Some students might encounter a new road block this year when trying to finalize their Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
One in three students will be selected by the IRS to verify their taxes. In the past, copies of tax forms were allowed, but this year the IRS is requiring a tax transcript instead.
“There’s no need to panic,” Cori Smit, interim director of Financial Aid, said of the verification process. “It just comes up every so often.”
Financial Aid has moved up the deadline for FASFA filings to June 1, a month earlier than past due dates.
Smit said these changes are mandated by the federal government, and every school in the country is bracing for them.
If a student is selected for verification, the process is simple. At the top of the Financial Aid homepage, a link is provided for verification. Following the link will walk students through the process.
Smit and others in the Financial Aid office are worried students won’t know of the change, which will cause delays in them receiving financial aid for the fall semester.
Two key factors to help make sure the FASFA filing goes smoothly are e-filing and completing the FASFA early, said Judy Smith, associate director of customer service.
“I’m concerned the IRS will not be prepared,” Smith said, which could also lead to delays in the filing process. Smith said these delays would be out of the control of Financial Aid because her office is dependent on the IRS completing its part of the process.
“People are going to get annoyed with us, but it’s the IRS and the Department of Education that could slow the process down,” said Smith.
Smith said FASFAs filed electronically take about two weeks to complete, compared to potentially eight weeks with paper filing.