The University Board of Regents approved changes to the University's requirements for granting in-state tuition at last month's meeting. New rules were added to University's existing policy, allowing more students to claim in-state tuition status.

Conditions that could now allow a student to claim residency include having parents who live in Michigan or if the applicant or his or her spouse is employed in Michigan with the job being the primary reason for their presence in the state.

Residency cannot be claimed solely through the employment of a spouse who lives in Michigan temporarily or by paying Michigan income taxes, owning a property or possessing a Michigan driver's license.

Regent Olivia Maynard said that with these changes in the in-state tuition guidelines, the regents plan to make the policy "more liberal in its definition of in-state."

Though the new policy is more open, some students paying out-of-state tuition still believe it has a long way to go.

School of Public Health student Misty Fewel said she has lived in Michigan for four years and was denied in-state tuition because her husband failed to meet the residency requirements.

Fewel requested that the University Board of Regents reverse their decision but even the recent changes to the tuition guidelines do not allow her to claim residency.

Public Policy student Peri Stone-Palmquist said that although she has bought property in Michigan, has had a full-time and long-term job in the area for two years, has lived in the state for two years and voted in Michigan elections, she was also denied in-state tuition by the Office of Registrar.

Stone-Palmquist maintains she was wrongfully denied in-state tuition because she said her full-time job is her primary reason for being in the state. She said she was informed the reason she has been denied in-state tuition is because her husband accepted his admission to the University before she started her current job.

"They just clarified that someone's residency can be denied because of their spouse," she said.

The number one qualification for state residency at both University of Michigan and Michigan State University is that a person be "domiciled" in Michigan.

According to Michigan State's out-of-state regulations, a person is domiciled if one or both parents have permanent employment or have established a household within the state or if the student or the student's spouse is employed full-time and that job is determined to be the primary reason for the student's presence in Michigan.

Niether the University of Michigan nor Michigan State allow ownership of property, possession of a Michigan driver's license or voter's registration card, property and income tax payments or the student's statement of intent to live in Michigan to determine residency.

Stone-Palmquist, who said she believes the University's standards are still more strict than those at other schools, said she lived and worked in Michigan for a year before starting her classes at the University.

According to Michigan State policies, "a person who physically resides in Michigan for 12 consecutive months without enrolling in any academic courses at any two-year or four-year degree granting institution may matriculate as an in-state student immediately thereafter. "

Regent Olivia Maynard said with these policy changes "some students (that) before were classified as out of state, are now classified as in state. The reality is that very few students are affected by these changes and very few cases have been appealed."

Maynard also said the regents' intent was to clarify the conditions for claiming in state tuition.

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