Alisa Abadinsky
Associate Director of Student Financial Services
University of Illinois at Chicago

The major areas that the University of Illinois had to address in implementing the requirements for the Taxpayer Relief Act were

1. providing information for students;
2. training staff; and
3. complying with IRS reporting requirements.

1. Providing Information for Students

The UIC Web Site:

• is a round-the clock information resource that details each major TRA provision;
• features an in-depth breakdown of the TRA, and provides information about tuition, fees, grants, refunds and payments by term;
• contains three years of financial information for every student, as well as 1098T tax forms that can be faxed/e-mailed on request;
• contains an on-line workshop designed for staff;
• receives heavy usage (from February to May of this year, the web site logged almost 14,000 requests for information)

(view examples of Web site screens)

The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) phone system:

• can be accessed through the telephone;
• students may receive a 1098T form via fax, and have the option of talking to a staff member for TRA information; and
• provides round-the-clock access to information for customers, freeing up staff for other work.

2. Training Staff

• The TRA On-Line Workshop has detailed explanations of each part of the TRA, as well as advice on how to handle questions.
• The workshop contains a brief history of the TRA, a glossary and FAQs, as well as quizzes after each section (Hope Credit, Lifetime Learning Credit, and Student Loan Interest Deduction).
• The workshop also cautions staff with friendly reminders to avoid mistakes (such as reminding staff that the University cannot interpret tax law as it relates to the TRA on behalf of students).

3. Complying with IRS Reporting Requirements

• We use the National Student Loan Clearinghouse to transmit data to vendor hired to distribute 1098T forms.

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