<p>Are financial aid office allowed to look at my bank statements, and to look into my bank account to see how much money I have in it?</p>
<p>Are you planning to lie on your financial aid paperwork?</p>
<p>The answer, by the way, is yes. When you file a FAFSA, you agree to allow the government and colleges to verify your information. I assume the same is true for schools that require the CSS PROFILE. Schools are required to audit one-third of their students and oftentimes, they audit many more than that. You’d be required to provide tax returns, bank statements and more.</p>
<p>Providing knowingly-false information on the FAFSA is not only grounds for terminating your financial aid, it’s a federal felony. Do you want to go to prison for a few thousand dollars in aid?</p>
<p>They don’t have the authority to access the account, so if you don’t plan on applying for financial aid, then you don’t have to disclose that information.</p>
<p>But if you plan on applying for financial aid, they will request that information, and you can be denied aid if you try to hide assets.</p>
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<p>They don’t have the power to automatically look into your bank account on their own without your permission, but in verification, they can ask you to provide bank account statements, and if you don’t provide them, they will get suspicious.</p>
<p>Financial aid don’t have the authority to look into your bank statements. If you are planning for financial aid; they might request you to give bank particulars at the time of verification process.</p>
<p>While they don’t have the authority to look up your bank statements they do have the authority to request months or years of original bank statements (especially when it comes to their own institutional aid. Willful misrepresentation can and will be grounds for rescinding your admissions,keeping you from getting further aid, repaying monies already given to you and having criminal charges filed against both you and your parent(s).</p>
<p>This is one of the main reasons that Fafsa will be linked to and cross referenced with the IRS to stop some of the craziness that goes on when people file</p>
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<p>Oh, I apologize for being unclear, but I, by no means, intend on misleading any financial aid offices. I’m actually a rising first year whose financial aid package is finalized, and I’ve already provided my financial aid office with tax returns, etc. I was just curious as to what my rights are. Privacy laws can be confusing.</p>
<p>So by applying for financial aid, I give them the right to my bank statements, whether or not I’ve been notified that they are accessing this information in addition to my FA application? It is not necessary that I supply them myself, via a request by their offices?</p>
<p>They don’t access your bank account in the same way you access it; they can’t log into your account and check it. They ask you to provide it. </p>
<p>They don’t have a “right” to any of your financial information. It’s a condition of financial aid. You absolutely can refuse to provide it, in which case you don’t get the aid.</p>
<p>BTW, I’m sure you can understand why they want to have independent verification of what’s on your FAFSA. People would tell all kinds of crazy lies about their financial status if the colleges had to take their word for it. And I hope you agree that giving alot of money to people who don’t need it would be a poor use of their resources.</p>
<p>You are not giving them the right to access your account. The school will not have access to your account(s). However, as I wrote in my previous posting, the school has the right to request written documentation from you and or your parents, which you and they must comply with in order to receive aid.</p>
<p>The federal government requires that the information on the FAFSA be verified in order to get federal funds.</p>
<p>IF they verify you, they can ask for bank statements, etc. You provide it or initiate the info going to them. Sounds to me like you have passed this point, for this year.</p>
<p>I believe all the feds require is that a % of financial aid apps be verified. (1/3?) Some families get verified multiple years. Some never do. Just depends.</p>
<p>The Fafsa is unfair.
e.g. A person who has no help from their parents works a minimum wage job and has the presence of mind to save money. An equivalent person does not have the presence of mind to save money. The former person is now going to be given a smaller financial aid award than the latter for being careful with their money. That is blatantly unfair.</p>
<p>e.g.2. A person moves out of their parents house and for two years has supported themselves completely. This person though was not born before a certain date so they are classified as dependent, while a person who moved out 4 years ago and receives periodic aid from their parents is classified as independent. Again, blatantly unfair.</p>
<p>Before you say that these are unrealistic scenarios, I’ll say I experienced both and was on the losing side of both.
I also know why the laws are set this way–bureaucracy associated with the fact a fair formula costs too much.
And before you say you don’t make the rules, I’ll just say their was an obvious accusatory tone to your reply to this person. Dishonesty can be moral in at least two situations: protecting an innocent person or protecting yourself from unjust punishments. You have no place to judge a person who is being unfairly prosecuted.</p>
<p>@CampMaRa‌ while I agree with you on situation 2 (bureaucracy at its finest), I don’t agree with situation 1. If you have saved money, you have less need. I don’t know what’s unfair about that.</p>
<p>please use old threads for information purposes only. closing thread</p>