I ask because I’m nearly 6 years out of undergrad, but I received this odd question on an Masters app. How would they verify such things? call my school? Reach out to FAFSA? Is there even a database they can access for the latter?
What is the specific question that is asked on the application?
Did you receive funding in undergrad and I think if so list it? generic
Your question should not be if they check, but when they check. If/when they check and you have misrepresented yourself, not only will you be kicked out of your grad program, you will have to repay any monies that they gave you. You are going to file the FAFSA, so the school will probably be able to determine and you will show up in the national clearing house.
Don’t think about motives, just answer the question truthfully.
financial info too sybbie? That seems really odd, I know enrollment dates and degrees but not financial aid/private scholarships I received in undegrad. I may leverage some things to get more money. That’s my goall, not to lie.
igot a need based scholarship in undergrad but it was through the university…so how would they verify that or worse how would i verify it for them? This was like 10 years ago at this point I dont have emails that long
Just list what you remember. Don’t worry too much - be as honest as you can. You can see your Pell grants and loans by logging into nslds.ed.gov (you may need to go to fsaid.ed.gov first to set up an FSA user ID).
clearinghouse doesn’t deal with financial data whatsoever…just checked
You can see your loan history just by looking at your credit history. It has a ‘high’ amount for loans, so if your are interested in the student loans history, most of it is there.
I think they are interested in grants and scholarships more than the student loans.
Your FAFSA, which is required by some grad schools, will show your loans. Other universities require that you submit a “financial aid transcript.” This will show all the aid you received. Is there some reason you want to withhold this information?
Yes financially misrepresenting your self can be grounds for having your admissions/ degree rescinded. When you apply to state that all information you are submitting is true
The world of financial aid is small. A good officer can look at your FAFSA information and figure out your aid isckage or ask a colleague how would a student with your EFC be packaged without asking specifically for your information.
If getting your I formation is part of their aid process and you are not submitting information you could find yourself without aid due to an incomplete financial aid application
@lykia99 really? Which line on the FAFSA asks for your loan amount? I do not believe that is true.
@thumper1 I misspoke. I meant the Student Aid Report, which is generated when you submit your FAFSA. The final section of the SAR lists all your educational loans. This information is also automatically reported to the applicant’s financial aid office.
The student aid report simply states your EFC…it doesn’t tell what loan debt you had from previous years. At all. Ever.
This unless something has changed. I have several SARS from my kids…no loans listed at all.
Plus, why would this matter? If loans are listed on the SAR, they would be federally funded loans…but I believe they would be for the current year only.
@kelsmom you work at a grad school. Can you see undergrad loans on SARS?
Schools get your ISIR, which is sort of like the SAR - and it does include prior loans. Schools cannot overaward aggregate loans, so they have to have this info.
The outstanding loans are listed on the SAR. In fact, if you have an FAFSA open you may get a notice of correction. This happened several times to my daughters and it was the schools adding the new loan amounts after disbursal, usually in Jan or Feb after the spring loans were added but before the school had processed FAFSA for the next year.
So really the only reason the school needs this is so they know NOT to award loans over the aggregate amount allowed.
Nothing wrong with that!!
In addition, schools are able to view your Pell & loans to date on NSLDS.
@kelsmom but again…this is so the schools do not award amounts in excess to what the student is entitled to receive…correct?
Exactly - it is to make sure students are not over awarded as undergrads & to make sure they are not overawarded as grads.