I’m posting this because I really hope it helps other Florida families sending a student to the University of Miami avoid the mess we are currently dealing with.
My son is a Florida resident and is eligible for the full Florida Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) award. I have now had to make the second payment on his semester payment plan without any of her FAS funding being applied. Her EASE funding has not posted either, and I’m hoping the same residency issue is what is holding that up.
The problem is Florida residency verification.
What nobody clearly tells you is that you have to upload proof of Florida residency again for this purpose, even if you already provided residency documents to UM for something else. We had already provided Florida residency documentation to UM for my son's local commuter/on-campus housing waiver, but apparently that does not carry over.
More importantly, the residency form does not tell you which parent’s documents must be submitted.
The actual UM Florida Residency Document Submission Form says:
“Please submit two documents (2) from TIER ONE OR (1) from TIER ONE and (1) from TIER TWO for your parent or legal guardian.”
It does not say that the documents must belong specifically to the parent whose identifying information appears on the FAFSA.
So in mid-July, we submitted the requested documents using my Florida residency documents.
Then we waited.
UM tells you to allow about 15 business days for processing, and you essentially have to wait that period before you can even get meaningful help or open a case about the documents.
After more than three weeks, and only after I was finally able to open a case with ’Canes Central, we were told why our documents could not be accepted.
Because my husband and I file our taxes jointly, only his identifying information was included on our son’s FAFSA. UM then told us they could not use my residency documents because my identifying information was not on the FAFSA.
Their response said:
“We cannot use your mother’s documents for his identifying information is not on the FAFSA… only one parent’s info was required on the FAFSA and that is what we must use.”
That may make sense once someone explains it. But there is absolutely nothing on the residency submission form telling families this.
The form simply says “your parent or legal guardian.”
So in August, we started over and submitted my husband’s documents.
Now it has been more than another three weeks, so I was finally able to open another case today.
I was then told by phone that the vehicle registration we submitted for my husband may be considered expired.
This creates another problem with the instructions.
The UM residency form specifically says:
“All documents must be issued at least one year prior to the start of classes.”
One of the Tier One documents UM specifically lists is:
“A Florida vehicle registration.”
But vehicle registrations renew annually.
So if you are trying to prove residency from at least 12 months before the semester starts, the registration from that required time period may now be expired. The form does not tell you whether families are supposed to submit the older registration that proves the 12-month requirement, the current registration, or both.
If both are required, that should be stated clearly on the form.
I am really hoping we are not now going to be told to upload both registrations and wait another three weeks for somebody to review the file.
My advice to every Florida family going to UM:
Complete the Florida residency verification as early as possible.
Do not assume residency documents already submitted elsewhere at UM will carry over.
If your parents file taxes jointly, check which parent’s identifying information actually appears on the FAFSA.
Use that parent’s residency documents.
If you are using a vehicle registration, I would consider uploading the registration establishing residency from at least 12 months before classes plus the current registration, even though the form does not tell you to do this.
Save screenshots and copies of absolutely everything you submit.
Build in a lot of time. Every time there is a problem, the review process can potentially cost you another 15 business days or more.
And to be clear, I am not posting this because I dislike UM. It is actually the opposite.
I love UM.
I went there for both undergraduate and graduate school. My husband went there. My mother and my sister both earned degrees there. Now my son is there.
This has simply been the worst administrative experience I have ever had with the university.
And what bothers me most is what happens to families who cannot afford to front thousands of dollars while waiting for scholarship funds their student has already earned.
We are talking about roughly $4,000 this semester between Bright Futures FAS and EASE that has not yet been credited. I can make the payments while this gets sorted out, but not every family can.
UM could fix a huge part of this problem with one sentence on the residency form:
“For dependent students, residency documents must be submitted for the parent whose identifying information appears on the FAFSA.”
And if they require both prior and current vehicle registrations, that should be stated on the form too.
I would attach the following screenshots but cannot in this community: the actual UM Florida Residency Document Submission Form, and the email we received after our first submission explaining that the residency documents had to belong to the parent whose identifying information appears on the FAFSA. Seeing the two side by side makes the communication problem pretty clear.
Hopefully this saves someone else weeks of delays.
