Residency Certification

Background Information:

Prior to applying for residency certification, ensure the program of interest is eligible and secure admission to the eligible program. To submit your residency certification application, please follow the instructions listed below:

  1. Establish a profile on THEC’s ACM portal.
  2. Once you establish a profile, log in and complete the Tennessee residency application form.  To complete the form, you will need two pieces of documentation:

A.    Proof of admission into an eligible program

An official, unconditional letter of acceptance from the college and the degree program, stating the applicant’s name, the institution of attendance, the semester of anticipated enrollment, and the specific ACM-eligible program in which the applicant is enrolled.

Please note:  Access to some ACM-eligible programs and institutions is dependent upon additional requirements. To review additional institutional guidelines and requirements, please click here.

B.     Proof of residency in Tennessee

The student must provide documentation that demonstrates continuous Tennessee domicile* in the twelve months prior to certification. In accordance with THEC rules, the “Commission will consider any and all evidence provided to it concerning” a claim of Tennessee domicile. Examples of documentation submitted to demonstrate continuous Tennessee domicile may include:

  • Valid state of Tennessee driver’s license or identification card
  • Valid state of Tennessee voter registration card
  • Proof of Military residency
  • Most recent federal tax return (redacted of any personally identifiable information)
    • Dependent students should submit their parents; independent students must submit their own
  • Valid vehicle registration
    • Issue date must be twelve months prior to certification and address must match that provided in the residency certification application

Documentation should be submitted through the application portal.

* The Rules of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Chapter 1540-1-1, define “domicile” as “a person’s true, fixed, and permanent home and place of habitation; it is the place where he or she intends to remain, and to which he or she expects to return when he or she leaves without intending to establish a new domicile elsewhere.”

Please note:

  • Past domicile in the state by a student or parent/guardian does not provide current residency status to a student, regardless of the length of time domicile was maintained in Tennessee.
  • Tennessee residency is established by primary legal domicile. Property ownership in the state does not in itself demonstrate residency.
  • Obtaining a voter registration card, driver’s license, or vehicle registration in another state implies establishment of domicile in that state

For more on establishing residency, see Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-8-104 and Tennessee Compilation of Rules & Regulations 1540-1-1-.07.