Good evening: Shanteisha Howell, a citizen (born in the USA), has attended school in Broward County all her life. Having graduated from Everglades High School, Pembroke Pines, she was accepted at FIU to pursue a degree in nursing. She has been asked to and is required to pay thousands of dollars in out-of-state fees for the following reasons: Her parents are still domiciled in Jamaica so she was not protected under this clause while she was under 18 years old Now that she is over 18, her drivers license is not yet a year old so now that she is independent of her patents, it is inadequate proof Even though she can prove through Broward County School Records that she has been resident here and attending school since kindergarten, the state and county school records cannot be used to prove that this young adult is and was always resident here How can domicile for student purposes not be proven by student records of attendance and achievement, but are acceptable for admission? She appealed, no-one saw her, but she was advised by email that her appeal would not be heard? Can you please try to help her as she is looking at projected student loans of $35,000 (thirty-five thousand) dollars to cover an initial 15 credits before her license is a year old, and she has truly never lived in another state, since she was a toddler. Her email is shantiesha.howell@yahoo.com, and her telephone number is 954-687-2855. I am her 8th grade Mathematics teacher and she reached out to me to try and get your attention as she has classes tomorrow. Denise A. Munoz-Bennett 954-937-2730 Denise A. Munoz-Bennett
Student (citizen) who has been attending elementary through High school in Broward County being forced to pay phenomenally high out-of-state fees by FIU because her license is less than a year oldand her parents are away. Is it about students who want an education, or do we gouge her for money? Why would attendance in school for 10 years at the same address not be useful for residency, but acceptable for admittance?
Where has Shantiesha lived for all these years? Can she prove this? Who paid the rent for her? Who has been her guardian all this time? Can they submit proof for her? Did she have medical treatment? Immunizations? Hospitalizations? Does Shantiesha have a social security number? If so, did she live in this state when she registered for this number? How about a birth certificate? Was Shantiesha born in this state? These last two pieces of informaiton are acceptable “proof of existence” for the dept of motor vehicles. They may be connected to some of the proof needed to show residency, If all these records show Shantiesha was born, registered, treated, and protected in this state, she should easily qualify for in-state tuition.
How long must one have a driver’s license to pass the “eligibility” test? Shantiesha can always wait until this time has passed. If there’s a reason she can’t wait, she can ask legal aid to help. If she must start classes immediately, she might ask the administration of the nursing school if they will excuse her from paying off the the student loan when she has been able to prove her residency. This is a way for Shantiesha to start classes now but be excused from repaying a loan she never should have been forced to take out.
Technically, attending school doesn’t prove residency. Foreign Exchange students don’t live here permanently but they attend school here.
There are numerous other records available to show proof of residency. Shantiesha needs to ask the overseer of this program to give her a list of acceptable proofs of residency so she has an idea of what is needed. Perhaps the nursing school itself can give her a list of documents she can use to prove residency.
If Shantiesha’s parents lived in this state she could use their records. Since they do not she will have to approach whoever she lived with or who acted as her guardian for their records. The school records she provided only show her school history. Nursing school needs a certain level of proficiency and aptitude in order to give a spot to a student. This is what Shantiesha’s school records provided. Now she needs to provide the correct records to show where she lived. She can do this once she finds out what these other records are. She needs to go to the financial provider for this information.
Good Luck!
PS … $35,000 for nursing school is outrageous! Is this a two year or a four year program? Is this for the entire course of study? If Shantiesha has done everything and still has gotten nowhere she can contact the accrediting institution that oversees nursing schools to make sure they adhere to the standards set for their students to qualify for student loans. There is no reason for this school not to provide Shantiesha a list of their requirements so she will be charged minimal tuition. The nursing school can also give Shantiesha a list of requirements for scholarships available to some of their students.