FAFSA Name Changes

[Evil Liv]

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So I've been in college for over two years now, and during graduation, my name change has come back to haunt me. There's always been what's called "multiple records" in the NSLDS (Student Loan Database), but I just ignored it. At one point I attempted to correct it directly with NSLDS and FAFSA student customer service and got absolutely no where. There's even a procedure in place, but no one claims the authority to enact it or seems to know about it. Customer service will tell you to contact your loan provider, (how are you to contact a provider under the wrong name that doesn't have loans) and they'll tell you to contact NSLDS. It's an endless cycle of insanity.

Apparently there's a lot of people who have their identities stolen, or change their name through marriage, or a traditional name change, (such as moi) who are affected by this process, and despite your name being corrected in the FAFSA system, a duplicate "multiple record" will persist (in the NSLDS) causing data conflicts throughout your college career. Every semester I was forced to send in information to prove I was who I am. Then it all culminated when I was asked to do exit counseling for my college when I graduated. The online system will not allow you to do it when there is multiple records. Worse yet, my college does not do paper, or manual exit counseling. Still at this point, even though I'm in the process of resolving the issue, I'm not able to comply with the requirements for graduation. I've earned a degree, but technically there's a risk of not receiving it because of this "glitch." If the process fails, it will likely be short of a lawsuit to get the degree I worked so hard for.

Of course I know all about "glitches". I've discovered you will never outrun your former self, NEVER! It's absolutely miserable too. No one ever knows how to handle situations, most are incompetent, and almost all of them, just want to push you off on to someone else, or they hope you'll just give-up and go away.

The Answer:
I ended up doing a lot of research, and was lucky enough to finally reach a soul I entrusted with my past and could pursue the change. Apparently the procedure, when there's what's called a "data conflict", is to obtain all the necessary information, and then to submit it through your Financial Aid officer through their internal channel at NSLDS. Your financial aid worker will need to submit a "request for resolution", with a NSDLS tracking number.They will provide the proof. (name, dob, record to keep, driver's license, social security card, and court order). Once the request is made, the NSLDS will seek to resolve the matter with their data providers. Eventually, hopefully, you're notified of the decision.

As of writing this, my resolution is still unresolved.

If you're in the same situation, you may want to refer your FA worker to this number 1-800-999-8219, option 3. (...or their internal contact number for NSLDS) It's only for financial aid professionals, but apparently this is the process. If you're still not able to facilitate a data merger / purge of incorrect data records via this method, you may want to try the Financial Aid Ombudsman, though for myself, they referred me back to my school.

I'm still hoping for this to be corrected, and wish anybody luck who decides to return to school after a name change.

Update: After about 6 months, I've been advised it has been corrected. We shall see.