§ 116-143.1. Provisions for determining resident status for tuition purposes.
§ 116‑143.1. Provisions for determiningresident status for tuition purposes.
(a) As defined under this section:
(1) A "legal resident" or "resident" is aperson who qualifies as a domiciliary of North Carolina; a"nonresident" is a person who does not qualify as a domiciliary ofNorth Carolina.
(2) A "resident for tuition purposes" is a person whoqualifies for the in‑State tuition rate; a "nonresident for tuitionpurposes" is a person who does not qualify for the in‑State tuitionrate.
(3) "Institution of higher education" means any of theconstituent institutions of the University of North Carolina and the communitycolleges under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Community Colleges.
(b) To qualify as a resident for tuition purposes, a person musthave established legal residence (domicile) in North Carolina and maintainedthat legal residence for at least 12 months immediately prior to his or herclassification as a resident for tuition purposes. Every applicant foradmission shall be required to make a statement as to his length of residencein the State.
(c) To be eligible for classification as a resident for tuitionpurposes, a person must establish that his or her presence in the Statecurrently is, and during the requisite 12‑month qualifying period was,for purposes of maintaining a bona fide domicile rather than of maintaining amere temporary residence or abode incident to enrollment in an institution ofhigher education.
(d) An individual shall not be classified as a resident fortuition purposes and, thus, not rendered eligible to receive the in‑Statetuition rate, until he or she has provided such evidence related to legalresidence and its duration as may be required by officials of the institutionof higher education from which the individual seeks the in‑State tuitionrate.
(e) When an individual presents evidence that the individual hasliving parent(s) or court‑appointed guardian of the person, the legalresidence of such parent(s) or guardian shall be prima facie evidence of theindividual's legal residence, which may be reinforced or rebutted relative tothe age and general circumstances of the individual by the other evidence oflegal residence required of or presented by the individual; provided, that thelegal residence of an individual whose parents are domiciled outside this Stateshall not be prima facie evidence of the individual's legal residence if theindividual has lived in this State the five consecutive years prior toenrolling or reregistering at the institution of higher education at whichresident status for tuition purposes is sought.
(f) In making domiciliary determinations related to theclassification of persons as residents or nonresidents for tuition purposes,the domicile of a married person, irrespective of sex, shall be determined, asin the case of an unmarried person, by reference to all relevant evidence ofdomiciliary intent. For purposes of this section:
(1) No person shall be precluded solely by reason of marriage toa person domiciled outside North Carolina from establishing or maintaininglegal residence in North Carolina and subsequently qualifying or continuing toqualify as a resident for tuition purposes;
(2) No persons shall be deemed solely by reason of marriage to aperson domiciled in North Carolina to have established or maintained a legalresidence in North Carolina and subsequently to have qualified or continued toqualify as a resident for tuition purposes;
(3) In determining the domicile of a married person,irrespective of sex, the fact of marriage and the place of domicile of his orher spouse shall be deemed relevant evidence to be considered in ascertainingdomiciliary intent.
(g) Any nonresident person, irrespective of sex, who marries alegal resident of this State or marries one who later becomes a legal resident,may, upon becoming a legal resident of this State, accede to the benefit of thespouse's immediately precedent duration as a legal resident for purposes ofsatisfying the 12‑month durational requirement of this section.
(h) No person shall lose his or her resident status for tuitionpurposes solely by reason of serving in the armed forces outside this State.
(h1) Any member of a North Carolina National Guard unit who is anonresident shall be eligible to be charged the in‑State tuition rate andshall pay the full amount of the in‑State tuition rate and applicablemandatory fees. This subsection applies to members in a reserve or active dutystatus.
(i) A person who, having acquired bona fide legal residence inNorth Carolina, has been classified as a resident for tuition purposes but who,while enrolled in a State institution of higher education, loses North Carolinalegal residence, shall continue to enjoy the in‑State tuition rate for astatutory grace period. This grace period shall be measured from the date onwhich the culminating circumstances arose that caused loss of legal residenceand shall continue for 12 months; provided, that a resident's marriage to aperson domiciled outside of North Carolina shall not be deemed a culminatingcircumstance even when said resident's spouse continues to be domiciled outsideof North Carolina; and provided, further, that if the 12‑month periodends during a semester or academic term in which such a former resident isenrolled at a State institution of higher education, such grace period shallextend, in addition, to the end of that semester or academic term.
(j) Notwithstanding the prima facie evidence of legal residenceof an individual derived pursuant to subsection (e), notwithstanding the presumptionsof the legal residence of a minor established by common law, andnotwithstanding the authority of a judicially determined custody award of aminor, for purposes of this section, the legal residence of a minor whoseparents are divorced, separated, or otherwise living apart shall be deemed tobe North Carolina for the time period relative to which either parent isentitled to claim and does in fact claim the minor as a dependent for NorthCarolina individual income tax purposes. The provisions of this subsectionshall pertain only to a minor who is claimed as a dependent by a North Carolinalegal resident.
Any person who immediately prior to his or her eighteenth birthdaywould have been deemed under this subsection a North Carolina legal residentbut who achieves majority before enrolling at an institution of highereducation shall not lose the benefit of this subsection if that person:
(1) Upon achieving majority, acts, to the extent that theperson's degree of actual emancipation permits, in a manner consistent withbona fide legal residence in North Carolina; and
(2) Begins enrollment at an institution of higher education notlater than the fall academic term next following completion of educationprerequisite to admission at such institution.
(k) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, a minorwho satisfies the following conditions immediately prior to commencement of anenrolled term at an institution of higher education, shall be accorded residenttuition status for that term:
(1) The minor has lived for five or more consecutive yearscontinuing to such term in North Carolina in the home of an adult relativeother than a parent, domiciled in this State; and
(2) The adult relative has functioned during those years as a defacto guardian of the minor and exercised day‑to‑day care,supervision, and control of the minor.
A person who immediately prior to his or her eighteenth birthdayqualified for or was accorded resident status for tuition purposes pursuant tothis subsection shall be deemed upon achieving majority to be a legal residentof North Carolina of at least 12 months' duration; provided, that the legalresidence of such an adult person shall be deemed to continue in North Carolinaonly so long as the person does not abandon legal residence in this State.
(l) Any person who ceases to be enrolled at or graduates froman institution of higher education while classified as a resident for tuitionpurposes and subsequently abandons North Carolina domicile shall be permittedto reenroll at an institution of higher education as a resident for tuitionpurposes without necessity of meeting the 12‑month durational requirementof this section if the person reestablishes North Carolina domicile within 12months of abandonment of North Carolina domicile and continuously maintains thereestablished North Carolina domicile at least through the beginning of theacademic term(s) for which in‑State tuition status is sought. The benefitof this subsection shall be accorded not more than once to any one person.
(m) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a person whois a full‑time employee of The University of North Carolina, or is thespouse or dependent child of a full‑time employee of The University ofNorth Carolina, and who is a legal resident of North Carolina, qualifies as aresident for tuition purposes without having maintained that legal residencefor at least 12 months immediately prior to his or her classification as aresident for tuition purposes. (1971, c. 845, ss.7‑9; 1973, cc. 710, 1364, 1377; 1975, c. 436; 1979, cc. 435, 836; 1981,cc. 471, 905; 1987, c. 564, s. 19; 1989, c. 728, s. 1.3; 1991 (Reg. Sess.,1992), c. 1030, s. 32; 2004‑130, s. 2; 2005‑276, s. 9.25(a).)