Though out of state students mayfeel that living on campus should consider them to be Louisiana residentsaccording to the Southern University System this proves to be inaccurate. Tobecome an applicant at any campus in the Southern University System, asresident students must provide certain documentation to meet the criteria. Tobe a Louisiana Resident you must be a spouse of a Louisiana resident, aLouisiana resident by virtue of full-time employment, or military personnelstationed in Louisiana, their spouses and dependents.
“I was born in this state and myfather pays taxes in this state and I still can’t be exempted,” said BrandonAllen, a junior majoring in secondary education from Los Angeles.
As a Louisiana resident a studentmay be eligible for designation as a resident of the State of Louisiana or forthe exemption of all or a portion of the non-resident fees that area assessedstudents enrolling at the University. A resident student shall be defined as anindividual who has abandoned all prior domiciles, established a domicile ofhis/her own in the state of Louisiana and who has been domiciled in the stateof Louisiana continuously for a period of at least one full calendar yearimmediately preceding the first day of classes for which resident classificationis sought.
“Why should we be paying out ofstate fees, it should be more leeway towards us. Plus for a person to actuallyhave to sit out of school causes a distraction for the student,” said JamarColbert a junior majoring in mass communications from San Francisco. “Thereshould be a reason why there’s out of state fees. It makes it seem like it’scosting us money for them to have us here. The out of state fee is basicallymore than the school tuition. There’s no purpose.”
An individual’s physical presencewithin this state solely for education purposes will not be sufficient forresident classification, regardless of the length of time he/she has beenpresent in the states.
“My senior year in highschool Imoved to Baton Rouge and stayed with family because I wanted to go to Southern.Even though I lived in Houston 17 years of my life, I was not considered aLouisiana resident,” said Shawn Robertson a senior majoring in therapeuticrecreation/physical therapy from Houston.
