Should I Have Gotten In-State Tuition

[IWasWondering]

Hello all, I attended college at Northern Virginia Community College of the VCCS and I'm domiciled in Washington DC. I paid out-of-state tuition for 1.5 years and after transferring to George Mason, I was looking for any way to get in-state. Unfortunately, I didn't see a method to get in-state at George Mason, but I found something that may apply to my old community college:

"D. The governing board of the Virginia Community College System shall charge in-state tuition to any person enrolled in one of the System's institutions who lives within a 30-mile radius of a Virginia institution, is domiciled in, and is entitled to in-state tuition charges in the institutions of higher learning in any state which is contiguous to Virginia and which has similar reciprocal provisions for persons domiciled in Virginia."
Source: LIS > Code of Virginia > 23-7.4:2

I lived within 30 miles of a VCCS campus, so should I have gotten in-state rates? I called the college and they were ambiguous, trying to tell me that I had to pay taxes and then after I pointed some things out they said they would "do some homework" and will get back to me tomorrow. How should I approach this?

 

[HighwayMan]

"D. The governing board of the Virginia Community College System shall charge in-state tuition to any person enrolled in one of the System's institutions who lives within a 30-mile radius of a Virginia institution, is domiciled in, and is entitled to in-state tuition charges in the institutions of higher learning in any state which is contiguous to Virginia and which has similar reciprocal provisions for persons domiciled in Virginia."
Source: LIS > Code of Virginia > 23-7.4:2

They will get back to you tomorrow.

DC isn't a state so technically that section doesn't apply.

If it does (i.e. if DC is considered a state for these purposes), then who says DC does the same thing for out-of-district residents? If it doesn't, then you're back to square one.

 

[IWasWondering]

Saying DC isn't a state is an extreme technicality to get off on. Also, DC does share tax reciprocity with VA along with MD, KY, WV and others.

I know they're "allegedly" going to contact me tomorrow, but from everything I've tried to gather online, I'm like the only person trying to use this law which seems weird. I figured someone may have experience with it.

 

[HighwayMan]

Saying DC isn't a state is an extreme technicality to get off on.

And technicalities count.

Also, DC does share tax reciprocity with VA along with MD, KY, WV and others.

I don't know what you mean by "tax reciprocity" but apparently it has nothing to do with school tuition so it's irrelevant.

My feeling based on what you've said so far is that you're out of luck. See what the school says.