Beginning July 1, 2004, if a student is the spouse or the child of a member of the armed forces, then the student shall be entitled to in-state tuition charges for a maximum of one year during the period that the military parent or spouse is residing in the Commonwealth. These students must be identified by using the new value MILGP. The residency exception table has been updated to reflect this change. Further explanation of the new provision is outlined below:
Eligibility for in-state or reduced tuition for a nonmilitary student not domiciled in Virginia whose parent or spouse is a member of the armed forces is currently outlined in section 23-7.4:2(A) of the Code of Virginia as follows:
A non-military student, not otherwise eligible for in-state tuition, whose parent or spouse is a member of the military residing in the Commonwealth pursuant to military orders and claiming a state other than Virginia on the State of Legal Residence Certificate shall be entitled to in-state tuition charges when the following conditions are met:
The provision in item #3 above has been overridden since 1998 by language in the Appropriation Act due to the estimated revenue loss of implementation. For the 2004-06 biennium, the Governor removed the overriding language in the Appropriation Act to allow the provisions in item #3 to apply. The Governor provided general funding to help offset some of the costs to higher education for this item and specified that SCHEV would make a recommendation by November 1, 2004 whether students qualifying for this provision shall be counted as resident students for tuition and fee revenue policy purposes.
The General Assembly added clarifying language to the Governor’s language that further defines the eligibility terms outlined in item #3 above. Specifically:
The eligibility clock for the one-year in-state tuition rate entitlement to a child or spouse of a member of the armed forces shall commence on the actual reporting date shown on the military orders.
After the one-year eligibility expires above, any student or spouse of a member of the armed forces may continue to receive the in-state tuition rate so long as either they or the non-resident parent claiming them as a dependent for federal or state income tax purposes are employed full time in Virginia, paying Virginia income taxes on all taxable income earned in the Commonwealth and the students are claimed as a dependent for Virginia and federal income tax purposes.
Since some general funding will be provided by the Department of Planning and Budget to offset the cost of lost tuition, the VCCS must track students in SIS that receive reduced tuition rates under this military tuition language.
Students eligible for in-state tuition under this law are not eligible for state financial aid funds that require Virginia domicile residency as eligibility criteria.