Yesterday the White House issued a statement on The White House Blog regarding its Education “Datapalooza,” an event intended to further the exploration of new apps and services advancing higher education. The White House blog post references a fact sheet describing some of the details of its agenda to combat rising college costs and make college affordable for American families.
In conjunction with the Datapalooza, the U.S. Department of Education announced today a “series of next steps aimed at opening up resources that higher-education leaders, private-sector and philanthropic leaders, technology developers, and entrepreneurs can use to enhance affordability, access, and outcomes in higher education.” One of these steps involves the launch of an IRS service called “Get Transcript,” which is intended to make it easier for student borrowers, and taxpayers in general, to access their own tax records. A full description of this service is as follows:
Streamlining Application Paperwork: The U.S. Department of the Treasury will explore opportunities to help consumers access their own Government-held financial records online. Federal student-loan borrowers need access to Government-held personal records, such as tax returns, to help apply for aid and scholarships, as well as to enroll in programs to help them repay their loans, such as Income-Driven Repayment programs. As a part of this overall effort, the IRS is launching Get Transcript, which will give taxpayers the ability to view, print, and download their tax transcripts-making it easier for student borrowers to access their own tax records needed for loan and grant applications.
The IRS Get Transcript service is available at http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript
