Approved by Board of Trustees
Effective Date:  December 6, 2023
Responsible Division: Academic Affairs
Responsible Office:  Enrollment Services
Responsible Officer: Vice Provost for Enrollment Services

I. Purpose 

It is the intent of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or University) that uniform criteria shall apply in determining whether students shall be classified in-state or out-of-state for tuition and fee purposes and for admission purposes. This policy provides the criteria that will be utilized in making classification determinations.

II. Determination of Status

A.  Students and applicants with a domicile in Tennessee are to be classified in-state for tuition and fee purposes and for admission purposes. Domicile is 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 MTSU without intending to establish a new domicile elsewhere.

1.  Persons eligible to establish domicile include U.S. citizens; valid/unexpired permanent residents; asylees/refugees; and those with certain visa types, including A1 – A3; E1, E2; G1 – G5; H1B, H4; I; K1 – K4; L1, L1a, L1b, L2; NATO 1 – NATO 7; O1, O3 (dependents of O1 only); P1 – P4; R1, R2; T1 – T4; and V.

2.  Persons not eligible to establish domicile include persons who have not met requirements of the Eligibility Verification for Entitlement Act (EVEA); undocumented persons, regardless of length of residence in Tennessee; persons on Deferred Action (DACA/Dream Act), and those with certain visa types, including B1, B2; C1 – C3; D1; F1, F2; H1C, H2A, H2B, H3; J1, J2; M1, M2; N; O2, O3 (dependents of O2); Q1 – Q3; S5 – S7; TC, TN, TD; and U1 – U5.

B.  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.

C.  Students and applicants not having domicile in Tennessee shall be classified out-of-state.

D.  The domicile of an unemancipated person is that of his/her parent, except as provided in Section II.E. of this policy. Students who are unemancipated must submit parent, legal guardian, or foster parent documentation in lieu of their own. An emancipated person is one 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.

E.  Unemancipated students of divorced parents shall be classified in-state when one (1) parent, regardless of custodial status, is domiciled in Tennessee.

F.  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:

1.  Graduated from a Tennessee public secondary school;

2.  Graduated from a private secondary