Student Classification
Students are classified by academic year and admission status according to the following definitions:
Academic Year
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Freshman: Successful completion of fewer than 30 college-level semester credit hours.
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Sophomore: Successful completion of 30 or more college-level semester credit hours.
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Unclassified: Awarded a degree at the associate level or above.
Admission Status
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New Student: Attending FRCC for the first time.
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Continuing Student: Attended FRCC within the past 12 months.
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Readmitted Student: Not attended FRCC within the past 12 months and re-entering the college.
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Transfer Student: Some prior college or university experience.
Residency
Students are classified as either a resident or non-resident of Colorado for tuition purposes at the time of admission. Colorado Tuition Classification is governed by State Law (Title 23, Article 7, of the Colorado Revised Statutes of 1973, as amended) and by judicial decisions that apply to all public institutions of higher education in Colorado and is subject to change at any time. Residency decisions do not transfer between Colorado colleges. Front Range Community College must apply the rules set forth in the residency statutes and is not free to make exceptions to the rules except as specifically permitted by law.
General Qualifications
- Resident status requires domicile in Colorado for one year immediately prior to the first day of class. Domicile is defined as a true, fixed, and permanent home and place of habitation. Domicile is a legal characteristic that everyone has, and students can have only one domicile at any one time. A student's domicile is a legal, primary residence.
- During the one-year domicile period, the student should comply with all legal obligations of a Colorado resident such as demonstrating proof of voter registration, Colorado income tax payment, Colorado motor vehicle registration, Colorado issued driver's license or ID card, and/or proof of employment.
- Students under the age of 23 (unemancipated minors) may be eligible for in-state tuition if a parent or court-appointed legal guardian has been domiciled and complied with legal obligations in Colorado for one year.
- Students whose parents are not domiciled in Colorado may also qualify to begin the one-year domiciliary period if the student is: at least 23 years old, married, or emancipated. Emancipation requires documentation of financial independence and the ability to maintain your own residence and associated expenses in addition to tuition. If you receive financial support from your parents, extended family, friends, or other similar sources, including trusts and loans, you are not considered emancipated.
- There are several amendments to the Tuition Classification Law for certain populations of students including Olympic athletes, military personnel, inmates, recent Colorado high school graduates, GED recipients, etc. Please contact the Tuition Classification Officer at Front Range Community College to determine if you may be in an eligible population.
- FRCC sets a priority deadline for each semester that is typically one week before the start of the fifteen-week semester. Students who meet this priority deadline should know the petition decision before the deadline to drop courses for the fifteen-week semester. However, all students have up to 30 days after the first day of his/her term of admission or enrollment to petition for in-state tuition. The Tuition Classification Officer may request additional documentation as the burden of proof rests upon the petitioner to substantiate the claim of resident for tuition classification purposes. The Tuition Classification Officer notifies the student of the outcome within 30 days of the decision via email and/or standard letter.
Initial Classification
The initial tuition classification decision is made by the designated Tuition Classification Officer in the Registrar's Office for the semester in which the student is admitted. The classification is based on the information provided on the application for admission. Failure to answer all questions could lead to a non-resident classification. After the tuition classification is determined, it remains unchanged in the absence of further action and evidence to the contrary.
Changes in Tuition Classification
Any student who believes that the tuition classification decision is not correct or whose information has changed and now wishes to prove eligibility for in-state tuition may petition for in-state tuition or resident classification. Petition forms are available online at www.frontrange.edu/residency or at the Registrar's Office.
Correction of Residency Determination Due to an Error
FRCC reserves the right to correct a residency determination after the 30-day deadline in cases where the college believes an error was made.
Appeal Procedures for Residency and Tuition Classification
Any student who is denied in-state tuition classification after petitioning for in-state tuition may appeal the decision of the Tuition Classification Officer. The student must appeal to the Registrar's Office in writing and provide any additional supporting documentation available to substantiate the claim to in-state tuition classification within 30 days of the denial, but no later than the end of the semester.
Non-Resident Students and the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) Program
WUE is the Western Undergraduate Exchange, a program coordinated by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Through WUE, students in some western states may enroll in many two-year and four-year public college programs at a reduced tuition rate, which at FRCC is 150% of the total cost of resident tuition. WUE students are not eligible for the College Opportunity Fund stipend, but WUE tuition is considerably less than non-resident tuition. For more information, go to http://wiche.edu/wue.