'The office was dark': Government shutdown delays financial aid for some college students
Source: Knoxville News Sentinel
Monica Kast, Knoxville News Sentinel Published 1:51 a.m. ET Jan. 12, 2019
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — As the government shutdown continues, some college students say they are having to estimate how much federal aid they'll get — and realizing they may receive less than they originally thought.
When completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, some students have found they need additional verification material from the IRS. However, the part of the IRS that allows them to access additional documents has been shut down.
The Department of Education said Wednesday it would provide more flexible guidelines for institutions during the shutdown, allowing them to accept additional documents for verification. Students can now submit a signed copy of income tax returns or W-2 forms instead of originals, which may not be available from the IRS during the shutdown.
Haley Church, a senior at Johnson University outside Knoxville, Tennessee, is still waiting for her FAFSA to be processed because of the shutdown. Church got married in May, which meant she needed her 2016 tax documents, as well as her husband's.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/01/11/financial-aid-fafsa-affected-by-government-shutdown/2550165002/