Information gathering: Tucson

[badgercat]

I believe grad students that hold TA's or RA's get their out of state tuition waived, if that is what you are asking. The grad coordinator in your department should be able to help.

I believe that's true--free health insurance, partial tuition remission, plus a stipend for out-of-state RAs and TAs. If you can become an Arizona resident on the books, though, your deal is often sweeter--when I started here, I had a fellowship that waived the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition and gave me a stipend that basically covered the balance of the tuition. A year later, I was able to claim Arizona residency, and it turned into a full tuition waiver plus the stipend (which I now get to use for living expenses etc).

But, it's not so easy to just change over to Arizona residency in the eyes of the University... you have to file lots of supporting documentation, and go through an interview, to try to convince them that you're not here just for school but that you intend to *stay* in Arizona after you finish your education (basically they--understandably--don't want people to take their savings and run).

I was able to pass muster with the fact that I immediately changed everything over to Arizona when I got here (driver's license, voter registration, local bank, etc) AND my parents decided to retire out here (the residency office even requested such proof as the realtor contract for their house in Illinois and the receipt for the moving van), which effectively cut my remaining ties to my home state. I have a classmate from New York who was also able to change over based on the fact that her husband (who grew up in Arizona) was active-duty military. I know other students who were denied, though, because I think without extenuating circumstances, it's pretty tough to get yourself switched to "in-state."

Now, if they're *only* talking about taxes... I don't know as much about that, since I basically immediately got the ball rolling here on switching myself fully over to Arizona residency.

[tulip]

Looks like there might be a car sharing program for UA affiliates. That would make not having a car much more reasonable. I'm not there, so I don't know if this article is up-to-date.

http://uanews.org/node/27039

[badgercat]

You're right, Tulip. I forgot all about that. It's run by Connect by Hertz.

[Tri Girl]

OK- so I realize I'm joining this conversation late and that I have nothing to add to it, but I just read the whole thing and got severe sadness pangs in my stomach realizing how much I miss Tucson. I went to UA in the early 90's and loved that city oh so much. When I lost my full-ride scholarship my junior year, I had to leave and attend a cheaper college in OK. I miss Tucson more than you can imagine.
I hope you get accepted and that you get to move there. I have told my DH that when I retire I'm moving back to Tucson- he's welcome to join me.

Best of luck, Owlie!!!