IRS tax return delay affecting FAFSA - should we hold off signing financial aid package?

DO NOT sign that financial aid package yet! When your tax return information finally uploads, your son's SAI (Student Aid Index) will likely change and could qualify him for Pell Grants or other need-based aid. I work in a college financial aid office, and we're seeing this IRS-to-FAFSA data transfer delay affecting about 30% of our applicants this cycle. You need to immediately contact the financial aid office at your son's school, explain the situation, and request a deadline extension while you wait for the tax data transfer to complete. Most schools are aware of this issue and have protocols for handling it. Get the extension request in writing and keep documentation of all communications.

I had the exact same problem with my daughter's FAFSA this year. Her initial aid package was just loans because our tax data hadn't transferred. Here's what worked for us: 1. Contact the school's financial aid office again, but ask specifically for a "provisional aid package pending IRS data transfer" - use those exact words. Most schools have a form for this. 2. Submit a copy of your actual 2022 tax transcript (you can get this directly from the IRS website) to the school as supplemental documentation. 3. Get written confirmation that your package will be recalculated once the official data transfer occurs. This way, your son can accept the provisional package by the June 1 deadline, but you're protected when the final data comes through. In our case, once the tax data finally transferred (took about 7 weeks), my daughter qualified for an additional $4,800 in grants.

tbh i wouldn't stress too much. my boyfriend had this same issue back in march and he just signed for the loans anyway. the financial aid office told him they'll automatically adjust everything once the tax stuff finally goes through. different schools might have different policies tho so maybe call again and ask specifically about their policy for retroactive adjustments?

The exact same thing happened to us!!! I spent FOURTEEN HOURS on hold with FAFSA over 3 days trying to figure this out for my twins. This whole system is completely broken!!! How can they expect us to make college decisions when they can't even get their systems to talk to each other?? We ended up having to take out Parent PLUS loans we didn't need because we missed out on grant money, and now we're fighting to get it corrected retroactively. FAFSA is the absolute worst and nobody seems to care how many families they're hurting!!!

I think there's some confusion here about how the FAFSA-IRS data transfer actually works. When you filed your FAFSA, did you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, or did you manually enter your tax information? If you used the DRT, the tax data should have transferred immediately. If it's still showing as not transferred after all this time, there might be a mismatch between your FAFSA and tax return information (like a name spelling difference, SSN typo, or filing status issue). Regarding your question about signing the current package - absolutely request an extension based on the pending IRS data transfer. Most institutions have policies for this exact scenario, especially this year with all the FAFSA delays. But don't just wait passively - you should also: 1. Request a professional judgment review from the financial aid office 2. Submit your actual tax return documents directly to the school 3. Get written confirmation about how and when your package will be recalculated Source: I'm a financial aid advisor at a university, and we're dealing with these cases daily right now.

lol this new FAFSA system is such a joke. They had 3 years to prepare for the changes and still messed it up. The same thing is happening to literally everyone I know who applied. My cousin just gave up and is taking a gap year because of all the delays. Good luck getting any real help from FAFSA's customer service - they just read from scripts and don't actually know anything.

Hi there, I was dealing with this exact issue until last week. My daughter's FAFSA was submitted in December, but our tax information wasn't showing up either. I had success by taking two specific actions: 1. I requested a Tax Return Transcript directly from irs.gov (it's free) and submitted that to her school's financial aid office alongside a letter explaining the IRS data transfer delay 2. I specifically asked for a "conditional financial aid package with adjustment provision" - this allowed her to accept the current offer while guaranteeing a review once the tax data came through The financial aid officer said they're making these accommodations for many students this cycle because of the widespread IRS data transfer issues. She also mentioned that schools have been given guidance from the Department of Education about handling these cases, so don't take no for an answer if they initially seem unhelpful. In our case, once we provided the transcript, they were able to estimate what her final package would likely include, and it added about $5,300 in grant funding that wasn't in the original offer.

One more important thing to note: The June 1st deadline your son's school gave you is an institutional deadline, not a federal one. While it's important to respect the school's timeline, they absolutely have the authority to grant extensions for circumstances like these. Make sure when you contact them that you get the name of every person you speak with, take detailed notes of the conversation, and follow up all phone calls with an email summarizing what was discussed. This creates a paper trail that can be invaluable if you need to escalate the issue later. Also, you should check if your son qualifies for any state-based grants that might have separate application processes not affected by this FAFSA delay. Many states have their own grant programs with different requirements and deadlines.

After spending weeks trying to resolve a similar issue, I finally got through to a helpful FAFSA representative who explained that there are actually two separate problems happening: 1. The general FAFSA processing delays affecting everyone 2. Specific IRS-to-FAFSA data transfer delays affecting some applicants You're dealing with #2, which unfortunately takes longer to resolve. However, the rep confirmed that schools can absolutely process a provisional aid package based on tax transcripts while waiting for the official data transfer. They recommended submitting: - IRS Tax Return Transcript - W-2 forms - A signed statement explaining the situation Based on my experience, I'd strongly recommend not signing the current loan-only package without an explicit written agreement from the school about adjustment once the tax data transfers. Most financial aid offices understand this situation is not your fault.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My daughter's FAFSA has been stuck since February with the IRS data transfer issue. After reading all these responses, I wanted to share what finally worked for us yesterday. I called the financial aid office and specifically asked to speak with someone about "FAFSA processing delays due to IRS data transfer issues" - using those exact words seemed to get me transferred to someone who actually knew what they were talking about. They immediately offered to process a provisional package based on our tax transcript and said they've been doing this for dozens of families this cycle. The key was being very specific about the problem rather than just saying "my FAFSA is delayed." They also mentioned that the Department of Education has given schools specific guidance on handling these cases, so if your school isn't being helpful, you might want to escalate or reference that guidance directly. Don't give up!