§5023. Residency requirements

A. Except as provided by Subsection D of this Section, to be eligible for an award pursuant to this Chapter, an independent student, as defined by the administering agency, shall have been a resident of Louisiana during the twenty-four months preceding the date of the student's graduation from high school. However, an independent student who graduated from a public or approved nonpublic high school in this state in the 2002-2003 school year or thereafter meets the requirements of this Section if he actually resided or lived in this state for the period of his last two full years of high school culminating in graduation as certified by the high school.

B. Except as provided by Subsection D of this Section, to be eligible for an award pursuant to this Chapter, a dependent student, as defined by the administering agency, shall meet one of the following requirements:

(1) He has a parent or court-ordered custodian who is a resident of Louisiana during the twenty-four months preceding the date of the student's graduation from high school.

(2) He is the dependent child of a resident of Louisiana on active duty with the United States Armed Forces who is stationed outside Louisiana but who claims Louisiana as his official state of legal residence and who has filed a Louisiana state income tax return for the most recent two years.

(3) If he graduated from a public or approved nonpublic high school in this state in the 2002-2003 school year or thereafter, he actually resided or lived in this state for the period of his last two full years of high school culminating in graduation as certified by the high school.

(4) He is the dependent child of a nonresident of Louisiana on active duty with the United States Armed Forces who is stationed in Louisiana under permanent change of station orders and who not later than one hundred eighty days after reporting to such station changes his military personnel records to establish Louisiana as his official state of legal residence and complies with Louisiana income tax laws and regulations for the time period while stationed in Louisiana.

C. Residency shall be demonstrated by proof of the following as required by the administering agency or by other proof required by the administering agency by rule:

(1) If registered to vote, is registered in Louisiana.

(2) If licensed to drive a motor vehicle, is in possession of a Louisiana driver's license.

(3) If owning a motor vehicle located within Louisiana, is in possession of Louisiana registration for that vehicle.

(4) If earning an income, has filed a Louisiana state income tax return and has complied with state income tax laws and regulations.

D.(1) Any student who is the dependent child of a member of the United States Armed Forces who is not a resident of this state, is living in this state under permanent change of station orders but does not claim Louisiana as his state of legal residence, and who graduates from a public or approved nonpublic high school in this state in the 2000-2001 academic school year or thereafter shall meet the requirements of this Section if he actually lives in this state for the period of his last two full years of high school culminating in graduation as certified by the high school.

(2)(a) Any displaced student as defined by R.S. 17:5101(A)(2) who graduates from an out-of-state school during the 2006-2007 school year and is awarded a Louisiana Distance Diploma issued by the state Department of Education shall meet the requirements of this Section if he actually resided in Louisiana during his entire tenth grade year of high school and was enrolled for such time in an eligible Louisiana high school or, for dependent students, if the displaced student has a parent or court-ordered custodian who actually resided in a parish listed in R.S. 17:5101(A)(2)(a) for at least the twelve months prior to August 26, 2005, or in a parish listed in R.S. 17:5101(A)(2)(b) for at least the twelve months prior to September 20, 2005.

(b) A displaced student who meets the residency requirement of this Paragraph shall not be required to have for the respective awards a higher minimum composite score on the ACT or on the SAT than required for a student who graduates from an eligible Louisiana high school provided such student has, for Opportunity awards, a cumulative high school grade point average on all courses on the high school transcript of at least 2.50 calculated on a 4.00 scale or, for Performance and Honors awards, a cumulative high school grade point average on all courses on the high school transcript of at least 3.50 calculated on a 4.00 scale.

(3)(a) Any dependent student graduating from an out-of-state high school during the 2006-2007 school year whose parent or court-ordered custodian was a member of the United States Armed Forces who, in the year 2006, moved from Louisiana under a permanent change of station orders and retired from the armed forces, and changed his military personnel records to reflect a change of his state of legal residence from Louisiana to another state, shall meet the requirements of this Section, provided that such parent or court-ordered custodian changes his military personnel records from the other state to reestablish Louisiana as his state of legal residence no later than July 1, 2007, and has filed a Louisiana state income tax return for the two years preceding the date of the dependent's graduation from high school.

(b) Any dependent student who meets the requirements of this Paragraph shall qualify for an award under this Chapter if the student has a composite score on the 1990 version of the ACT which is at least two points higher than that required by this Section for a student graduating from a Louisiana public high school or nonpublic high school which has been approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education or an equivalent concordant value on an enhanced or revised version of such test or on the SAT.

Acts 2015, No. 227, §1; Acts 2017, No. 97, §1.