Going to school at NOVA CC and living in Maryland? (Harrisonburg: house, community college)

[ninxo]

Hi I was thinking about attending NOVA CC next fall. I'm orginally a resident of Virginia and live in Harrisonburg. I just wanted to get away from my parents house and live with my boyfriend's family who lives around 40 minutes to NOVA. I wanted to attend NOVA for a year and try to gain residency in Maryland in that year I am attending NOVA then switch to a local community college in Maryland. Is this possible? And would it be wise of me to do so? I can always commute to school by metro or drive sometime. If it isn't so much of a good idea I was thinking of just working for a year in Maryland, gain residency, then start school at the local community college in Maryland. Help? Please and thank you!

[FindingZen]

Not that I would encourage dishonesty...but if you were to claim your parents' address, it would make a significant difference in your tuition.

As far as the actual commute goes, it depends on which NOVA campus you pick as well as where you will be living in MD. Do note that a fair amount of NOVA classes are available online.

[marie5v]

Originally Posted by ninxo

Hi I was thinking about attending NOVA CC next fall. I'm orginally a resident of Virginia and live in Harrisonburg. I just wanted to get away from my parents house and live with my boyfriend's family who lives around 40 minutes to NOVA. I wanted to attend NOVA for a year and try to gain residency in Maryland in that year I am attending NOVA then switch to a local community college in Maryland. Is this possible? And would it be wise of me to do so? I can always commute to school by metro or drive sometime. If it isn't so much of a good idea I was thinking of just working for a year in Maryland, gain residency, then start school at the local community college in Maryland. Help? Please and thank you!

Not sure what the rules are in MD, but you typically need about a year of an official address to prove residency. That means that you could still attend NoVa as long as they didn't see that your address changed. However, you would not be able to switch to MD after attending NoVa for a year, because your attendance at NoVa would make you a VA resident for tuition purposes (for the previous year, which you then could not use to establish residency in MD). At least that is what I think would happen - you could check at the MD school to be sure.

[roninsedge]

I strongly discourage this course of action. Mostly because of the commute from MD to any of the NOVA campuses. None of them are easy to get to using public transportation. Work for a year establish residency and go to a MD CC.

[ChristineVA]

Not all CCs are created the same. Check the reputation of the one you would be attending in Maryland. I did attend some NVCC classes while I was a resident of Maryland because it was just better than Prince George's CC.

I'm not sure about community colleges; however, Virginia 4 year institutions typically have lower in-state tuition rates than Maryland in-state tuition rates. If that applies to the community college levels also, you may end up paying more for tuition once you become a Maryland resident.

NVCC has a few campuses and some are very accessible to Maryland residents as far as location. They also have a fairly extensive Extended Learning program too.