Students are having trouble with financial aid, after the new requirements for FAFSA have been made

Jacquelyn Edwards
Contributing Writer

The 2012-2013 year has brought students both happiness and pain.

This year the government is requiring that students use the IRS Data Retrieval tool on the FAFSA website or request a transcript be sent from the IRS office.

It seems like it is easier for students than having to bring in mass amounts of paperwork when they are selected for financial verification, but what about the students who are dependent upon

their parent’s income tax?

When talking to the IRS this spring, it became abundantly clear that many of the people who

worked there had no idea what to say to those people who need a transcript.

Three representatives were quoted saying that the transcript would be available April 16 while three others were quoted saying that it wouldn’t be available until May, which is far past the financial aid deadline for Pierce College.

So what are students supposed to do about this?

Although one student says that financial aid has been very helpful, it still isn’t enough. Not only will she have to pay for her own books next quarter but her workstudy position will be put in jeopardy as well, and she isn’t alone.

“Another IRS waste of time,” Tommy Salvador, student, said.

“My taxes were ” led electronically on March 3 and I still can’t get the IRS tool to work. Financial aid told me to contact IRS to get a paper transcript and they couldn’t find anything. So much for a friendlier IRS,” Tommy Salvador added.

Many students are even more upset at financial aid and the IRS than before this incident even happened.

Sarah Conrad is just as angry with IRS for not properly identifying procedures for people who owe.

“After holding forever  with FAFSA and the IRS, I learned that returns with payment are not posted until May 1. And my college won’t accept anything other than a completed IRS Transcript,” Sarah Conrad, student, said.

“It appears that whoever put this together didn’t bother to ask the IRS about their posting procedures. Now my daughter and I have to wait a whole quarter before going back to Pierce,” Conrad added.

It is true that nothing can be done about the issue that students are having with financial aid and the IRS tool, but being aware of what’s going on just might get the government to rescind the rule that was made.

When asked why the IRS data retrieval tool came into play, untested and brand new, officials stated that they were constantly being defrauded by students were lying on their FAFSA that they received no income but really did.

But the question is, would the colleges rather lose more students because of this reoccurring error with financial aid and the IRS or would they rather risk being defrauded instead?