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 obtaining student social security numbers

Lisa Geiger's profile image
Lisa Geiger posted 01-14-2026 05:11 PM

Hello.  Does anyone have a policy or best practice on how to collect social security numbers from the small handful of students who don't provide it to the University? We know we cannot require the SSN on admission applications. If we withhold applying institutional aid until the SSN is received, it would skew payment plans and potentially put the student on hold.  However, the SSN is needed for the 1098-T's, so we'd like to find a way to ensure all students provide their SSN.  Thanks.

Rogen Miller's profile image
Rogen Miller posted 01-15-2026 02:32 PM

Hello Lisa, at USJ, we have initiated the process of placing an SSN registration hold on students from whom we require the SSN. In most cases, this measure has been sufficient to solicit a response from the student. Alternatively, if an SSN is not available on record, we reserve the right to withhold institutional grants and awards. 

John Dickey's profile image
John Dickey posted 01-16-2026 09:31 AM

Lisa,

We do a once a year process to send out W-9 request to students with activity in the calendar year that we do not have an SSN for, or suspect the SSN we have is not valid.  We document that TIN solicitation attempt.  As long as you can document that you have attempted to get the TIN from a student, the IRS will not fine you.  We do have a decent number of students with no SSN (not a huge number, but a decent size) and we have been fine all these years.  College leadership is not willing to put a registration hold on students without SSN.  Would think if a student has a tax return problem, they will be eager to now give you a TIN.  Otherwise the IRS will not be able to match up what they report on the tax return to the filed 1098-T.  Students often do not realize that until get to tax time.  It is a challenge.  Most students do provide a TIN.

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