Residency Policy

Determination of Residency Status

When you apply to Hawkeye Community College, you will be classified as either a resident or a non-resident for admission, tuition, and fees.

Hawkeye will look at why you are in Iowa and how long you have lived there to decide your status. If your main reason for being in Iowa is to go to school, you will be considered a non-resident.

It is your responsibility to prove Iowa residency for reasons other than educational purposes and to request a change in residency status [PDF].

Minors are considered students under the age of 18. Parents include legal guardians and individuals who have legal custody of the student.

Your residency will follow that of the parent(s) you reside with, unless you can prove emancipation. You must reside in Iowa for at least 90 days immediately prior to the beginning of the semester you would like to enroll in at Hawkeye.

A person who is a refugee or who is granted asylum by an appropriate agency of the United States must provide proof of certification of refugee or asylum grantee status. A person may be accorded resident status for admission and tuition purposes when the person comes directly, or within a reasonable time, to the state of Iowa from a refugee facility or port of debarkation and has not established domicile in another state.

A person, who has immigrant status, and his or her spouse or dependents, may establish Iowa residency in the same manner as a United States citizen.

A person who has non-immigrant status and who holds a non-student visa, and his or her spouse or dependents, may establish residency in the same manner as a United States citizen. An alien who has non-immigrant status and whose primary purpose for being in Iowa is educational is classified as non-resident. A "student visa" is evidence of non-residency, however, in a rare case, a student holding the visa could prove residency.

A person and his/her spouse, who has moved into the state of Iowa as the result of military or civil orders from the federal government, and the minor children of such persons, are entitled to immediate Iowa residency status. Also see the Military and Veterans Residency Status policy.

A veteran of military service or National Guard, or his/her spouse or dependent child shall be classified as a resident if the veteran is domiciled in Iowa and one of the following conditions is met:

  1. The veteran has separated from a U.S. military force with an honorable discharge or a general discharge, is eligible for benefits, or has exhausted benefits, under the federal Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 or any other federal authorizing veteran educational benefits program.

  2. The individual is an active duty military person, or activated or temporarily mobilized National Guard member.

To be eligible for the exemption, a dependent child must be claimed as a dependent on an eligible veteran’s internal revenue service tax filing for the previous year.

A member of the armed forces who is on active duty or for a period of 30 days or more is eligible for in-state resident tuition. Spouses and dependent children of the veteran also qualify.

Providing Proof of Residency

Requirements for proof of Iowa residency are established for community colleges by the Iowa Department of Education.

To be classified as a resident of Iowa for tuition and fee purposes, you must document residing in the State of Iowa for at least 90 days prior to the beginning of the term for which you are enrolling.

To determine your residency status, at least two dated documents are required by the Iowa Department of Education. The first document you must provide must be from one of the items listed in 1 through 5 below. The second document you must provide may be from 1 through 7. These documents must be submitted prior to the first day of the semester for which you are registering. Residency status cannot be changed once the semester begins.

  1. Iowa driver’s license
  2. Iowa vehicle registration form
  3. Iowa state income tax return, signed and dated
  4. Iowa voter registration card
  5. Proof of Iowa Homestead credit on property taxes
  6. Written and notarized documentation from an employer that you are employed in Iowa
  7. Other indicators of Iowa residency, such as apartment lease dated and signed by both you and the manager, utility bills, bank statements, etc., dated and showing your Iowa address. (No two of these items can relate to the same source, i.e., apartment lease and utility bill.)

If you give Hawkeye misleading or incorrect information for the purpose of evading payment of non-resident fees, you must pay the non-resident fees for each term you were not officially classified as a non-resident.

Reclassification of Residency Status

If you have been reclassified as a resident for tuition purposes, such classification will be effective beginning with the next term for which you enroll at Hawkeye. In no case will reclassification to residency status be made retroactive for tuition and fee purposes, even though you could have previously qualified for residency status had you applied.

Appealing Proof of Residency Decision

The decision on the residency status of a student for admission, tuition, and fee purposes may be appealed to a review committee established by the community college. The findings of the review committee may be appealed to the community college board, whose decision shall be a final administrative decision.

Contact Us

Registrar's Office

Main Campus
Hawkeye Center 114
319-296-2460
Email the Registrar's Office

Regular Hours — Summer 2026

Monday – Thursday 8 AM – 4:30 PM
Friday 8 AM – 12 PM