Rollovers of Retirement Accounts

Qualified rollovers from one retirement account to another are not taxable, and therefore should not be counted as untaxed income.

As you complete the FAFSA® online, and you, your spouse, or your parent give consent and approval to use the Direct Data Exchange, it will import the difference between the total retirement distributions and the taxable amount. This difference is considered untaxed income. This income would increase your family contribution.

However, if all or a portion of the untaxed income is indeed a rollover, then that portion should not be included in the family contribution. Do not make any corrections to your FAFSA®, but send us documentation as described below, confirming the amount of any rollover of retirement accounts. 

You may send us documentation from the appropriate tax filer (student, spouse, or parent) who had the rollover. This documentation may be one of the following:

• A signed and dated statement including the amount of the rollover (please sign using a pen); or
• A notation by the filer on the IRS tax transcript that includes the word "rollover" beside any circled applicable item, similar to the instructions the IRS gives for Form 1040. This annotation must be signed and dated by the filer (please sign using a pen). 

The financial aid office will make the necessary correction to the FAFSA® form. 

If the amount reported on the FAFSA® is NOT a rollover, and you, your spouse, or your parent received untaxed retirement funds, please send us an email indicating that the amount listed was received as untaxed income. In this case, no correction will be made to your FAFSA®, and we will make a note that the funds received were not part of a rollover.

If you have any questions about the treatment of rollovers of retirement accounts on the FAFSA®, please contact the financial aid office.  See contact information below.