IDOC is only geared to accept and process the specific documents college financial aid offices request, such as tax returns and W-2s, so I don’t think they would accept and forward any additional documents except the ones specifically requested.
Right. Send a separate letter directly to the financial aid office.
@ParentOfThr33 Thanks for the update. I was so sick of it all that I finally just submitted as is. Our cars are all over 10 years old and <$5k value, so if anything, that’ll help!
All of the supplemental questions in our CSS profile are denoted as “not required” (none of them have the red asterisk). What will happen If these questions are not answered?
I finally got our return transcript and added it to IDOCS. Still have not gone down to IRS office for son’s non-filer verification. Is it really necessary to do this now/at this stage? Or is this something really only required if you get selected for verification from your college? Will have to take son out of school to get this done and would rather not if not absolutely required.
You can fax the 4506T to IRS and wait until they mail the non-filer verification letter. Or, you and your son can come to local IRS office to get it. I was told by the IRS customer service that they can give the letter to your son at the same day. I will be going to local IRS office tomorrow with my son to get the letter and we’ll see whether we can have it the same day.
For some reason I am being asked questions about student military benefits? Any thoughts on what I did to trigger it? There is an asterisk that requires me to select the type of benefit from a drop down and it won’t allow me to bypass it.
Also, I would like suggestions on how to handle the housing question as my situation doesn’t fit the drop down choices. I live in a home that I do not own, but I do not rent–I pay all expenses as if I did own the home. “Own” isn’t appropriate, but neither is “rent.” I suppose I could select rent, and then just enter zero for rent paid? Or there is the “live with others, don’t pay rent” option…although I don’t live with others, and I do have to pay for everything. Ideas?
Thank you!
So this question is in our Supplemental questions which is not required (does not have a red asterisk). “Does the student have interest in any assets held in another person’s name, including children, relatives, and others?” What is meant by “interest in assets”? @BelknapPoint.
@amazinglove Thanks, yes, I knew I could go down there. I don’t want to deal with it if I don’t have to. I did fax the 4506T in and was sent a letter saying they can’t fulfill the request b/c they can’t take electronic versions of signatures. I hand signed the fax before sending, so none of it really makes sense. I think they want the hard copy by mail (even though the form says it can be faxes). The language on the form and the letter is completely convoluted and unclear. Sigh.
In the Parent Asset Details section of the profile, where would the parents 529 plan assets for both the student and the student’s siblings be reported? I assume both would be reported in the Current market of investments. Correct?
Also, if the student has a UTMA (custodial account) under the parent, would that be reported in the “Total value of parent assets held in the names of their children” question?
The question is asking if the student has full or partial ownership of an asset that is held in someone else’s name.
A student UTMA account (i.e. the student is the account beneficiary) would be reported as a student asset. The only exception I can think of is if the account is a UTMA 529 account. On the FAFSA, this would be reported as a parent asset. For Profile, you should call the school’s FA office and ask how they would like a student UTMA 529 account to be reported (student asset or parnet asset).
Regarding “All of the supplemental questions in our CSS profile are denoted as “not required” (none of them have the red asterisk). What will happen If these questions are not answered?”, nothing negative or adverse will come about from leaving those fields blank as far as processing your Profile goes.
ProfessorMom1: assuming you have already submitted the ‘Non-Tax Filer Statement – Student’, not all schools will require any further documentation on the matter (eg. the IRS Verification of Non-filing Letter document), so you either wait until/if notified by a school, or you could call the fin aid offices of each school and ask if said document is required.
I have a question re sibling private school. I included that information (school name, tuition, etc) in the CSS profile. At the end on the Special Circumstances page, you can check “Siblings in Private School” but once you check it you must include info in the box. I have nothing to add and the info is already in the profile. Can I simply select “none” for special circumstances?
When sending supplemental tax forms for the CSS, can you black out part of the SS numbers on them? I don’t like the idea of our numbers being out there on some fax machine. Our tax information was stolen this year and it makes me so leary of our information getting in the wrong hands.
I’m going to answer my own question (having done more research) but pose two more. For special circumstances, I think the only reason to check Siblings in Private School is if there are special circumstances surrounding that choice (i.e. learning disabilities, etc). Otherwise, the information is contained in the questionnaire portion (at least it was in my CSS profile).
New question though: S18 is applying RD (1/1) to a few schools that have earlier deadlines for scholarship consideration. When is the best time to submit CSS (and/or FAFSA) to those institutions? Does it matter? I ask b/c wondering how financial profile plays in scholarship decision, if at all.
And second question: IDOC institutions requesting documents are satisfied with what I’ve uploaded so far. I did not upload 1099s (for modest royalty income). If institution isn’t asking for it, can I leave it alone? Just a pain to load them. The instructions stated just W2s and 1040.
I’m a military veteran, but when I left active duty, I wasn’t able to transfer my VA education benefits to my child under the GI Bill that applied to me. The Post-9/11 GI Bill does allow this, so that’s probably why the CSS PROFILE asks about it.
https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/post911_transfer.asp
When I filled out the CSS PROFILE for my D, I wrote in the Special Circumstances section that my D is not eligible for any Veterans education benefits.
No need to upload any documents in IDOC beyond those specifically requested by each college. If they only request W-2s and 1040s, don’t upload 1099s.
@ARTCC thanks. I’ve got a second school asking for docs now. But they are asking for ones I’ve already submitted when I first did the CSS and added docs to idocs (my uploads are listed at the bottom of the page and are the ones that first school presumably pulled from). Do I need to submit them again? Seems odd.