It is required that students who are eligible (i.e., who are U.S. citizens or hold permanent U.S. resident status) apply to become legal California residents after the first year in the program; all students must meet requirements at both SDSU and UC San Diego for this to be approved. Failure to apply for reclassification as a resident will result in the student being charged with the non-resident (or per-unit) portion of the SDSU or UC San Diego tuition and fees.
SDSU Procedure
Students must provide copies of multiple documents indicating 1) that the student arrived in California prior to September 20th of the first year and 2) that the student intends to stay ‘indefinitely.’ The latter category requires such documents as car registration, driver’s license, etc., dated before September 20th. Complete information about the procedures and requirements for establishing residency, including forms that must be completed and due dates, can be found at http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/registrar/residency.html
UC San Diego Procedure
Although similar to the SDSU one, there are slightly different requirements. To see more about UC San Diego’s residency requirements, go to the http://students.ucsd.edu/finances/fees/residence/. You must follow these procedures and establish residency through UC San Diego as well.
Please begin this process immediately if you are not currently a California resident. The JDP needs you to apply to become legal California residents by the end of your first year.