Vol. 26, No. 3: Residency Determination Service

The Residency Determination Service (RDS) is an online application used by the state’s community colleges and four-year institutions to determine if students qualify for in-state tuition. In the last year that community colleges have been using RDS, staff, leadership, and State Board members have raised concerns that the application has become a barrier to admission for potential students.

Part one of this series gives an overview of the Residency Determination Service and the issues that have surfaced at community colleges in the last year. In part two of this series, we will explore experiences of students and community colleges with RDS. Part three of this series examines RDS, tracing it from its birth and talking to the people who gave life to the machine. Part four covers a legislative solution for which the community college system is advocating, aimed at addressing the biggest road block the new system has uncovered. Part five looks at alternative solutions floated by those on the front lines. Finally, the series includes perspectives from two stakeholders: Elizabeth McDuffie, executive director of North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority, and Walter Dalton, former Lieutenant Governor and current president of Isothermal Community College.

https://www.ednc.org/2018/12/11/residency-for-community-colleges-seeking-a-better-life/

https://www.ednc.org/2018/12/12/rds-uneasy-fit/

https://www.ednc.org/2018/12/13/rds-a-legislative-creation-in-search-of-consistency-and-efficiency/

https://www.ednc.org/2018/12/14/removing-barriers-a-proposal-to-simplify-the-residency-determination-service/

https://www.ednc.org/2018/12/18/how-will-community-colleges-open-doors-and-determine-residency-at-the-same-time/

https://www.ednc.org/2018/12/17/rds-working-to-make-fair-accurate-and-efficient-residency-determinations/

https://www.ednc.org/2018/12/17/its-time-to-rethink-our-residency-determination-system/

North Carolina Insight Education