You already know that address is one of the important pieces of information you must provide while enrolling in a new school.
Unsurprisingly, most students often provide false addresses due to what they stand to benefit from it.
Some students even choose their grandparent’s address for personal reasons and other academic benefits. However, you must find out if it’s legal to use grandparents before following their path.
Luckily, this post will provide everything to know about using someone else’s address when enrolling into tertiary institutions. So let’s get started.
Why do students lie about school residency?
The main reason why parents lie about their children’s address for school could be traced to the financial benefit they stand to enjoy.
Considering in-state students pay a lesser tuition fee compared to their international counterparts, many students don’t mind lying about address to be part of beneficiaries.
In the same vein, students living in the school’s location tend to enjoy preferential treatments from the school. So, parents don’t think twice before falsifying their child’s address.
Is it illegal to use someone else’s address for school?
There is a two-way answer to the question as it can be legal and illegal at the same time, depending on your approach.
It is illegal and punishable to use someone else’s address for school if you aren’t living at the address.
In this scenario, you are lying about your location and you would be penalized for choosing to use someone else’s despite not staying with the person.
On the other hand, it is legal to use someone else’s address for school as long as you truly reside in the provided location. Let’s just say that your approach determines if it’s legal or not.
Can I use someone else’s address?
You can’t use someone else’s address for school if you aren’t living in the location. The school could charge you for a felony once they discovered that you are lying about your location to benefit from the school’s address-based financial aid.
Can you use a relative’s address for college?
Yes. You can use a relative’s address for college if you are “lawfully” related. Lawfully as used in this context means you are truly related — not making things up.
You can use your uncle, parent, aunt, or sibling’s address. Just ensure the address isn’t forged to avoid future embarrassment.
However, you must be 24 or older when enrolling for school before you can explore this option.
What happens if you lie about your address for school?
American schools and colleges take lying about address for school very seriously. They ensure that culprits are booked and punished.
Students who are guilty of this offense have a very high chance of being expelled as they would be charged for enrollment fraud.
The second punishment involves being sentenced to prison. Though this punishment isn’t rampant, offenders might be charged with felonies which contain spending some time in prison.
Parents or guardians aren’t excluded from punishment as they would also pay for their role in the address falsification.
They could be placed behind the bars for nothing less than two weeks, or be on probation for two years because they signed a false enrollment form and official records.
Though punishment for lying about your address varies from one state or school to another, it is certain culprit would be punished if found guilty.
Is it illegal to lie about your address for a school district?
It’s illegal and unacceptable because no school or state permits address fraud. You are expected to provide an accurate address for a school district during registration.
Do well to consult the school district should there be any reason to update your address in the future.
Do Schools Check Your Address?
Some people claim schools no longer spend much time verifying students’ addresses, while others disagree.
With what we’ve gathered from verified sources, we can confidently say that schools do check student addresses to detect any fraudulent acts.
The fact that some schools have reduced their checking intensity DOESN’T mean all schools no longer check students’ addresses.
How do Schools check your address?
The following are ways schools check students’ addresses:
- School sets up a panel of trusted individuals to go through 10% of student applications to identify anyone with a false address.
- The school creates a whistle-blowing template for parents and students to reveal their suspicions about other families.
- School officials investigate students who change their location within one year of enrollment to know if their initial address was forged.
Conclusion
As we wrap up this post, we would love to let you know that the document and files you need to verify your address includes
current council tax letter, one copy of your tenancy agreement, one copy of a benefits letter, a TV License, utility bill, and a copy of a tax credits letter.
Sources:
Moving house for school places: what the law says
Michael Larry is an instructor and an educationist, who like to bring out the best in other through his inspirational writeup.