<p>I completed my CSS profile this week and saw that a couple of colleges require copies of my parents' tax returns from '09 and even '08. Does that mean I have to make copies of EVERYTHING from their tax return or does one or two forms cover it? I hope that makes sense. I'm a little worried since if I have to make copies of my parents' entire tax return stuff then that would be A LOT of paper.</p>
<p>bluecrayon…you need to check to see what the colleges want. They will be specific. If they say the tax return, and all schedules…that is what you send. If they want something in addition, they will tell you. And yes…if your parents have a complicated tax return with multiple schedules AND you are sending this to multiple schools…it will consume a lot of paper.</p>
<p>Also…reminder…the schools usually want SIGNED copies so if your parents and you filed electronically, make a copy and remember to sign it on the signature line.</p>
<p>Often colleges that require the CSS Profile will want you to submit your tax documents to IDOC. This is a service offered by the CollegeBoard where you will send all the documents just once. IDOC will then scan them and deliver all the information electronically to the colleges. The good thing about this when you’ve applied to a number of colleges is that you only have to send everything one time.</p>
<p>I do this every year, but I’m not remembering just now how you first get informed about IDOC. Thumper, do you recall? Is it that they send you an email with instructions for printing the cover letter, etc?</p>
<p>If your college participates in IDOC, my recollection is that you will receive information about what to send and where directly from IDOC. To be honest, there are NOT a lot of colleges that use IDOC. DD (in the 2006 admissions round) had two schools which used IDOC. She received a packet…I believe it was snail mail at that time, but maybe we printed it all out from an email…telling her what to send…and when. All the documents went to the IDOC (wherever that was??). </p>
<p>My recollection was that the instructions were VERY clear.</p>
<p>What is IDOC?</p>
<p>IDOC is a service that schools using the CSS Profile can subscribe to. IDOC stands for Institutional Documentation Service.</p>
<p>In looking at last year’s Profile, I see that when you complete the Profile it will tell you if any of the schools to which you’re applying use IDOC. And it will provide instructions how to do that.</p>
<p>Anyway, it can be a huge paper-saver and postage-saver if a student is applying to a number of colleges that want tax returns, various schedules, w-2s, 1099s, etc.</p>
<p>Here’s a list of most of the colleges that use IDOC (there are a few others, this list is mostly complete, but not quite):
</p>
<p>My son attends a school that uses IDOC. After I submitted the CSS Profile, I rcvd an e-mail telling me that I would hear from IDOC in February with further instructions. It was pretty simple last year - just had to send them a copy of the tax return and W-2s. They were very precise in how they want things - so do read their directions carefully. For example, each W-2 had to be copied on a separate sheet of paper - they did not want 2 or 3 W-2s on one page. There is a cover a sheet you fill out to list everything that you are sending them. Not too painful, all things considered.</p>
<p>Bluecrayon,</p>
<p>When we submitted the profile last year, it spit out a list of colleges that wanted tax return info. I called each of them because I wasn’t sure exactly what to send in.</p>
<p>They each told me that they would not need the tax returns unless my son decided to enroll at that school. None of them were schools that used IDOC. So I only had to send one set to the school he ended up choosing.</p>
<p>You might want to make a few phone calls before spending a lot of time making copies and mailing packages.</p>
<p>Two of the 11 schools my son has applied to want full copies of all tax forms from him and us prior to acceptance. Personally I find this a bit appalling - I mean, I understand needing to verify the income information submitted prior to finalizing financial aid for an enrolled student, but requiring people to blindly send every bit of their personal financial data to a potentially unsecured mailroom manned by curious students on work study (I worked in the financial aid office in my college days as well) is actually a huge liability risk. Truly I am suprised there haven’t been more issues with this and that nobody seems to question it at all.</p>
<p>I can see why they want it. Especially schools that give out a tremendous amount of their own money. If families were not honest in what they report, or misunderstand what they’re supposed to report, and then the school awards students large financial aid awards they’re not actually eligible for only to go back later and reduce those awards based on misstatements or mistakes only after the students have turned down other schools – to me that creates a huge, ugly issue.</p>
<p>I’ve always felt that if I’m asking for their money, I need to do on their terms. I suppose one could call them and ask how that information is protected if they were concerned about that aspect of it.</p>
<p>OP: When asked for Form 1040, we also sent the IRS’s supporting schedules (Sched. A in our case). We did NOT send our Forms 1099-INT/1098, statements received from charitable organizations, or our own worksheets (your parents will know what all of that means). Just the 1040, Sched. A, and the W2s. </p>
<p>Looking back at last years PROFILE info, here’s what I found:</p>
<p>On the Acknowledgment page (which should be printed for your records), there is your receipt information. Under that is a section call “Colleges and Programs.” This lists each college receiving the PROFILE, and various “Message Codes” for each college. Clicking on any of the codes took me to a separate page called “Explanation of Message Codes.” There are very clear instructions on that page about what is needed by each school. </p>
<p>If any of the schools participates in IDOC, the PROFILE Acknowledgment will list a code for that (it was “H” last year). You will get specific instructions on how to submit; I seem to remember we got an email from IDOC. Follow the instructions to the letter, including mailing instructions.</p>
<p>For all schools requiring submission of tax docs, I got this good tip from an FA office: At the top of the 1040, write the student’s full name and DOB (print clearly). This will ensure that the documents get matched up with the student’s file.</p>
<p>When you get any type of loan - they require all your personal data too. How else could they do it? Their employees are as apt (more?) to “do something bad” with your info as college students. Besides…just THINK how many schools x how many applications = a LOT of this. I’m sure it might have happened, but I’ve not heard of it. I HAVE however heard of colleges whose computer systems were hacked into and private information on students/parents leaked. I’d say that is a higher security risk. IMO. Easy for me to say. They can’t “get” anything from me - can’t get blood from a stone.</p>
<p>“When you get any type of loan - they require all your personal data too.” - of course they do - but not until a preliminary approval based on your application data and credit rating. In other words, if I apply for a loan from three different sources they will look at the standardized data that is out there about my finances, and not ask for back-up documentation until they have offered me the loan and I have accepted their offer. This is very different from asking for an entire tax return prior to acceptance. The information on the CSS profile (income, family size, asset amount, etc) doesn’t include nearly as much sensitive data as the tax return (social security numbers for siblings, investment firms where assets are located, etc.). I dont’ have a problem submitting this information after acceptance, I just feel very uncomfortable blindly mailing it out to schools that haven’t shown any real interest in my child other than a barrage of literature from a test score generated mailing list.</p>
<p>And 'rentof2 - yes I can see how major errors/mistatements can be a huge mess, but it can be handled quite simply by stating that finanical aid awards are preliminary based on receipt of supporting documentation - which is pretty much how that situation is handled at the 90% of schools which don’t want the returns until after acceptance.</p>
<p>Additionally - who is the customer here? You say “I’ve always felt that if I’m asking for their money, I need to do on their terms”, but actually they are asking for OUR money, at a price that they set with no transparency to us, and raise each year, again with no transparency. The bulk of student are not getting free rides or paying 100% of the COA, they are getting a discount on a sliding scale based on the information they submit. Basically it’s an income redistribution system - the richer are paying for the poorer. From what I can see schools get money from three sources - our tuition and fee payments, our tax dollars, and the proceeds from fund raising campaigns that begin as soon as our child is admitted and end when they realize that we did NOT put them in our will after all.</p>
<p>carmen…do you want to know your child’s final financial aid offers BEFORE he/she makes a commitment to attend a school? If so, the data needs to be sent to the school to make those decisions. If not, then do not expect the schools to make a finalized offer to your student before the May 1 deadline for matriculation decisons. </p>
<p>Any financial aid offer you receive PRIOR to having all the information sent to the schools AND updating FAFSA/Profile after completing your 2009 tax return…will be an ESTIMATE and YES…these estimates can be changed once the information is finalized with the tax info. </p>
<p>Our estimated income varied by $3000 and ONE school reduced DD’s grant aid by $6000. Yes…it does happen. Oddly, the other schools didn’t make any changes to her financial aid offer. This change occurred after we made the changes on the FAFSA/Profile that reflected our accurate info from our taxes. AND that school would NOT discuss their decision at all. That was their policy. That school had been near the top of DD’s list…but quickly fell to the rock bottom not because of the money…but because the finaid office staff was so abrupt and refused to discuss this. </p>
<p>If you don’t get the schools ALL the information they request in time to process your kiddo’s financial aid request by the schools’ deadlines, your child might not have a finalized award before they have to make a matriculation decision.</p>
<p>carmen: True, they are asking for our money. We in turn are asking for theirs, that’s what financial aid is. When they ask for tax documents, they are verifying that we really need the aid; I don’t think that’s unreasonable.</p>
<p>But I do understand your concern about security in this day and age, so I encourage you to call the Financial Aid offices and ask them how your sensitive data will be handled. I think you will be reassured.</p>
<p>Of course I understand what is going on with the requests for information - I have a spreadsheet with my son’s 11 schools on it, each form requirement listed, each deadline noted, everything checked off as it is sent out. Let me tell you something - with 11 schools, not a single one has the same requirements as another. I am just ranting a bit - there are so many things wrong with this process, and just one of them is this blind request for full completed tax returns from a few schools prior to acceptance. How about another (admittedly off topic) rant about the CSS profile, which many schools require filled out far before anybody with finances beyond “one job one paycheck” can possibly have all of their documentation in. CSS charges us, what, a $9.00 processing fee, and then $16.00 per school to send the information, and yet it doesn’t see fit to provide us any centralized means to edit this information as the correct info comes in, forcing us to communicate individually with schools and contributing to the “we must have your tax returns” requirements. For crying out loud, the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has figured out a way to allow us to centrally edit this information. This is the same type of customer service as the “convenience fee” that Ticketron charges for the convenience of an automated system taking our credit card number and allowing us to print out our tickets in our own home, lol. As I say - very convenient for them!</p>
<p>carmen – Oh I get your frustration, rant away! The day that all of the pieces finally fell into place for my D’s college – admission, financial aid, loan docs – I’ll never forget the relief. I was never so glad for something to be over! </p>
<p>And you’re right, 2 of the things that are most maddening are the lack of transparency (why did Johnny get admitted to X University, and rejected by its virtual clone Y University? We’ll never know.), AND the maze of different dates and requirements for financial aid apps. I also set up a spreadsheet for FA submissions, which I’ve saved as a badge of honor that I survived.</p>
<p>Hang in there. Remember that this is a one-time process for your student, and if there are younger ones coming along, you’ll already know the ropes. Next year, completing FA will be a breeze - only one deadline, and with any luck at all, it won’t even be a PROFILE school.</p>
<p>Carmen…vent away. Believe me, you’re preaching to the choir here. Most of us have gone through this process and it IS annoying. The multiple deadlines issue is the most annoying. The fact that many schools have deadlines in January for financial aid form completion when everyone on the planet KNOWS that tax info isn’t even required to be provided until Jan 31. </p>
<p>And believe me…I think everyone on this forum thinks the Profile should be able to updated ONLINE and resubmitted one time FOR FREE. Sheesh. </p>
<p>I think I’ve filed my last FAFSA/Profile with my kids…and I’m nearing the end of undergrad payments too. There IS light at the end of the tunnel!!!</p>
<p>Sigh, this is actually my second time around. My first time our federal EFC was too high to expect any aid, especially after our daughter received merit money from all of her top choice schools. So I didn’t take the process too seriously. This time, however, we are facing two in school at the same time for the next two years, an older husband, a slightly lower income and investment portfolio due to the economic situation and paying for our daughter’s first two years of college - so there is some level of aid available to us. Plus my darling son is not applying to many schools that offer merit money, so there is a real feeling that we need to “make hay while the sun shines”. I am not sure why I am finding the process so onerous but I do appreciate the opportunity to complain about it, lol.</p>
<p>And btw apologies to origial poster for thread hijacking, sorry.</p>
<p>Yes, agree…it’s a big old bunch of paperwork. It’s also an awfully expensive undertaking for us, and a daunting task for the school. Can you even imagine processing 30,000+ applications in a few months? But my homes have cost less than a private education, so I expect it. Still sucks, but…? I’m sure the kids would same the same about their applications. That’s why colleges that use the Common App increase their applications once they do so. Sad, but it’s just easier so kids add on schools. How many kids out there did NOT say… “ANOTHER essay!!!” (application, scholarship, whatever). And these kids also send in THEIR information ss#s, dates of birth, home address, etc. </p>
<p>The “pre-qual” in a loan process is really not much more than both of you deciding if you think it’s wise to go forward. With only 1 month to make a decision, how would it be possible to wait and send in all your info after acceptance? You still wouldn’t know which school to select until you learned about scholarships/aid. And my D has a school that doesn’t give much even in terms of merit unless you ALSO have need based aid. So it’s really necessary that it be done in advance. Like you, I am not a one job one paycheck person. I DREADED Fafsa. I’ve been researching for a year and was panicked. But, it’s a necessary evil, and it’s done now. Well, step one anyway. Now I’m gonna dredge up my 2008 tax return and get 2009 filed. And then, really, like every other chore…“once begun it’s half done”. It’s a matter of copying and mailing forms…for a possible $240,000 in aid. I think that’s pretty fair. I myself am filling them out even though I doubt my D will get over $10,000 year in aid. It’s worth it, I’ll take whatever I can get, IF anything. Yes, they all require something a little different. Just think if kids applied to this many schools before (one reason why they didn’t, I imagine). Every application is a hand written piece of paper, adding your transcripts and recommendations and mailing. Sending every school their own application and their own aid application (WAS there aid? I know these endowments weren’t like this).</p>
<p>Bottom line - I didn’t have ANY money or any parents and I couldn’t go to college. So I am OK with filling out these forms to see if I can get any help sending my child through school. Because it IS their help. We are the school’s customer, yes. But…in this one faction of the process…they are our customer, and they get to make the rules if they want to help our kids by providing them with some of their money. And I can’t honestly see them doing it any other way. Your child could apply to only 1-2 colleges, that would make it easier on you. But they are companies, it’s nice that some of them ‘work together’ a bit - to make it easier. But you can’t really expect them all to do the same thing just to make it easier on us.</p>