[Students] 2017-2018 FAFSA / 2017-2018 TASFA: Correction!!
Maria C Ramos
Maria.Ramos at tamuc.edu
Mon Oct 3 15:43:54 CDT 2016
Planning on applying for financial aid for the 2017-2018 year?
Normally a financial aid applicant had to wait until after January 1,2017, and the income tax information would be for the 2016 calendar year. But no longer!
Starting with the 2017-2018 year applying for financial aid for the fall 2017 can start on October 1, 2016
I know you might be thinking, wait...
" We just started the 2016-2017 year " or
" I haven't yet completed the requirements necessary to complete financial aid for the 2016-2017" or
" You really did not mean to say we can apply for the 2017-2018 year?"
Yes.
I really did mean you can apply for financial aid for the fall - that is fall of 2017. A whole year from now!
What's new?
The 2017-2018 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the 2017-2018 Texas Application for State Financial Aid are available NOW. Starting with this academic year and for the future
Who completes the 2017-2016 FAFSA at www.fafsa.gov<http://www.fafsa.gov> ?
Students who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents of the U. S. or Eligible Noncitizens are able to complete the FAFSA to establish eligibility for federal AND state financial aid.
Who completes the 2017-2018 TASFA at College for all Texans<http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/index.cfm?objectid=D465D848-EA0F-C0EA-5209BC8C89262877>?
Students who are NOT U.S.citizens, permanent residents of the U.S. or Eligible Noncitizens but are classified as a Texas resident and are eligible to pay the Texas in-state tuition rate.
What income year do you use?
In completing the 2017-2018 FAFSA / 2017-2018 TASFA you will use calendar 2015 income!
No - this is not a typo nor a mistake.
All financial aid applicants will use the 2015 tax year to complete the 2017-2018 FAFSA. Since the deadline to file income taxes for 2015 was back on April 15, 2015 or October 1, 2015 for those who requested an extension to file for 2015, there should be no problem to get the income information to complete the FAFSA or the TASFA.
And that is the one reason why the Department of Education was given the authority to change income data from two years prior to when the academic year starts. No more excuses that the income tax return was not file or the deadline to file has not come up yet.
Does this mean 2017-2018 financial aid will be awarded earlier?
No. The priority deadline for 2017-2018 still remains March 15th.
No. The federal government will not have the Pell Grant chart nor allocations available until much later in the 2016 year.
No. The state of Texas will not have state allocations for state grant programs until next year in 2017.
So, why do the 2017-2018 FAFSA / TASFA earlier if financial aid will not be awarded any time soon?
One reason because you can do it earlier. Verification will not be going away any time soon. Actually the Department of Education is getting more selective, and tighter with their selection process.
For those of you who in the past may have had to obtain IRS tax transcripts because of verification, there is no delay because taxes for 2015 already have been filed; two years ago. To complete the FAFSA, the IRS Data Retrieval System imports the 2015 income tax data directly to the 2017-2018 FAFSA.
How does this affect a financial aid application if the Department of Education selects it for verification?
Verification of income data is easier since the 2015 data comes directly from the IRS into the FAFSA. But if you are not able to use the IRS Data Retrieval System for whatever reason, the IRS Tax Return Transcripts<https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them> for 2015 are available.
A bit of Warning though!
If the financial aid applicant and/or parents and/or financial aid applicant's spouse did not file a 2015 income tax return but reported wages on the FAFSA/TASFA, each person who completes a FAFSA / TASFA must request directly from the IRS a Verification of Non-filing Letter for 2015.<https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them>. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Financial aid applicants may think 'well, if I do not report and 2015 wages on the FAFSA and I did not file, then there will be no problem'. The data on the FAFSA is sent to the IRS, regardless of whether you use the IRS Data Retrieval System. The FAFSA and the IRS communicate data between agencies and conflicts will show up.
So if anyone whose income information as reported on the FAFSA/ or TASFA have 2015 wages and did not file a 2015 tax return, start now with sending the request from the IRS for a Verification of Non-filing Letter for 2015.<https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them>
What happens if the 2017-2018 FAFSA shows 2015 data that is different from that reported on the 2016-2017 FAFSA?
The Department of Education will be monitoring the 2015 data on each of these FAFSAs. Even if the 2017-2018 FAFSA is not selected for verification, if a difference on the FAFSAs is noted, the Department of Education will alert the school a difference occurred. The school will be required to follow up with the applicant why the difference and will require verification to occur; what documents will be needed will depend on what the difference are. Even if the application has been verified new data elements may be required by the Department of Education.
This gives you the starting points. The main point in this email is to let everyone know - it's time to complete the 2017-2018 FAFSA or 2017-2018 TASFA.
Maria del C. Perez-Ramos, Director
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Maria.ramos at tamuc.edu<mailto:Maria.ramos at tamuc.edu>
Mail: P.O. Box 3011 | Commerce, TX 75429
Ship: 2600 South Neal Street | Commerce, TX 75428
Tel: 903.886.5091<tel:903.886.5091> | Fax: 903.886.5098<tel:903.886.5098> | www.tamuc.edu<http://www.tamuc.edu> <http://www.tamuc.edu/>
http://www.tamuc.edu/financialaid
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE
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From: employees-bounces at tamuc.edu [mailto:employees-bounces at tamuc.edu] On Behalf Of Faculty/Staff
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 2:53 PM
To: 'students at tamuc.edu'; 'employees at tamuc.edu'
Subject: [Faculty & Staff] 2017-2018 FAFSA / 2017-2018 TASFA
Planning on applying for financial aid for the 2017-2018 year?
Normally a financial aid applicant had to wait until after January 1,2017, and the income tax information would be for the 2016 calendar year. But no longer!
Starting with the 2017-2018 year applying for financial aid for the fall 2017 can start on October 1, 2017
I know you might be thinking, wait...
" We just started the 2016-2017 year " or
" I haven't yet completed the requirements necessary to complete financial aid for the 2016-2017" or
" You really did not mean to say we can apply for the 2017-2018 year?"
Yes.
I really did mean you can apply for financial aid for the fall - that is fall of 2017. A whole year from now!
What's new?
The 2017-2018 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the 2017-2018 Texas Application for State Financial Aid are available NOW. Starting with this academic year and for the future
Who completes the 2017-2016 FAFSA at www.fafsa.gov<http://www.fafsa.gov> ?
Students who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents of the U. S. or Eligible Noncitizens are able to complete the FAFSA to establish eligibility for federal AND state financial aid.
Who completes the 2017-2018 TASFA at College for all Texans<http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/index.cfm?objectid=D465D848-EA0F-C0EA-5209BC8C89262877>?
Students who are NOT U.S.citizens, permanent residents of the U.S. or Eligible Noncitizens but are classified as a Texas resident and are eligible to pay the Texas in-state tuition rate.
What income year do you use?
In completing the 2017-2018 FAFSA / 2017-2018 TASFA you will use calendar 2015 income!
No - this is not a typo nor a mistake.
All financial aid applicants will use the 2015 tax year to complete the 2017-2018 FAFSA. Since the deadline to file income taxes for 2015 was back on April 15, 2015 or October 1, 2015 for those who requested an extension to file for 2015, there should be no problem to get the income information to complete the FAFSA or the TASFA.
And that is the one reason why the Department of Education was given the authority to change income data from two years prior to when the academic year starts. No more excuses that the income tax return was not file or the deadline to file has not come up yet.
Does this mean 2017-2018 financial aid will be awarded earlier?
No. The priority deadline for 2017-2018 still remains March 15th.
No. The federal government will not have the Pell Grant chart nor allocations available until much later in the 2016 year.
No. The state of Texas will not have state allocations for state grant programs until next year in 2017.
So, why do the 2017-2018 FAFSA / TASFA earlier if financial aid will not be awarded any time soon?
One reason because you can do it earlier. Verification will not be going away any time soon. Actually the Department of Education is getting more selective, and tighter with their selection process.
For those of you who in the past may have had to obtain IRS tax transcripts because of verification, there is no delay because taxes for 2015 already have been filed; two years ago. To complete the FAFSA, the IRS Data Retrieval System imports the 2015 income tax data directly to the 2017-2018 FAFSA.
How does this affect a financial aid application if the Department of Education selects it for verification?
Verification of income data is easier since the 2015 data comes directly from the IRS into the FAFSA. But if you are not able to use the IRS Data Retrieval System for whatever reason, the IRS Tax Return Transcripts<https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them> for 2015 are available.
A bit of Warning though!
If the financial aid applicant and/or parents and/or financial aid applicant's spouse did not file a 2015 income tax return but reported wages on the FAFSA/TASFA, each person who completes a FAFSA / TASFA must request directly from the IRS a Verification of Non-filing Letter for 2015.<https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them>. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Financial aid applicants may think 'well, if I do not report and 2015 wages on the FAFSA and I did not file, then there will be no problem'. The data on the FAFSA is sent to the IRS, regardless of whether you use the IRS Data Retrieval System. The FAFSA and the IRS communicate data between agencies and conflicts will show up.
So if anyone whose income information as reported on the FAFSA/ or TASFA have 2015 wages and did not file a 2015 tax return, start now with sending the request from the IRS for a Verification of Non-filing Letter for 2015.<https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them>
What happens if the 2017-2018 FAFSA shows 2015 data that is different from that reported on the 2016-2017 FAFSA?
The Department of Education will be monitoring the 2015 data on each of these FAFSAs. Even if the 2017-2018 FAFSA is not selected for verification, if a difference on the FAFSAs is noted, the Department of Education will alert the school a difference occurred. The school will be required to follow up with the applicant why the difference and will require verification to occur; what documents will be needed will depend on what the difference are. Even if the application has been verified new data elements may be required by the Department of Education.
This gives you the starting points. The main point in this email is to let everyone know - it's time to complete the 2017-2018 FAFSA or 2017-2018 TASFA.
Maria del C. Perez-Ramos, Director
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Maria.ramos at tamuc.edu<mailto:Maria.ramos at tamuc.edu>
Mail: P.O. Box 3011 | Commerce, TX 75429
Ship: 2600 South Neal Street | Commerce, TX 75428
Tel: 903.886.5091<tel:903.886.5091> | Fax: 903.886.5098<tel:903.886.5098> | www.tamuc.edu<http://www.tamuc.edu> <http://www.tamuc.edu/>
http://www.tamuc.edu/financialaid
[Description: cid:3482316705_152977]
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE
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