Today's silly flurry of press releases and subsequent nashing of gums and fingers has reminded me of a pernicious political truism that college students should probably have dropped in their ears:
Campaign workers aren't looking out for your best interests.
Obama is encouraging students to register where they study so they can caucus where they study. Dodd and Clinton are implying fraud, dilluion of a caucus of 'Real Iowans' and other unsavory tactics. That's been covered.
What I haven't seen is a warning to students who might change their registration, and the personal clusterpunk they can bring down upon themselves by doing so.
Once upon a time I was attending university in Washington DC when a student decided to make a run for city council. The campaign was young, energetic, and heavily invested in winning the votes of the city's college students.
Because the students were largely from (real) states (which DC is not), there was a huge push to register students in DC in time for the election. This voter registration drive was aggressive, pushy and really quite successful. The candidate was not so successful, but elections work that way sometimes.
It wasn't until the next semester that the rest of the chips started to fall, when student loans were revoked and scholarships canceled. Many states, we discovered, only gave money to residents and residency was determined (in part) by voter registration. When students registered to vote in DC they basically renounced their home states and lost all eligibility for benefits from their states.
I don't have a list of states and their residency requirements for student money, and I can't speculate about every student's individual case. I'm not competent on the subject, but I doubt very much that there is a single person registering voters in Iowa or campaigning on college campuses who is keen to bring it to your attention. That's not their problem, and it's not in their interest for you to think about it. But it is your problem, and it's in your interest to think about it.
Check the terms of your scholarships and loans before changing your voter registration.
As best as I can tell, none of the candidates have promised the youth anything but a higher credit limit for student loan. Me? I'd be looking for full loan forgiveness and universal federal bursaries before voluntarily voiding my right to money my state was giving me.
'nuff said.
UPDATE: DaleA raises Further issues about IRS rules on residency, dependency, income and taxation.