<p>Just when I thought I was done and over with FAFSA!!</p>
<p>I sent my fafsa with the 2003 tax return info and met by the priority deadline... long long ago, around February. But now that my parents have gotten their 2004 returns, must I make corrections on my FAFSA? There is about a 20k difference in the adjusted gross income (is that... a bit too much?), but everything else is the same. Is it worth it? Or should I wait until I get my acceptances (between now and early April) and then make corrections? I'm worried that the colleges will see the differences between my FAFSA and the mailed 2004 tax returns and will refuse to give me any financial aid.</p>
<p>I'm not sure when you should do it, but you have to do it eventually. I had the same problem...my parents hadn't done their 2004 taxes yet so I had to enter FAFSA info using 2003 tax return. </p>
<p>I called FAFSA and asked them what I should do, and they said that once my parents filed taxes for 2004 I should DEFINITELY go back and make all the corrections.</p>
<p>Yes, do it NOW! If your parents made $20,000 more this year then your EFC will go up. This could be very important to you because you must decide which school to go to by May 1. What if you wait too long and then you find out afterward that you can't afford to go to the school you want? Say the college A is $40K and they give you $10K in grant money and a $20K merit scholarship which leaves you with $10K to pay yearly. School B is $30K and they give you $20K in merit scholarships with no grant money - it still leaves you with a $10K difference. However school A (maybe your dream school/the college you've acceped) gets your revised FAFSA after the deadline and takes away the $10K grant. Now you will have to pay $20K out of pocket yearly.</p>
<p>Besides that your FAFSA form has got to match your 2004 income tax returns. Some colleges will even ask you for those returns. I don't think it would look good if you had to turn them in with a discrepancy of any amount. I heard that the gov. is even checking your FAFSA forms against your 2004 income tax returns. Even if your EFC right now is 0 I would still do it now.</p>
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I'm worried that the colleges will see the differences between my FAFSA and the mailed 2004 tax returns and will refuse to give me any financial aid.
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<p>Did you indicate on the FAFSA that they "would file"? You may be asked for verification of the figures if you don't change that to "have completed" --and with the corrected figures-- by the time your college is ready to award the aid. </p>
<p>You have to show copies of the actual tax returns (2004) if you're selected for verification. Most colleges state that the award is subject to change if the final figures on the FAFSA do not meet the figures you provide in verification. Best get this cleared up now rather than risk disappointment later.</p>
<p>I would ask the schools for their preference. Here, we do not want appilications to file amended FAFSAs since we collect tax returns from families and make the corrections ourselves. Amended FAFSAs mess up our processing since families tend to correct items we may have made some Professional Judgement on, or changed other fields without our knowledge.</p>
<p>I have changed FAFSA when I finished my taxes- the school then changed the online information- however they did it incorrectly ( for something that would not have shown up on income tax) but when I gave them the information from a nother college finaid office they changed it back.
Admittedly it was confusing, but interesting to note that I had it correctly in a way that reduced EFC, they had it in a place that increased EFC.
I have never heard from schools that they don't want corrected FAFSAs, however when they receive the documentation of W-2s and 1040 forms they can doublecheck the info themselves</p>
<p>barkowitz - I have never heard of asking the schools their preference. Are you saying that the college changes the FAFSA on-line for you? How could the school do that without our passwords, etc.? If you don't change the FAFSA on-line I was told by a college fin. officer that the FAFSA has to match your taxes now because they are randomly selecting some to make sure that they are correct. Just curious.</p>
<p>the schools don't need your password- they have their own access to your information if you have them as a choice.
as for verification- we have verified them every year we have applied- not sure why- but it isn't a big deal- also need to fill out schools own aid form as well as PROFILE</p>
<p>We at the colleges are required to make some corrections ourselves (for Pell recipients whose EFCs change, for number in household changes, etc.). The way we do it is submit changes via our systems back to the Feds, they then send you a sheet saying that the correction was "school-initiated". All I am saying is ask your school their preference before you just send the changes in.</p>
<p>As for the FAFSA / IRS match, that isn't coming for a couple of years yet, although you may be selected for verification (30% of the applicant pool is, and these folks need to submit tax returns to the school for their records).</p>
<p>Bottom line, check with the school. Many or most may want you to correct, but some won't.</p>
<p>I'll go with what barkowitz says and check with the schools before I make corrections. I was kind of reluctant that my EFC would rise significantly... but oh well, I guess that's just the way it has to be.</p>