Residents of Georgia pay lower tuition rates than those who are not residents of Georgia. Establishing residency for tuition purposes as defined by the Board of Regents is different than residency for purposes such as voting, obtaining a Georgia driver's license/tag, etc., and requires more than establishing eligibility to vote, securing a driver's license, and/or paying taxes. Georgia residency status is also distinct from the academic residency requirement for graduation. (See Section 1430.)
A person may be a Georgia resident for tuition purposes if, and only if, either one of the following two criteria are met.
A person may be a Georgia resident for tuition purposes if that person, that person's parents, or (if the person is a minor) that person's court-appointed guardian meets all of the following conditions:
A person may be a Georgia resident for tuition purposes if that person meets all of the following conditions:
If a parent or legal guardian of a student is a Georgia resident and then changes his or her legal residence to another state, the student may retain his or her classification as a resident student as long as he or she remains continuously enrolled at an institution in the University System of Georgia.
Please note that these regulations are subject to change by the Board of Regents. The most current regulations can be found on the Board of Regents' website at www.usg.edu/regents/policymanual/400.phtml.
If a student or accepted applicant has been classified as a non-resident and wishes to contest the classification, he/she must petition for resident classification using the form found at www.gsu.edu/images/Downloadables/GSU_tuition_classification.pdf. After attending as a non-resident, if a student wishes to change his/her tuition classification, he/she must petition www.gsu.edu/es/residency.html using this same form.
To ensure timely processing, petitions and all required documents must be submitted to the Residency Section of the Office of the Registrar (227 Sparks Hall) no later than the end of regular registration. Final determination of Georgia residence classification prior to the deadline date for fee payment cannot be guaranteed for petitions received after the priority date. Petitions filed after the final deadline will be considered for the subsequent semester.
| Term | Priority | Final |
| Fall | Aug 1 | The last day of regular registration |
| Spring | Dec 1 | The last day of regular registration |
| Summer | May 30 | The last day of regular registration |
If a petition is approved, classification will not be retroactive to prior semesters. A student wishing to appeal the decision resulting from his or her Petition for Georgia Tuition Classification may request a review of that decision by the University Committee on Residency and must submit such request in writing to the Residency Section of the Office of the Registrar within 5 days of the decision.