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(Application Processing) Subject: Email Notifications to 2017-2018 FAFSA Applicants Encouraging Use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool

Posted Date:December 15, 2016

Author: Lisa DiCarlo, Director, Student Experience Group, Federal Student Aid

Subject: Email Notifications to 2017-2018 FAFSA Applicants Encouraging Use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool

As part of our ongoing effort to expand usage of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) by applicants and parents, we have begun sending email notifications to encourage those who did not use the IRS DRT to return to FAFSA on the Web (FOTW®), transfer their 2015 tax return information into their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), and submit the corrections. This correction submission will result in a more accurate Central Processing System (CPS) transaction upon which financial aid administrators (FAAs) can determine a student’s eligibility for aid.

In this announcement, we provide the following information regarding the email notifications that we began sending in early December 2016:

  • Criteria for Sending Notifications
  • Schedule for Sending Notification
  • Message Text

Criteria for Sending Notifications

Just prior to December 1, 2016, the 2017-2018 CPS database was queried to identify records where the last transaction met any of the following conditions:

    1. Dependent; Parents’ Tax Return Status is Completed (1); Parents’ Type of Tax Return is 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ; and Parents’ IRS Request Flag is blank, 01 or 05
    2. Dependent; Student’s Tax Return Status is Completed (1); Student’s Type of Tax Return is 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ; and Student’s IRS Request Flag is blank, 01 or 05
    3. Independent; Student’s Tax Return Status is Completed (1); Student’s Type of Tax Return is 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ; and Student’s IRS Request Flag is blank, 01 or 05

Records which met the above criteria were checked for the following conditions:

    1. Professional Judgment Flag is not equal to 1
    2. NSLDS Loan Status Codes are not equal to DD or DE

Records that met these conditions were selected to receive an email notification.

Schedule for Sending Notifications

The CPS database will be queried again in late December, February, April, May, June, July, and August. An email will be sent to applicants and parents who meet the specified criteria and have not already received a notification.

Message Text

The email notifications encourage the student or parent to return to the FOTW site and use the IRS DRT to transfer 2015 tax return information into the FAFSA to create a new CPS transaction. The notifications also discourage the student or parent from revising data that was accurate at the time the FAFSA was filed, such as household size or number in college.

To review the full text of the email notifications sent to students and parents, refer to the attachment to this announcement. Sample notifications are provided in both English and Spanish.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding this message, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by email at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.