<p>We submitted everything to FASFA on time. Then we were selected for "verification." I just received an e-mail stating that the college changed our FASFA.</p>
<p>They show a disability pension as "taxable income" and it's not taxable according to my accountant. They listed it as an IRA distribution and this is not an IRA payout.</p>
<p>They changed the amount I put in on that question and based on that told us my daughter is not eligible for Pell Grant. We had received a previous award letter stating that she was eligible for $4000 per semester.</p>
<p>How can they legally go in an alter a document that I have to state all information is true and correct. </p>
<p>With this decision there is no possible way we can pay for college.</p>
<p>How do I appeal this decision or find out why they chose to change it. We also have no assets apart from our home and no cash assets as my husband is now considered completely disabled by Social Security and has been since January. Would it be beneficial to take the declaration letter from SS as a possible hope at altering this decision? Any help is greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>I tried to speak with a counselor last time I was at the college and all I got was the run around from the front desk.</p>
<p>They not only can legally change FAFSA if they think it is wrong, they are obliged to do so. That is what verification is for (and they are required to verify at least 30% of FAFSAs they receive).</p>
<p>Whether they were correct in making the change, I don’t know. Untaxed disability benefits are reportable on FAFSA and are taken into account in the EFC calculation. But untaxed social security benefits are not reportable. I am not sure which your income would come under.
<p>Is the disability pension reported on line 16a? The regulations require that the difference between 16a and 16b … that is, the amount of the pension that is untaxed … be reported on the FAFSA as untaxed income. It gets lumped in with all the other untaxed income, which includes untaxed portions of IRA’s, as well. The reason is that you received the money - it’s not taxable, but it has to be reported. If you follow the instructions line by line when completing the FAFSA, that information is made clear.</p>
<p>While untaxed social security payments and untaxed SSDI are not taxed, disability income from other than the government must be reported on the FAFSA (even if it is not taxable income).</p>
<p>And swimcatsmom is correct … the updates are REQUIRED by the federal government. That is what verification is all about.</p>
<p>It is possible that your family may qualify for a special circumstances adjustment. Find out what is needed to apply for a review at your school (the form may be posted on the website). The aid officer will review all the info you are required to submit & determine if you might be eligible for some adjustment that could result in a reduced EFC. That may not increase your aid, but it may … it is absolutely worth putting in a request for a professional judgment (PJ) special circumstances review.</p>
<p>The SAR is the FAFSA data. It is a list of everything from your FAFSA plus a calculated EFC. If you go into your FAFSA and look at your SAR, you will see that it is basically just a long list of all your data that you submitted to FAFSA. Schools are required to verify a minimum of 30% of the FAFSAs submitted to them. If they find data is incorrect, they have to go into your FAFSA and make corrections to data, which causes FAFSA to calculate a new EFC.</p>
<p>Students receive a SAR; schools receive an ISIR. The ISIR data is what is compared to the tax return and verification worksheet that are collected when a student is verified. The point of verification is to compare the information on the tax return & verification worksheet with the information provided on the FAFSA (which is transmitted to the school via the ISIR). Any information that is incorrect on the ISIR must be updated by the school. The changes are then transmitted to the federal processor. As I said earlier, this is the purpose of verification. Many students incorrectly complete their FAFSAs … I have come across numerous FAFSAs with parent income of 0 … only to discover in verification that the parents did indeed earn income (sometimes a lot of income). Other times, I find that students simply do not read directions or understand what they are being asked … a common mistake is overreporting taxes paid. Often correcting these errors results in a higher EFC. On the other hand, many times the EFC is actually reduced during verification. It’s not always “bad” changes that are made!</p>