EB5INVESTORS.COM
17
There is one crucial caveat
for any potential EB-5
client who wishes to take
advantage of in-state
tuition benefits: These
benefits apply only to
residents of the state where
the student wishes to
attend university.
”
every student who graduates near the top of their high
school class and earns a reasonable SAT or ACT score
is guaranteed admission to the flagship University
of Texas at Austin. Other states that have guaranteed
admissions currently include California, Iowa, Colorado,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota
and Florida. The exact details vary by state.
IN-STATE TUITION
A further benefit can be calculated in dollars and
cents: U.S. residents can benefit from significantly
reduced in-state tuition at state universities in their
state of residency. Many of the most famous American
universities are funded by state governments. These
include the University of California at Berkeley, the
University of Texas, the University of Michigan,
the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA),
The Ohio State University and many others. At these
universities, residents of their sponsoring states pay
substantially reduced tuition rates. The residency
benefit varies from state to state, but the average is
$15,512. The average of tuition and fees for in-state
students is $10,202; it comes to $25,714 for out-of-state
students, including foreigners. 9
There is one crucial caveat for any potential EB-5
client who wishes to take advantage of in-state tuition
benefits: These benefits apply only to residents of the
state where the student wishes to attend university.
EB-5 applicants would do well to choose where to live
with an eye on the universities within each state. One
advantage of the EB-5 regional center program is that
the investor can choose to live anywhere within the
United States.
What counts as a “resident” varies from state to state.
Most states require the student and/or their parents
to live there for at least a year before they qualify for
in-state tuition. In most cases, whatever status you
begin with stays with you throughout your years of
studies. In other words, if a student is considered a
non-resident when they start at the university, they
will pay out-of-state tuition for the entire time they
are at the university.
It should also be noted that many of the most famous
universities in America, including the Ivy League,
are private schools. For those universities, there is no
discount for local residents. However, in whichever
case, public or private, there are generally huge
benefits for U.S. green card status in the form of
financial aid and student loans. According to U.S. law,
anyone who holds permanent residency is fully eligible
for all federal student aid, including government-
backed student loans. According to the National Center
for Education Statistics, the average grants for a full-
time undergraduate student came to $7,110, with an
additional $9,480 of available loans. 10 This means that
it should be possible for a U.S. resident student to attend
public university with little to no upfront expense.