The Washington Post has conducted an analysis of federal data, which found that the Department of Education is disproportionately auditing black and Latino students.
What We Know:
- The Post found that almost a fourth of last year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applicants were chosen to be audited. They compare this to the less than half a percent of tax returns audited by the IRS.
- The major finding results that FAFSA applicants from Black-majority communities were 1.8 times more likely to be audited than students from white-majority neighborhoods. Students from Latino-majority communities were 1.4 times more likely to be audited.
- The Education Department estimates that 11% of students drop out of the auditing process. However, financial aid experts told the Post that it is more likely to be around 25%. Students who fail to provide information to their FAFSA application risk losing access to grants, scholarships, and loans.
- One student at Maryville University in St. Louis, Brayneisha Edwards, received a notice requesting that she complete a worksheet detailing the size of her family and their earnings. A few weeks after submitting the form, she was told the form was missing and that she would have to complete a new one.
- Her auditing process lasted all the way through until the end of the semester. Still, by that point, she had lost the opportunity to receive scholarships for the fall, which resulted in Edwards owing money and becoming ineligible to register for spring classes.
“It’s very stressful,” Edwards said. “My grades are suffering. I have all of these doubts about am I even going to finish college. My parents didn’t go to college and they are trying to help, but this is new to all of us.”
To help students combat this issue, Congress has recently taken steps, so students no longer have to self-report income. The spending bill signed last December, for example, contains a provision that makes it easier for the IRS and the Education Department to share tax return data.
