University of Denver is asking for my tax returns and W2 for financial aid. They have not rendered a decision for my D as of yet. Why do they require a FAFSA and CSS Profile if they are just going to ask for that other information anyways?
There is information reported on FAFSA and Profile that is not part of your tax documents. That’s why.
And they want to be very certain that what you put on the financial aid forms aligns with what is on those tax forms.
If a school has submission requirements to get financial aid, you need to complete them ALL or your kiddo will have an incomplete file and their institutional financial aid will not be processed.
I understand. My point is that it renders these forms largely useless since they require a fair amount of regurgitation. They should just ask for copies and at max require FAFSA or CSS, just seems like a very inefficient process.
They can ask for your dog’s vet bills too if they want. It’s their money and you want it so you have to jump through as many hoops as they ask you to.
You may have a very simple tax picture but others have multiple corporations or self employment income and they treat all applicants (who want their money) the same.
Pretty much every school is going to ask for them. And not all want the same documents sent the same way. 
Welcome to the joy of filing for need based FA. This is one reason I discourage kids from apply to a high number of schools. The FA work is nuts. I have a small business and an ex-spouse, so we got an extra helping of crazy.
I am convinced that the schools that requesting the CSS profile make you jump through all these hoops hoping that you will just throw your hands up an say “forget it, it’s not worth it”. They can still claim that meet every kids need. I want to know how many people actually fill it out and actually get money. It’s crazy one school wanted to know what cars we drove. I swear the only thing that they did not ask on my CSS profile is how much tax I pay in the state of NY. Which they should ask as what I pay for taxes is totally and completely ridiculous. I found what FAFSA said we could contribute as humorous. I guess they just assume that we have no bills, no taxes to pay, and we don’t have to put food on the table. Being middle class we are so screwed.
Look at the various quetions asked in the Fafsa and CSS. It is not simply what’s on tax forms. The CSS, in particular, reflects a lot of discretionary spending and some unavaoidable expenses (eg, medical,) as well as unprotected asset totals. Of course, some want to know whether you buy expensive cars, take luxury vacations, or other ways you spend down what you have, before they dole out aid.
And the FA guidelines, even for some categories asked also on tax forms, don’t follow IRS rules and regulations.
Vicky, it’s a pita to apply to colleges, too. And you need to jump through the testing hoops. And a state tax consideration is in the formula hidden to view.
You want free money? You need the give them what they ask for.
I get it that I need to jump through the hoops but I also have a right to complain about a silly process especially since I know any aid is going to be minimal.
There also is a form that I have had people fill out that gives an institution a right to your tax records for a certain year. They could just use that instead.
@vickyvic1: agree with all that you said.
Play by their rules or take your ball elsewhere.
This may seem a small return for you, but hundreds of millions of dollars go out annually and they need a way to assess who gets, who doesn’t.
Yout tax forms do not reflect how you spend.
At a meets full need college that I am familiar with (and requires Profile), 50% of the students receive some kind of need-based financial aid, and the average financial aid award amount is more than $47,000 per student (institutional grants make up 88% of that amount). If your family really is middle class by any accepted definition, your kid would be part of that 50%. Would that be worth it to you, or would you throw up your hands and say “forget it”?
If you know that the aid is going to be minimal, and the process is so frustrating for you, than don’t do it. No one is holding a gun to your head, and it sounds like detaching yourself from the experience might be better for your mental health. Yes, the first time through the forms can be a chore. But after you’ve been through it the first year, each subsequent year gets easier (and I didn’t find it that hard the first time).
I’m a little sympathetic. We were on the cusp for need based aid with second kid. (None for kid 1) A couple schools offered some aid, a couple didn’t, and at the others she got merit that brought the cost down enough that we didn’t bother to apply for need based aid because it was obvious we weren’t getting it.
We ended up getting a total of about $25K spread over the 1st 2 years, then full pay after that at the school she selected. That was still worth it for us.
I understand the need for the info (but hated putting all that personal info out there - SSN, etc).
What I am really not comfortable with is submitting my W2 and tax returns. I already submitted most of that info on the FAFS and/or CSS Profile. My concern is security - I have to scan my W2s and tax returns to upload them. That means there are multiple points of potential security breaches - my home or work scanner/network, home or work computer, etc.
One school said I could mail my W2s and tax returns to them - yeah, that sounds safe!
What have others done? Scanned at work, at home, saved the files and then deleted after uploading them (but we all know things are never really deleted)?
Any super security conscious CCs out there that can advise?
Any as someone asked earlier, why not ask for the W2s/tax returns IF my child is admitted? Or if they conduct a X% audit of admitted kids?
I remember one student, who had been accepted to Yale, complaining here on CC that after submitting all this information he was not offered any financial aid. He wanted to appeal because the only way the family could afford Yale was if they sold the vacation home that they bought the year before. I made a comment that almost got me sent to CC jail.
Sometimes we must set priorities. I guess for certain people that’s a lesson that needs to be repeated.
@RookieCollegeMom
Yes, you are pretty much saying what I intended and really agree on the security part. I am not saying it is a lot of work to scan a tax return. I am saying that the process is inefficient. There is alot of repetitive information. There is another form that wants me to re-enter what I have already entered and sign it on the asset side. Why ask for tax info on the FAFSA/CSS if they are just going to want a return?
Yes, and this info is being asked for before an admittance has been granted, that is the other annoying part.