Questions on Income verification forms legality (AZ)

Paying for College
1

<p>While we're all aware that should your FAFSA be flagged for more verification, one must provide it- my issue/questions have nothing to do with this aspect of verification forms.
Having attended other colleges, I'm familiar with the financial aid process- now I'm attending college in AZ; where I have been continuously hounded for verification forms semester after semester. This semester they're "quest for verification" has LITERALLY denied me access to my education. They have told me it will take them 4 weeks to process my info (it's a small school; if FAFSA can process the information for all college students in the US with a staff of about 3000 in one week, I feel like 4 weeks is a stretch for such a small school asking for the exact same thing FAFSA has confirmed), in which time I will have to pay out of pocket for those 4 weeks (money that if I had it, I wouldn't need FAFSA to start with). They ask for IRS statements- which due to the fact that my family and I have been homeless we literally do not have. Having none is not an option. Being poor is literally not an option on this worksheet- so what I am suppose to hand in is beyond me ( I only made $600 in 2012). Then there's forms asking how much I spent on clothing, toiletries, gas, rent, ect. They want proof of receiving food stamps. The college says it has a right to ask these questions and the right to require evidence however- I cannot find the law they claim gives them such rights.
This is becoming irritating and humiliating- I'm literally too poor to go to school now? </p>

<p>So my questions are:</p>

<p>-Where is/what law(s) allows AZ to make verification forms from all students a requirement?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Are they allowed to ask for invasive personal information (such as the cost of my clothing, food, toiletries, ect.)?</p></li>
<li><p>This is a state that has been pushing for identification laws (giving the right to police officers to demand id and be able to arrest persons who do not have ID on them), Verification forms are a form of identification (one must be a citizen to have food stamps and IRS forms in AZ)- could these be linked?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-What can I do/should do about this?</p>

2

<p>Yes, they can ask for verification for just about everything. You can go to a local IRS office and see what you can get in terms of copies of last filings. If you are claiming little or no income, yes, they can ask what you have been spending and where you got the money to spend it. That is what those questions are leading to. Every single item of your FAFSA that you filled out is subject to verification. And not just in Arizona. Anywhere. You can be asked to verifiy every line item. </p>

<p>If this particular school is being more invasive than another, switch to another school, though if selected for verification, the financial aid officers who are an extension of FAFSA personelle can request anything they want in terms of verifying information or disproving it. </p>

<p>My son applied for a non subsidized loan,and I for PLUS. Neither loan is subsidized but one does have to file FAFSA for it. But it doesn’t matter what your income is. Still we got selected for verification, and i had to send copies of our full tax returns with all schedules and attachement with original signatures plus send in for the IRS to send the matching returns so that if they did not match, the aid would be pulled. They also wanted notarized statements that my son did not need to file a tax return and what he earned that year as well as proof of that amount in terms of any W-2s., 1099s and anything else had to be verififed with notarized statements. With the IRS retrieval system now in place, it’s a bit easier for those who file to have those numbers verified, but some fin aid offices are not there yet. Oh, and they wanted a snaphot of our bank statments on the day we filed FAFSA which meant I had to go through every single one of our asset statements and get a one day snapshot months after the fact. All of this when it mattered not one bit whether the numbers were $1 or a million dollars. Was i irritated, aggravated, incensed. Yes. It took me literally hours to gather all of this up, and over a period of weeks. And, no, the school is not in Arizona.</p>

<p>Have you visited the Finanicial aid office and met the directors and others who are handling these things and talk personally with whoever is in charge of your file? You should sit down with the person and have in hand as much paper work as you can easily get with a list of what else you are getting that will take time. Also have all of your ids and copies of your parents’ and of all the welfare and other programs from which you are getting services. Just all the paper from all of your paperworld, and explain the situation very nicely and humbly and see what they will request further and they can help you with th elist and timelines in getting these things. Let them see that you want to be cooperative, but so that they can see your situation in person. </p>

<p>Yes, they will ask for expenditures, rent, utiitlies, clothing, food, toiletrieds, and for your family and want to know where you are getting the money. There are people who cheat and they are looking for this. Someone claiming to live on $5K a year who is in an apartment that costs more than than and is feeding a famiy of 5, well, something doesn’t add up. That means someone is handing the family money, and they want to know how much and where the money is coming from. Yes, they want to know where you are getting Every Friggn’ Cent (ever wonder what EFC really stands for?) to live. You are getting money, and yes, it is humiliating when one is getting money for being poor. They stick it to you every way they can. If you have been on public assistance and haven’t been getting this kind of once over, then you have been very lucky. Medicaid, SSI Disability, welfare, WIC, yes, they want your blood sometimes. Your blood. And I’m not kidding. Some schools have a more strenuous process than others and sometimes you miss getting selected for full verification and audit; most people do since they do not check out anyone. </p>

<p>If it makes you feel any better, we are upper income and got selected for verification too.</p>

3

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<p>If you did not make enough to file taxes or were not required to file taxes, you/your parents will have to contact the IRS to get a non-filers statement.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506t.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506t.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>At some schools they verify the information of every single student. If a school is receiving federal funds they must minimally do a random verification of students. In the event of an audit, a school can be fined up to $1 million per infraction.</p>

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<p>The short answer is yes, they are allowed to ask for invasive personal information. Sounds like you stated that your income is really low. In this event, it will automatically prompt a low income verification as the school wants to know and has the right to know how you are living day in day out on so little money. If you are receiving Public assistance, Social security disability, food stamps, you must bring in original award letters (from the SSA) or budget letters for food stamps/public assistance, which states number of people in the household and how much you are receiving in benefits.</p>

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<p>You comply or you choose not to accept federal or state aid. What they are asking you for is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact it is pretty standard items for low income students as they have to verify, your income stream. If you are living in the shelter, they expect documentation from the shelter. If you are living with other family members, they expect documentation from them.</p>

4

<p>My son’s school verified 100% of their students. I think it is quite common in Junior colleges that have a lot of low income students and a high % of students dropping out out as the school ends up with the hassle of repaying federal aid. My son’s school was also *very *slow in disbursing aid for the same reason. </p>

<p>I have heard of students reporting ultra low income being required to show how they are getting by on such a low income. </p>

<p>As others have said, if you want the aid you will need to provide the info they have requested.</p>

5

<p>it’s a small school; if FAFSA can process the information for all college students in the US with a staff of about 3000 in one week, I feel like 4 weeks is a stretch for such a small school asking for the exact same thing FAFSA has confirmed</p>

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<p>I worked at a huge school. I now work at a very small school. The huge school had support staff and systems that the small school does not have. Believe me, smaller does not equal “easier” in terms of being able to handle workload.</p>

<p>As far as the verification is concerned, the school has every right to do what they are doing, as long as the policy is applied equally to all students in a similar situation.</p>