A recent hacker attack against the Internal Revenue Service has created a hurdle for some Pell Grant recipients this summer.
After hackers used the online Get Transcript system to access about 100,000 tax accounts in late May, the IRS shut down the system, which allowed students and parents who had been selected for income verification to access a PDF copy of their “tax transcripts” — their tax returns — within moments. Students are selected for verification randomly by the IRS, though colleges can choose to verify others. If selected, students must show proof that the tax information they submitted on their Fafsa forms is correct.
Now, students must use less time-efficient options to get the paperwork. Requesting a transcript by mail can take between five and 10 business days, according to the IRS website. Calling and requesting the IRS to fax the information to colleges can involve hours on hold. Some students live nearly 100 miles away from an IRS office, where they could also obtain a transcript in person.
That’s left some financial-aid offices in a sticky situation, with some low-income students about to start their classes without having completed the aid process.
The problem, however, is mostly for those who have waited until the last minute to complete the process, said Mark Kantrowitz, senior vice president of Edvisors and a financial-aid expert. Students who are U.S. citizens but live outside of the country could also face this problem, he said.
“Any time you have an additional requirement, it adds a barrier that sometimes stops low-income students from getting their Pell Grants. And so that’s the perennial challenge,” he said.
While students have had most of the summer to complete the process, some colleges are still struggling to help them, especially colleges with large numbers of low-income students and thus more Pell Grant recipients.
South Texas College, where 82 percent of students are Pell Grant recipients, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, is an open-enrollment college, which means students could enroll up to this past weekend before classes started on Monday.
The college came up with alternatives for students who hadn’t completed the verification process, including paying a down payment until their aid can be disbursed. Students have until September 8, when their enrollment is locked in, to make sure their paperwork is done, said Miguel Carranza, associate dean for student financial services.
“If a student is just then registering and trying to complete their financial aid, now they have the problem of having no funds for school,” Mr. Carranza said. In that case, the college is working with students to find solutions. For example, officials could try to get them to pay a down payment (either 20, 25, or 50 percent of tuition) before they can receive their financial aid.
One student at the college has had a particularly hard time completing the process. Alexa Monforte, a junior, requested that copies of her transcript, and her mother’s, arrive in the mail. She never received them. After spending several hours at an IRS office because of a glitch in the computer system, financial-aid officers at the college told her she hadn’t obtained the full transcript.
Without the financial aid, Ms. Monforte said she won’t be able to pay for the semester.
“I’m still going to class and everything, but if I don’t get it by September 8th, they told me I can get my classes dropped,” she said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education said the agency provides students who have been selected for verification with information online, and that students are still able to receive their tax transcripts. A spokesman for the IRS declined to comment on when the system may be available again the future.
Exceptions for Some
For students who were hoping to use their federal aid for expenses like textbooks or rent, the challenge could be more acute, said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
“Most schools, if it’s within their power, they’re going to make an exception on late disbursements if the funds are on their way,” he said.
That’s the case at California State University at Sacramento, where financial-aid officials first thought it would take longer for students to retrieve their transcripts if the IRS were flooded with requests. The university does provide students with a fee deferment, which has “released some stress on the side of the students,” said Anita Kermes, director of financial aid and scholarships.
There too, students will have until the second week of classes to make sure that their forms have been submitted, though Ms. Kermes said she was also concerned about students who planned to use that money for nonbillable expenses.
Still, she said she was surprised by the lack of alternatives to the requirement once it became more difficult for students to get their transcripts.
“When things like this arise, it’s obviously out of everyone’s control.” she said. “I would hope we would be flexible enough to be more responsible,” especially when the term is starting.
Financial-aid officers at Panola College, in Carthage, Texas, called on officials from around the college, such as athletic coaches and performance-group directors, to contact students they worked with and make sure they turn in their forms in time, said Denise Welch, director of financial aid. Her office also sent weekly emails to students and called them throughout the summer months.
She called it a “campuswide effort,” which she noted was possible since the college has about 2,700 students. Fewer than 5 percent of those students haven’t turned in all of the required forms, she said.
Those whose financial aid couldn’t be disbursed did have to pay 50 percent of their tuition before the aid came through. The office has been slowed in its ability to disburse their aid. “We feel bad for the students,” she says.
