February 11, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Suzanne Ernst (702) 889-8426

New Residency Information Available for Students

LAS VEGAS – The Nevada Board of Regents today launched an information campaign to contact students who may be eligible for reconsideration of their residency status due to a recent change the Board made to its residency policy.

Starting today, the state’s four community colleges, two universities and state college will begin contacting students who may be candidates for retroactive reconsideration of their initial residency classification.

The action the Board of Regents took on January 29 applies only to those students whose first matriculation occurred in Fall Semester 2003 or Spring Semester 2004. Matriculation refers to the first day of instruction in the semester in which enrollment of a student first occurs.

Individuals who matriculated in one of those semesters and whose families reside in Nevada may gain resident status if the student is a dependent and the family had established bona fide residency in Nevada at the date of the student’s matriculation. Individuals who matriculated in one of those semesters and whose families live out of state may gain resident status if the individual had been a bona fide resident at least six months prior to matriculation. The Board’s previous policy required a 12-month period to establish residence in the state.

“We felt it was critical to get accurate information to our students as fast as possible and to provide a consistent, easy application process,” said Dr. Jane Nichols, chancellor of the University and Community College System of Nevada. “Our institutions stand ready to work with the affected students to get them quickly reclassified as Nevada residents if they meet the requirements.”

The campuses are contacting individual students by mail if they matriculated as non-residents in either Fall Semester 2003 or Spring Semester 2004. General information will also be disseminated publicly at each institution. Students must submit an application form and required documentation to have their residency status reconsidered. Students are encouraged to review the online FAQ and application form, which can be downloaded at www.nevada.edu/residency/.

The Nevada Board of Regents is the elected, 13-member governing body for the University and Community College System of Nevada. Comprising two doctoral granting universities, a state college, four comprehensive community colleges and one environmental research institute, the UCCSN serves the educational and job training needs of the nation's fastest growing state. As Nevada's only system of higher education, the UCCSN provides educational opportunities to nearly 98,000 students.

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