Current Data Requirements

NEW 6.8.0 REQUIREMENTS

Data Element:

dependent_status

dependent_status

Description:

Whether applicant is a minor subject to care and control of guardian per residency law—and if not, whether applicant is a non-minor or an independent minor.

Whether applicant is a minor subject to care and control of guardian per residency law—and if not, whether applicant is a non-minor or an independent minor.

Format, Length:

bpchar, 1

bpchar, 1

Values:

1 = Applicant is dependent.  Selected “None of the statements above is true about me.”

2 = Applicant is under 19 and independent.  Selected “At least one of these statements is true about me”.

3 = Applicant is 19 or older and therefore independent. The applicant will not have been presented with the parent/guardian questions.

1 = Applicant is dependent. Selected “I have a parent or guardian.”

2 = Applicant is under 19 and independent. Selected either one of the following: “I was in foster care at any time after my 13th birthday” OR “I don’t have a parent or guardian or at least one of the statements is true about me.”

3 = Applicant is 19 or older and therefore independent. The applicant will not have been presented with the parent/guardian questions.

Allows Null:

No

? ASK JOSH

Default:

3

3

Usage:

If this field = 1, parent/guardian questions are asked and many residency-related questions are reworded to refer to parent/guardian rather than “you”.

If this field = 1, parent/guardian questions are asked and many residency-related questions are reworded to refer to parent/guardian rather than “you”.

Notes:

General law identifies a ‘Minor’ as under age 18; however, the “Evidence of Intent” rules in the Student Attendance Accounting Manual (Chapter 2), based on Title 5 section 54024, specify ‘under 19 years’ as the differentiating criterion, superseding general law.

General law identifies a ‘Minor’ as under age 18; however, the “Evidence of Intent” rules in the Student Attendance Accounting Manual (Chapter 2), based on Title 5 section 54024, specify ‘under 19 years’ as the differentiating criterion, superseding general law.

Question Text:

Select the statement that applies to you:

At least one of the following statements is true about me:

• I am or have been married

• I am legally emancipated

• I do not have a living parent or guardian

• I was in foster care at any time after my 13th birthday

• As of <rdd>, I will be on active duty in the armed services

• As of <rdd>, I will have been self-supporting for at least one year

  None of the statements above is true about me.

Select the statement that applies to you:

I have a parent or guardian.

I was in foster care at any time after my 13th birthday.

I don’t have a parent or guardian, or at least one of the following statements is true about me.

• I am or have been married

• I am legally emancipated

• I do not have a living parent or guardian

• As of <rdd>, I will be on active duty in the armed services

• As of <rdd>, I will have been self-supporting for at least one year

Spanish Question Text

NEED Spanish translation for the question response options above

Conditions:

Appears only if the applicant will be under 19 at RDD.

Appears only if the applicant will be under 19 at RDD.

Additional Text:   

By California law, qualification for resident tuition is based on the residency of your parent(s) or guardian(s) until you are 19 years of age, except in certain special circumstances. The following questions will be used to determine whether or not you need to provide parent or guardian information for the purposes of determining residency. Your response will not affect your admission to college.

Additional Text:   

Determining your California residency for tuition purposes is based on the residency of your parent(s) or guardian(s) until you are 19 years of age, except in certain special circumstances. Nonresidents who meet eligibility requirements may apply for nonresident tuition exemption (AB540 / SB68).

Response Options:

Must select one of the two radio buttons.

Must select one of the three radio button options.

[radio button] I have a parent or guardian.

[radio button] I was in foster care at any time after my 13th birthday.

[radio button] I don’t have a parent or guardian, or at least one of the following statements is true about me.

• I am or have been married

• I am legally emancipated

• I do not have a living parent or guardian

• As of <rdd>, I will be on active duty in the armed services

• As of <rdd>, I will have been self-supporting for at least one year

Help:

For the “At least one of the following statements is true about me” radio button: Click this button if you are independent for one of the reasons specified.

For the “None of these statements above is true about me” radio button: Click this button unless you are independent for one of the reasons specified.

If any of the hyperlinks in the Question Text is clicked, a pop-up is displayed with the following text:

Parent: For the purposes of this college application, your parent is a natural or adoptive mother or father with whom you live and/or who provides your support, care, and control. If you have two parents, you can enter the name of either one.

Guardian: For the purposes of this college application, your guardian is a person other than a parent who has been legally appointed to provide your support, care, and control. If you have two guardians, you can enter the name of either one.

Emancipated: Being emancipated means that you have been legally released from the care and control of parent(s) and/or guardian(s), and are now responsible for your own care and control.

To be considered legally emancipated for the purposes of this college application, you must have received a declaration of emancipation from a California court, or have been legally emancipated in another U.S. state.

Self-Supporting:  You are considered to be self-supporting if you do not receive any financial support from a parent or legal guardian in the year leading up to the start of the term for which you are applying.

Financial support you may receive from colleges, institutions, or individuals who are not your parent or legal guardian does not affect whether you are considered self-supporting.

Foster Care:  You have been in foster care if you were removed from your biological family through an order by a court, which can include placement with foster parents, in a group home, or with relatives/extended family members. If you were living with relatives you must have been placed through the foster care system by an order of the court.

Foster Care includes, but is not limited to, placement in out-of-home care under the supervision of the Juvenile Probation Department. As long as you were placed within the foster care system by order of a court, you were in foster care. Having a legal guardian does not necessarily mean that you have been in foster care. If you need assistance with determining whether you were in foster care, you can contact the California Foster Care Ombudsman's office at (877) 846-1602 or fosteryouthhelp@dss.ca.gov

This following help text appears in right slider-drawer when user clicks on (?) icon (following the end of the first paragraph of additional text.).

Help

By California law, qualification for resident tuition is based on the residency of your parent(s) or guardian(s) until you are 19 years of age, except in certain special circumstances.

The Parent/Guardian Information question is used to determine whether or not you need to provide information about a parent or guardian for the purposes of determining residency.  

If you are under the age of 19 and have at least one parent or guardian, select the option, “I have a parent or guardian” and enter the information in the text input fields.

If you do not have a parent or guardian, or if any of the bulleted statements are true about you, or if you have been in foster care at any time after your 13th birthday, select the appropriate option and continue to the next question.

Your response will not affect your admission to college.

This information is protected by federal and state laws and will not be shared or used outside of the admission process. 

Hyperlink Help

If any of the hyperlinks in the Question Text is clicked, the following additional help text will appear in the right drawer.

Parent: For the purposes of this college application, your parent is a natural or adoptive mother or father with whom you live and/or who provides your support, care, and control. If you have two parents, you can enter the name of either one.

Guardian: For the purposes of this college application, your guardian is a person other than a parent who has been legally appointed to provide your support, care, and control. If you have two guardians, you can enter the name of either one.

Emancipated: Being emancipated means that you have been legally released from the care and control of parent(s) and/or guardian(s), and are now responsible for your own care and control.

To be considered legally emancipated for the purposes of this college application, you must have received a declaration of emancipation from a California court, or have been legally emancipated in another U.S. state.

Self-Supporting:  You are considered to be self-supporting if you do not receive any financial support from a parent or legal guardian in the year leading up to the start of the term for which you are applying.

Financial support you may receive from colleges, institutions, or individuals who are not your parent or legal guardian does not affect whether you are considered self-supporting.

Foster Care:  You have been in foster care if you were removed from your biological family through an order by a court, which can include placement with foster parents, in a group home, or with relatives/extended family members. If you were living with relatives you must have been placed through the foster care system by an order of the court.

Foster Care includes, but is not limited to, placement in out-of-home care under the supervision of the Juvenile Probation Department. As long as you were placed within the foster care system by order of a court, you were in foster care. Having a legal guardian does not necessarily mean that you have been in foster care. If you need assistance with determining whether you were in foster care, you can contact the California Foster Care Ombudsman's office at (877) 846-1602 or fosteryouthhelp@dss.ca.gov

Field Error Check:

None

None

Page Error Check:

Required selection; else error message, “You must select one of the options related to your parent or guardian status.”

Required selection; else error message, “You must select one of the options related to your parent or guardian status.”

Notes:

This question determines whether someone who will be under 19 on RDD is subject to care and control of guardian for purposes of determining residency. For residency purposes (unlike in general law), a minor is defined as someone under 19 years of age.

This question determines whether someone who will be under 19 on RDD is subject to care and control of guardian for purposes of determining residency. For residency purposes (unlike in general law), a minor is defined as someone under 19 years of age.

Data Element:

dependent_status

dependent_status

Revision Log:

May September 2020

Debbie Raucher, Burton Foundation re: Foster Youth

Thank you Patty for giving me an opportunity to weigh in. I read this with the lens of the potential impact on foster youth and have the following thoughts. 

1. Regarding the sentence “Enter the name of your parent or guardian below, or check the box indicating you do not have a parent or guardian.” I would recommend adding to that sentence “…or otherwise qualify as an independent student.” It’s a little confusing for someone who is in foster care (or potentially someone qualifying as independent in some other way but who has a parent), because that first sentence implies that the box should be checked only if you don’t have a parent or guardian.

2. You say that if someone enters a parent or guardian name, the box below with options for independent status disappears. This is concerning to me. I could easily see a foster youth entering a name in that space not realizing that if they go further down, they can check the box for being independent, despite the instructions. Once they’ve completed those fields, if the checkbox disappears before they get to the place where they’re reading the qualifications for the check box, they may not realize they should have checked the box. As we’ve discussed before, many enter “guardian” as a default when they don’t live with their bio parent, which then triggers additional verification. Could there instead be an initial question that offers two check boxes – one for I have a parent or guardian and one for I qualify as independent? That way they have to make a choice between two options and might be less likely to inadvertently check the independent box?

No longer applies to approved implmementation

Mitch Leahy, Admissions & Records, Santa Rosa College

 I am concerned with item #2 when you say “Could there instead be an initial question that offers two check boxes – one for I have a parent or guardian and one for I qualify as independent?”.

Through the lens of non-foster youth 18 years olds, they feel that they do qualify as an independent which is incorrect for the purposes of residency determination. This results in barriers for the majority of our non-foster youth students who have to followup with more paperwork.

Does not apply to approved implementation

Mia Keeley, CCCCO

I have the same concern as Mitchell. Do want to schedule a call? Will that be easier than discussing by email?

Debbie Raucher

In lieu of a call, I have another suggestion to offer. What if there was a sentence after “Enter the name of…” in bold that says something like “Do not enter a name below if any of the special circumstances described below apply to you.”