Georgia Residency Rules

 Difficulty

Universities in Georgia, to generalize, are on the difficult side of the spectrum when it comes to earning in-state residency.  But importantly, there are some harder and easier universities within the system and even the hardest is do-able for the right person.

The primary difficulty arises from Georgia’s presumption that if you move to Georgia, then you’re there primarily to attend college.  If you can’t overcome that presumption, then you’re out of luck.  For almost all universities in Georgia, that presumption is impossible to overcome if you go to school at all during your domicile period.  There are some exceptions, but in general if you are prepared to take a gap-year and work for one year either before your freshman year or after, then it may be possible for you.

On the good side of things, you typically will not be required to be 100% financially independent; you can have some help.  But you also must be prepared to work in Georgia and earn a not-insignificant amount of money.

Georgia Reciprocity Agreements:

Georgia is a member state of the Academic Common Market which is a limited regional reciprocity agreement among select Southern States. Favorable college tuition rates in nearby states are sometimes possible through reciprocity although many restrictions apply. There are also some special agreements between some Northern Florida and Southern Georgia counties and colleges-for those you will want to research your university in question.

See Tuition Reciprocity Agreements Explained

See Tuition Reciprocity Agreements Overpromise & Under-Deliver

University-Specific Overviews Below:

Georgia state regulations concerning in-state status are interpreted wildly differently for different universities.  That being the case, it behooves you to figure out how those state rules are actually interpreted at the college in Georgia that you’re interested in. Below please find links to in-state overviews for select universities in Arkansas. If your college is not highlighted, then please consider buying a University-Specific Nutshell Report or see all available university-specific in-state overviews.

Popular Universities in Georgia:

Armstrong Atlantic State University-Savannah

Georgia State University-Atlanta

Georgia Tech-Atlanta

University of Georgia-Athens

Other Universities in Georgia:

Albany State University-Albany
Clayton State University-Morrow
Columbus State University-Columbus
Dalton State College-Dalton
Fort Valley State University-Fort Valley
Georgia College and State University-Milledgeville
Georgia Gwinnett College-Lawrenceville
Georgia Regents U-Augusta
Georgia Regents U Medical College of Georgia-Augusta
Georgia Southern U-Statesboro
Georgia Southwestern State University Americus
Kennesaw State University-Kennesaw
Middle Georgia State College-Macon
Savannah State Georgia-Savannah
Southern Polytechnic State University-Marietta
University of North Georgia-Athens
University of West Georgia-Carrollton
Valdosta State University-Valdosta