I have decided to take classes in **information security **online at WGU. They want me to email a copy of both my parents tax returns, even though I made it quite clear to financial aid that my parents aren’t paying for it at all. Is this a test where I’m supposed to refuse to tell them?
The only conceivable need for parental financial info is for financial aid. If you’re waiving all aid, there is no reason the school needs that information.
I’d bet more on relentless bureaucracy than any clever trick related to the class.
He clearly posted that the FA folks asked for the info. Its to determine the level of aid he is eligible.
Op…if you want FA you are going to have to submit parental info.
It’s not clear if the OP wants financial aid. If he’s rejecting it, it’s a nonsense request. If he’s trying to get FA and is under a certain age, it’s a legitimate* request.
- For certain values of “legitimate.”
I do want financial aid. The last college I went to didn’t ask for any of this information(I applied for financial aid there too) and it sounded rather like something a scammer would ask. I highly trust WGU, and considering my major, I was wondering if this was supposed to be a test.
Most schools will happily deny you financial aid if your parents could, in their estimation, pay for it. They will also deny you information if you don’t submit your parents’ data, because they assume you are lying about your parents’ ability to pay for your schooling.
Whether your parents will pay for it is immaterial to them.
They have zero sympathy for the fact that grown-ass adults do not necessarily have access to (or need, or want) their parents’ tax information.
My guess? If your parents list you as a dependent on their tax return, the financial aid office will expect them to contribute.
This. FA of any useful level has gotten nearly impossible to get for most middle-class students, which is why student loans have rocketed to the outer planets. And until you’re around 24-26, if your parents make a decent living, your FA rate is probably zero.
That’s an interesting idea! Are there any universities that do do these kinds of tricky “tests”? There’s the infamous beggar test, but it was from research project, not a class per se and test subjects were not officially penalized or rewarded in terms of grades, degrees, or official discipline.
It would be awesome to walk across a university campus one day, find a piece of paper with obscure markings on it, take it home, translate it using my mad leet knowledge of ancient Babylonian grammar, find out that the note tells me to call a certain phone number, call the number, be told that my outstanding performance clearly demonstrates sufficient mastery to be awarded an MS in Linguistics, and be invited to come get my degree next Tuesday. Sure, that’s sort of extreme, but has there anything been anything similar on a less profound level?
About eleven years ago,Google put up a billboard in Silicon Valley with a math question ({first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits e}.com), that once solved would lead people to a recruiting website.
And the Brits recruited people to work at Bletchley Park using a cryptic crossword puzzle.
No, it’s not a test. WGU asked me for the same thing for my BSN (Nursing), and I’m 40 years old. I told them to stuff it. I got loans anyhow. This may not work if you are younger, even if your parents don’t claim you as a dependent on their tax returns:
To paraphrase Hanlon’s razor,
It is highly unlikely to be a test of anything aside from your patience
The government and schools feel that it is more of your and your parents’ responsibility to help you pay for school than it is theirs. Just because you want to be considered financial independent from your parents, if you want financial aid, then they are part of the picture. If you refuse to provide your parents where-with-all to help support you, then why should the government or the school consider supporting you, when they are lower on the totem pole than your parents are?
On the other hand, they may send a wetwork team to kill you.