Information & Instructions

The financial aid application process may require additional forms and documents besides the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If additional documents are needed to review your file, they will be listed in your PAWS Student Center “To Do List.” Please review the details of each “To Do” item and complete the documents as instructed. Please note that a request for tax documentation can often be satisfied in multiple ways. The easiest, most efficient way is to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (2023-24 academic year) or the Direct Data Exchange with the IRS (2024-25 academic year).

If multiple items are requested, please submit all of them at the same time. Submitting partial or incomplete documents slows the application review process. If a requested document/item has multiple pages and you are emailing or using our Secure Dropbox, please scan all pages to one PDF and attach or upload them as one item. In other words, a multi-page tax return should be submitted together as one item.

To ensure that all documents are accepted and don’t have to be returned, please review the helpful tips below before submitting.

Helpful Tips

  • Make sure you submit the documents requested for the appropriate aid year (i.e. 2023-24 or 2024-25).
    • The 2023-24 aid year includes fall 2023, winterim 2024, spring 2024, and summer 2024 terms.
    • The 2024-25 aid year includes fall 2024, winterim 2025, spring 2025, and summer 2025 terms.
  • Upload a separate document for each “To Do” item.
  • Label each item so it matches the “To Do” item.
    • For example, if there are three financial aid “To Do List” items, such as:
    1.  2024 Dependent IVF
    2.  2021 Stud Fed Tax Transcript
    3. 2021 Parent Fed Tax Transcript
  • Upload three separate documents labeling them with the name of the “To Do” item. If a requested document/item has multiple pages and you are emailing or using our Secure Dropbox, please scan all pages to one PDF and attach or upload them as one item. In other words, a multi-page tax return should be submitted together as one item.
    • If you were able to go back into your FAFSA and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you may only need to upload non-tax items.