secondary school and who has been a secondary school student in Mississippi for not less than the final four (4) years of secondary school attendance shall not be required to pay out-of- sta te tuition.” The key word in this Code section that is relevant to the question we pose is the meaning of the word “residing.” In light of these statutory provisions and others, can a student or their parents, if the student is under the age of 21, establish legal residence (domicile) in Mississippi when they are in the United States unlawfully or are holding nonimmigrant visas, for the purpose of qualifying for in-state tuition in accordance with Section 37 -