Filling Your 2017-2018 Financial Aid Applications

File 2015 Income Tax Returns

• You & your spouse (if married) or parents (if dependent) should file 2015 tax returns electronically, if possible
• Wait 2-3 weeks, then proceed with the FAFSA filing process outlined below
• If you are not required to file income taxes, you may skip this step

Collect these items and documents

• Your social security number
• Social security numbers and dates of birth for your parents (if dependent)
• Copies of 2015 tax returns (with W-2s) for you and your spouse (if married) or parents (if dependent) to use for reference when using IRS Data Retrieval option (outlined below)
• Bank, stock, real estate & business records (if applicable) for you and your parents
• Your alien registration number (if you are not a U.S. citizen)

Get an FSA ID for you & one of your parents (if dependent)

• Go to FSAID.ed.gov or click on the CREATE AN FSA ID link on any of the Federal Student Aid websites.
• Create a username and password, and enter your e-mail address
• Enter your name, date of birth, Social Security number, contact information, and challenge questions and answers.
• If you have a Federal Student Aid PIN, you will be able to enter it and link it to your FSA ID. You can still create an FSA ID if you have forgotten or do not have a PIN.
• Review your information, and read and accept the terms and conditions.
• Confirm your e-mail address using the secure code, which will be sent to your e-mail address you entered when you created your FSA ID. Once you verify your e-mail address, you can use it instead of your username to log in to the websites

File your FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) at: http://www.fafsa.gov

• The FAFSA is used to apply for Federal Pell Grant, SEOG, Work-Study and Student Loans
• Select "Start A New FAFSA" from the FAFSA homepage & choose "2017-2018 FAFSA" from the application choices
• When prompted, sign the application with your PIN
• If eligible, use the IRS Data Retrieval option to import 2015 IRS Income Tax data to the FAFSA (see next page for more information)
• FOTW gives assistance with every question with its "Help & Hints" section on the right hand side of the website
  
• Under the School Selection Option, enter NYCCT's Federal School Code: 002696
  
• When finished, print your FAFSA data and the Confirmation page as proof that you submitted your FAFSA successfully
• You can download your application results (called a Student Aid Report or SAR) in 3-5 days from http://www.fafsa.gov.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool allows you and your parents to transfer tax information from IRS tax records directly to your FAFSA. If you & your parents have indicated on your FAFSA that you have already filed your 2015 taxes, you will be given the option to use this tool when completing the financial information portion of the application. If you choose not to use this option, or use the option but manually update one of the fields, you may be selected for verification and have to submit additional information to the Financial Aid Office after your application is processed.

Please Note:

• Electronically filed tax return information will be available online from the IRS site in 1-2 weeks after your return is filed.
• Data from paper tax returns will be available in 6-8 weeks.
• There are 2 separate Financial Information sections on the FAFSA. You will use this tool for the Student Financial
• Information section and your parents will use the tool for the Parent Financial Information section.

To use this option you must:

• Have a federal tax return filed with the IRS
• Have a valid social security number
• Have a Federal Aid Personal Identification Number (PIN)

FOTW determines if you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool based on your reported tax filing status.

Some tax filers may not be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and will have to enter their data from their own tax records. You or your parents will not be offered this option if:

• Your marital status changed after December 31, 2015
• You or they filed "married filing separately"
• You or they indicated "married" on the FAFSA but filed "head of household" or "single" on the tax return
• You or they filed an amended return
• You or they filed a foreign tax return

If eligible to use the tool, you will be transferred to the IRS Website. FOTW will notify you that you are leaving the FAFSA website and entering the IRS website to complete the transfer of your tax information.

on your tax return. It is important that you complete this section exactly as it appears on your tax return or your information may not match with IRS records and the data retrieval may not go through.

Once the IRS has authenticated your identity, your IRS tax information will display. You may then choose to transfer your information from the IRS into your FAFSA by checking the "Transfer My Tax Information into the FAFSA" and clicking "Transfer Now" button (see below).

After you have transferred your data, you will be returned to the FOTW website to finish your application. Make sure not to change any of the financial data that was imported from the IRS Website. Remember that both you and your parents (if applicable) will need to go through a separate authentication process when filling out the Student Financial Information & the Parent Financial Information sections of the FAFSA.

The federal government uses a process called verification to help determine the correctness of the financial information on your FAFSA. When applications are selected for verification, the Financial Aid Office must collect certain documents from you and your family and match them against the information you provided on your FAFSA. If your application needs to be verified, the Financial Aid Office will send you a letter asking you to provide documentation of your application information and complete a "Verification Worksheet". You will have to submit the requested items of documentation before you receive any payments of federal financial aid.

Tax Filers

If you or your parents did not or could not use the IRS Data Retrieval option when you completed your FAFSA, or manually changed any information transferred from IRS records to your FAFSA, you will have to submit a IRS Tax Return Transcript as one of the required documents in order to complete verification. We can no longer accept copies of tax returns that you or your tax preparer completed. Learn how to obtain a free tax transcript on p. 9.

Non-Tax Filers

If you have earnings from work but did not and were not required to file a 2015 federal income tax return, document this income by attaching all W-2 forms and/or 1099 forms from all sources of employment to the Verification Worksheet.

Other Verification Items

Depending on your individual circumstances, you may be asked to confirm or document the correctness of additional FAFSA data items before your application can be finalized. If you are required to submit additional information for verification, you will receive notification from the Financial Aid Office.

If you, your spouse (if married) or your parents (if dependent) need to document your taxable income to fulfill verification requirements, you can request an IRS Tax Return Transcript free of charge. Remember that we can no longer accept copies of the tax returns that you or your tax preparer completed. You may only submit documents that come directly from the IRS to complete verification of your tax return information. There are two ways to request a tax transcript from the IRS.

Online Request

Go to the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov. Click “Get Transcript of Your Tax Records” on the homepage and follow the steps to order your tax return transcript. The tax filer will have two options to order the transcript. One option will be to get the transcript online immediately. In order to get the transcript online, the tax filer will have to follow the steps to verify their identity. The second option is to get the transcript by mail. The transcript will arrive 5-10 calendar days after the request was submitted to the address the tax filer provided in the online request.

Telephone Request

Call the IRS at 1-800-908-9946. Follow the prompts to enter required information and select IRS Tax Return Transcript option. If successfully validated, tax filers can expect to receive a paper IRS Tax Return Transcript at the address that was used in their telephone request within 5 to 10 days from the time the IRS receives the request.

Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)

When you have finished filing FOTW, click on “Optional Feature — Start your state application” located on the FAFSA Confirmation page to link to New York State’s TAP-On-the-Web (TOTW) application. Note: if you are not a New York State resident, this option will not be available to you. TAP gives eligible students full-time and part-time tuition awards to supplement any federal student aid you may be receiving.

• Review and correct the pre-printed answers on your TOTW application & answer any questions that are missing.
• Your federal PIN serves as your signature for the TOTW application.
• If you (or your parents) did not use a PIN to sign your FOTW application, your FAFSA signature page satisfies the TAP signature requirement.
• NYCCT’s TAP School Code is 1405
• If you did not complete the TOTW application when you filed your FAFSA, you will be sent an email reminder to file your TOTW application at: http://www.hesc.ny.gov .
• You will receive an email TAP Award Notification in 3-4 weeks after completing your application.

APTS (Aid for Part-Time Study)

If you plan to attend City Tech as a part-time student, you may be eligible for a New York State Aid for Part-Time Study (APTS) award. After completing your New York State TAP application, you will need to complete a CUNY Supplement Form to be considered for this award. Log on to CUNYfirst to access the Supplement Form. The Supplement Form can be found by going to “Self Service” located on the left menu in CUNYfirst. After you are in Self Service, click on the “Student Center” link. Under the Finances Section, you will find the Supplement Form. Select NYT01 for the institution and 2017 for the aid year.

CUNY’s Scholar Support Prepaid Card is a faster and easier way for you to get and manage your financial aid and work-study payments. Your financial aid grant, loan and work-study payments are automatically deposited to a prepaid MasterCard on the scheduled disbursement date. There is no more waiting for a check to arrive in the mail. This card is accepted at any store or ATM where MasterCard debit cards are accepted. Learn more about this option and enroll to receive your card at: http://www.cuny.edu/admissions/financial-aid/info-resources/scholars-support.html