Dec

6

Financial Aid

Filed Under News 

We have spent the last few months trying to get all my paperwork in for financial aid. It wasn’t until halfway through the semester that we realized I could still apply. So, we began filling out the information right away. Within a few weeks the school had all the paperwork necessary with one exception: our W-2 forms.

When Andrew did our taxes last year he accidentally sent in our copies of the W-2, so we needed to contact the IRS for a transcript. We filled out a paper request and sent it in. Weeks went by. When we were in Greenville over Thanksgiving my mom suggested I look into things because we still hadn’t received the transcript after 6 weeks. I navigated the IRS webpage for awhile and eventually discovered that it should have taken a transcript 10 days to come. I also discovered a phone number that we could call.

Andrew made the first phone call. He talked to a live person and put in the request. It came in the mail by the end of the week. Last Friday I eagerly took it to the financial aid office only to be told that we were actually sent the 1040 form. So, I called the IRS. The lady said I could request only my W-2s, and Andrew would have to request his. He called Monday for them. Yesterday we received mail from the IRS. Again, instead of sending W-2s we got a different-looking version of the 1040. And this was from his request. I was wondering where my request went.

I received a voicemail from my mom today. “I think they sent your W-2s to us here in Greenville.” Sure enough, she had gotten them today. I don’t know how they ended up there since I had a long conversation with the IRS lady about my current address.

My dad faxed my W-2s to the financial aid office, and BJU faxed Andrew’s (I had 4 employers last year as opposed to Andrew’s one). I called the financial aid office, and lo and behold, they received them and all my paper work is FINALLY in. It should take about 2 weeks before I find out if I’m eligible.

Lessons Learned:
Always keep your W-2 forms.
Remember you can apply for financial aid at any time.
Talk to a live person at the IRS. Even if they send you the wrong forms at least you got something from them.
Repeatedly make sure the IRS person you talk to understands exactly what a W-2 form is.

(By the way, the IRS customer service people are very nice to talk to. They’re articulate, efficient–mostly–and friendly. By far the best CSR people I’ve ever talked to.–comment added by Andrew)

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