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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>54182</law_id><section_number>22.1-5</section_number><catch_line>Regulations concerning admission of certain persons to schools; tuition charges</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>22.1-101.1</reference><reference>22.1-212.27</reference><reference>22.1-215</reference><reference>22.1-255</reference><reference>22.1-26</reference><reference>22.1-264.1</reference><reference>22.1-269.1</reference><reference>22.1-3.4</reference><reference>22.1-349.3</reference><reference>22.1-5.1</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="22.1">Education</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="1">System of Public Schools; General Provisions</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> Consistent with Article VIII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia, no person may be charged tuition for admission or enrollment in the public schools of the Commonwealth, whether on a full-time or part-time basis, who meets the residency criteria set forth in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Persons to whom public schools shall be free" href="/22.1-3/">22.1-3</a>. No <span class="dictionary">person of school age</span> shall be charged tuition for enrollment in a program preparing students to pass a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education or alternative program offered as a regional or divisionwide initiative by the local school division in which such person is deemed to reside pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Persons to whom public schools shall be free" href="/22.1-3/">22.1-3</a>. Further, no <span class="dictionary">person of school age</span> shall be denied admission or charged tuition when (i) such person&#x2019;s custodial <span class="dictionary">parent</span> has been deployed outside the United States as a member of the Virginia National Guard or as a member of the United States armed forces; and (ii) such person&#x2019;s custodial <span class="dictionary">parent</span> has executed a Special <span class="dictionary">Power of Attorney</span> under Title 10, United States Code, &#xA7;&#xA0;1044b providing for the care of the <span class="dictionary">person of school age</span> by an individual who is defined as a <span class="dictionary">parent</span> in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="(Effective July 1, 2026) Definitions" href="/22.1-1/">22.1-1</a> during the time of his deployment outside the United States. The <span class="dictionary">person of school age</span> shall be allowed to attend a school in the school division in which the individual providing for his care, pursuant to the Special <span class="dictionary">Power of Attorney</span> under Title 10, United States Code, &#xA7;&#xA0;1044b, resides. Furthermore, when practicable, such persons of school age may continue to attend school in the Virginia school division they attended immediately prior to the deployment and shall not be charged tuition for attending such division.
			The following persons may, however, in the discretion of the <span class="dictionary">school board</span> of a school division and pursuant to regulations adopted by the <span class="dictionary">school board</span>, be admitted into the public schools of the division and may, in the discretion of the <span class="dictionary">school board</span>, be charged tuition: <a id="paragraph-198883" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Persons who reside within the school division but who are not of school age. <a id="paragraph-198884" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> Persons of school age who are residents of the Commonwealth but who do not reside within the school division, except as provided in this section. <a id="paragraph-198885" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A3" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> Persons of school age who are attending school in the school division pursuant to a foreign student exchange program approved by the <span class="dictionary">school board</span>. <a id="paragraph-198886" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A4" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> Persons of school age who reside beyond the boundaries of the Commonwealth but near thereto in a state or the District of Columbia which grants the same <span class="dictionary">privileges</span> to residents of the Commonwealth. <a id="paragraph-198887" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A5" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> Persons of school age who reside on a military or naval reservation located wholly or partly within the geographical boundaries of the school division and who are not domiciled residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia; however, no <span class="dictionary">person of school age</span> residing on a military or naval reservation located wholly or partly within the geographical boundaries of the school division may be charged tuition if federal funds provided under P.L. 874 of 1950, commonly known as Impact Aid, shall fund such students at not less than 50 percent of the total per capita cost of education, exclusive of capital outlay and debt service, for <span class="dictionary">elementary</span> or secondary pupils, as the case may be, of such school division. Notwithstanding any other provision of <span class="dictionary">law</span> to the contrary, such persons of school age who reside on a military or naval reservation with military-owned housing located wholly or partly within the geographical boundaries of multiple school divisions shall be deemed eligible for interscholastic programs immediately upon enrollment in a public <span class="dictionary">elementary</span> or secondary school in any of the aforementioned school divisions, provided that such persons (i) satisfy all other requirements for eligibility and (ii) are dependents of a military service member required by the military to live on the military installation as evidenced by a statement on command letterhead signed by, or by direction of, the service member&#x2019;s commanding officer. <a id="paragraph-198888" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A6" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">6.</span> Persons of school age who, as domiciled residents of the Commonwealth who were enrolled in a public school within the school division, are required as a result of military or federal <span class="dictionary">orders</span> issued to their <span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">parents</span></span> to relocate and reside on federal property in another state or the District of Columbia, if the school division subsequently enrolling such persons is contiguous to such state or District of Columbia. <a id="paragraph-198889" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A6"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A7" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">7.</span> Persons of school age who reside in the school division and who are enrolled in summer programs, exclusive of required remediation as provided in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="(Effective July 1, 2026) Standard 1. Instructional programs supporting the Standards of Learning and other educational objectives" href="/22.1-253.13_1/">22.1-253.13:1</a>, or in local initiatives or programs not required by the Standards of Quality or the Standards of Accreditation.
				For the purposes of determining the residency of persons described in subdivisions 1 and 2, local <span class="dictionary">school boards</span> shall adopt regulations consistent with the residency requirements regarding persons residing in housing or temporary shelter, or on property located in multiple <span class="dictionary">jurisdictions</span>, as articulated in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Persons to whom public schools shall be free" href="/22.1-3/">22.1-3</a>. <a id="paragraph-198890" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#A7"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> Persons of school age who are not residents of the Commonwealth but are living temporarily with persons residing within a school division may, in the discretion of the <span class="dictionary">school board</span> and pursuant to regulations adopted by it, be admitted to the public schools of the school division. Tuition shall be charged such persons. <a id="paragraph-198891" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> No tuition charge authorized or required in this section shall exceed the total per capita cost of education, exclusive of capital outlay and debt service, for <span class="dictionary">elementary</span> or secondary pupils, as the case may be, of such school division and the actual, additional costs of any special education or gifted and talented program provided the pupil, except that if the tuition charge is payable by the <span class="dictionary">school board</span> of the school division of the pupil&#x2019;s residence pursuant to a <span class="dictionary">contract</span> entered into between the two <span class="dictionary">school boards</span>, the tuition charge shall be that fixed by such <span class="dictionary">contract</span>. <a id="paragraph-198892" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="D"><p><span class="prefix-number">D.</span> <span class="dictionary">School boards</span> may accept and provide programs for students for whom English is a second language who entered school in Virginia for the first time after reaching their twelfth birthday, and who have not reached 22 years of age on or before August 1 of the school year. No tuition shall be charged such students, if state funding is provided for such programs. <a id="paragraph-198893" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-5/#D"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7;&#xA7; 22-218.3, 22-219, 22-220; 1958, c. 628; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 81, &#xA7; 1; 1964, c. 192; 1968, c. 178; 1976, cc. 681, 713; 1978, c. 140; 1980, c. 559; 1981, c. 342; 1993, c. 293; 1994, c. 887; 1999, cc. 394, 443, 465, 988; 2000, c. 253; 2004, c. 967; 2007, c. 42; 2013, cc. 641, 669; 2014, c. 84.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
