Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

My friend's roommate is seriously stressing about financial aid. He doesn't know how to pay for his financial aid other than grants and loans, but is in a major dilemma:

On his FAFSA, he lied about his parent's income so that he will get financial aid. (He said that his dad makes virtually no income). He observed through a FINAID calculator that he would not get the $4050 Pell grant, and other financial aid without lying. So, he lied, and the school asked him for a verification form where you have to submit your parent's tax returns to the school so they can audit the fafsa information.

Now, he's worried that at worst...he will get sued by the government, and probably get kicked out. And, he never sent one of his parent's tax return to the school, so he will not get caught. What he did is wrong, but he knows that he will not get financial aid otherwise, and most likely drop-out of school.

What he's been wondering is...can the school track his parent's full income with only the Social Security Number? Will he get caught, and probably get sued? What do you think will happen? It's late August, and he told me that he still hasn't received his financial aid award letter. So, what should he do? He's taking a risk by enrolling into college w/o having received his award letter. But, if everything turns out well, he won't get caught for this year, and get the financial aid. And above all, he does not want a 12,000 loan for the year just to be able to afford a below-average college.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?????????????????????

By Jenniferpa (Jenniferpa) on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 06:37 am: Edit

The short answer is that if the college has asked for verification and he has not submitted the appropriate tax returns, he never will get that financial aid letter. No grants or loans, Pell or otherwise, will be forthcoming and his account with the school will be in arrears. You say it's possible he won't get caught this year, but the fact is, is if he has been asked for verification he already HAS been caught. I'm suprised that he has been able to register for classes without payment as most schools do not allow this to happen. I think it's unlikely he will get sued by the government, but the college will be well within it's rights to both sue him AND kick him out, the latter being inevitable. His only options are to either withdraw, or take out a regular loan. Remember that although parents are expected make a contribution to a student's college education, there is nothing to compel them to. The contract is between the student, an adult, and the college, and it isn't necessary for anyone to be able to track the parents income - the student is ultimately responsible.
If he's lucky, he'll be able to withdraw with only minor financial penalties; if he's not, he can be sued by the college for this semester's fees and this debt will stay with him.

By Ndbisme5 (Ndbisme5) on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 08:53 am: Edit

What an idiot. Just send in the forms and tell them it was a typo. Or tell him to defer enrollment for a year and send in new tax forms. Otherwise, he's gotta pony up the whole amount through a bank loan. Man, I can't believe they granted that person admission... But make no mistake, it is a federal crime to knowingly provide false information in tax forms, etc. He could face fines and/or imprisonment.

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 09:50 am: Edit

Frequently there are posts on CC asking how to possibly provide less than accurate info on the FAFSA to maximize finaid. It is dishonest to do so, and quite frankly jeopardizes ones enrollment at the school and any current or future finaid awards. The bottom line is...your family assets are your family assets...period. Report them accurately. Schools do randomly ask for verification of income (copies of signed tax returns...we had to send copies of our W-2 forms as well). Need based finaid is supposed to be for those who need it, not for those who falsify information. Sorry, but this is a situation I find irritating.

By Emeraldkity4 (Emeraldkity4) on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 12:15 pm: Edit

I was not aware that college allowed registration without payment or finaid. Without verification of income and /or a check he won't be allowed to register.
If his grants and loans are not enough to pay for school, that obviously he needs to attend a cheaper school, perhaps a community college and learn from the experience.

By Ndbisme5 (Ndbisme5) on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 03:56 pm: Edit

Yeah, its weird that they let him come to school without even having paid the bill first.

By Bluealien01 (Bluealien01) on Wednesday, September 01, 2004 - 10:22 am: Edit

As Nelson Muntz (spelling??) on the Simpsons says.....Ha-Ha!

How can someone be that stupid?? And, did the parents sign the form too?? I thought the parents had to sign the part about their own income taxes.

By Jl87d (Jl87d) on Thursday, September 02, 2004 - 02:53 am: Edit

"oops, I was reveiwing the work I did on my fafsa, and came across a huge error"
Have him say this(or the like), and make the changes to the form. I'm sure they will understand, and let him make changes as long as he does not show that he had intent to falsify the paper work.

By Bluealien01 (Bluealien01) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 02:37 pm: Edit

Doesn't this mean that he might not get admitted anywhere else if other schools find out what he did?

By Sybbie719 (Sybbie719) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 03:17 pm: Edit

Possibly, because he will have to fess up to his bad behavior when asked have you ever been dismissed or expelled from a school.

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 08:42 pm: Edit

He says that "he never sent one of his parent's tax returns", implying that he sent the other. Therefore, they must not file a joint tax return, which is a bit odd (assuming they're married, but I am beginning to doubt that). Which also means that your friend's roommate must have also lied about the relationship between him and his biological dad...uhhh...it gets convoluted.

By Ghard (Ghard) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 10:25 pm: Edit

"Any Suggestions"

Yes. Tell him not to lie to the US government and do his research. Don't underestimate college's IQ's - they wont hand over money blindly! It's hard to find any room for sympathy for him...

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 10:28 pm: Edit

I was wondering if the OP of this thread is even reading the replies...and what the student's status is at this point.

By Ndbisme5 (Ndbisme5) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 12:44 pm: Edit

You have got to be dumb if you think you can mess with Uncle Sam.

--->Don't underestimate college's IQ's - they wont hand over money blindly! It's hard to find any room for sympathy for him...

Fin Aid Office Discussion Transcript
FAO1: What about this person?
FAO2: Wow, he's living close to the poverty line...
FAO3: He says his parents only make $5,000 a year!
FAO1: Well, if he says so, let's give him all the money we can!

It still shocks me that someone would be stupid enough to lie to a college or the government. I mean, didn't you read that part in the college packet about W2s, verifications, CSS Profiles, etc.? I mean, if you'd listen to looney consiracy theorists, you'd know that as soon as you punched in those keys on the FASFA, at a little place in Washington, D.C. bells and whistles were going off like crazy!

If I were the school, I'd decline him admission and put him on a secret black list.

By Voronwe (Voronwe) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 05:40 pm: Edit

I was wondering if the OP of this thread is even reading the replies...and what the student's status is at this point.

I'm willing to bet that the OP is the one who did this (who lied on the forms). The old, "It's not me, it's a friend of a friend" routine is old!

By Ndbisme5 (Ndbisme5) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 06:49 pm: Edit

Yeah, that thought went through my mind as well. When I f'd up in the admissions process I had the tennis balls to say it was me !