Residency Requirements

In order to qualify for resident tuition rates, you must submit a Certificate of Residence to the Student Accounts Office.

• A certificate is required to be on file at Monroe Community College every semester for which you enroll.
• A Certificate of Residence is valid for one year from the date of issuance, and is applicable for all semesters that begin within that year.
• Questions regarding Certificates of Residence can be emailed to certificateofresidence@swissabc.net.

A Certificate of Residence enables Monroe Community College to bill your county for part of your tuition costs. Without a valid Certificate of Residence, you will be considered a non-resident of New York State and will then have to pay double tuition when you register.

Certificates cannot be dated more than 2 months prior to the date you register for classes. They must be submitted to the Student Accounts Office no later than 30 days after the start of the semester. Contact your County Treasurer's Office to see if it has other restrictions or requirements.

You obtain a Certificate of Residence from the county of your permanent residence by providing proof of residency. In most cases this is your County Treasurer's Office. The application can be submitted to them electronically, in person, or via mail, but we encourage you to contact your county to see what type(s) of proof they require.

• County locations and phone numbers
• Application for the Certificate of Residence

Students who have been a permanent resident of Monroe County for at least the previous 6 months (and New York State for the previous year) need to fill out the Certificate of Residence affidavit and submit it directly to the Student Accounts Office. Please note that you may be required to provide proof of your permanent residence in Monroe County.

Once you have obtained the official Certificate of Residence from your county, drop it off at the Student Accounts Office located in Bldg. 6 Rm. 207 on the Brighton Campus. You can also mail it to:

MCC Student Accounts Office
1000 East Henrietta Road
Rochester, NY 14623

We advise that you keep a copy of your certificate for your records.

If you have not been a permanent resident of New York State for at least one year prior to the semester you plan on attending, you must pay non-resident tuition. Non-residents include international students (holding an F-1 visa), temporary residents such as out-of-state residents attending another local college or here on short-term job assignments, and any other person who is in the United States on a visa.

Immigrants must provide proof of their permanent resident status (official documentation from US Citizenship and Immigration Service) as well as proof that they have been a New York State resident for at least one year prior to the start of classes. For additional information relating to which visa categories of non-immigrant aliens may qualify for the resident rate, as well as the documentation required, please email certificateofresidence@swissabc.net.

If a SUNY community college student is denied a certificate of residence from their home county, such student may appeal to SUNY System Administration for reversal. Such appeal communication should contain the student’s contact information and details about the denial from the county. Please note that denials can only be reversed if either the county or the college made an error or did not follow relevant legal requirements. Students can submit appeals by email to CCLegalLiaison@suny.edu or by physical mail to Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Senior Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges and the Education Pipeline, SUNY H. Carl McCall Building, 353 Broadway, Albany, NY 12246.