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Student Center - Social Security Number

An overview and step-by-step guide to checking if you have a Social Security Number on file, and how to add or opt out of providing your SSN.

Overview:

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is required by Federal Law to provide a 1098-T Tuition Statement to you and the Internal Revenue Service for every tax year you are enrolled. A valid Social Security Number is needed to provide you with the 1098-T form.

See the following page to learn about 1098-T forms and why the university would like to have your Social Security Number on file: https://bursar.wisc.edu/tax.


Checking if your SSN is on record: Step-by-Step

  1. Log in to MyUW.
  2. Click on the Student Center tile. 
  3. A pop-up message will appear informing you an SSN is missing or invalid. Click OK to close the message. It will continue to appear until you enter or decline to enter an SSN.

    Enter SSN popup message

OR

  1. Log in to MyUW.
  2. Click on the Student Center tile, then the Profile tile.

    Student center tile   Profile tile

  3. From the menu on the left, click on Social Security Number.

    left hand menu with Social Security Number highlighted

  4. Are you being prompted to enter an SSN? That means the number is missing or invalid. See the information below to either enter or decline to enter an SSN.

    Social Security Number screen

  5. If your SSN is already on your record, you will be informed the number is recorded and valid.

    Prompt indicating SSN is valid and already on file

International students, please see Secure Box - Uploading SSN Card for instructions on the SecuredBox service through which you may share a scan/photo of your Social Security Card. This will allow the Office of the Registrar to add or edit your SSN electronically.


Enter your SSN: Step-by-Step

  1. Login to MyUW.
  2. Click on the Student Center tile, then the Profile tile.

    Student center tile   Profile tile

  3. From the menu on the left, click on Social Security Number.

    Select SSN from menu

  4. Enter in your Social Security Number in the Social Security Number and Retype Social Security Number fields. Click Save.

    screenshot of SSN Entry page and box around Enter and retype your SSN section and save button

  5. You will be taken to a page confirming that you have entered your Social Security Number.

    Confirmation page

    When visiting the SSN tab in the future, you will be informed the number is recorded and valid.

    screen showing the SSN number is valid

International students, please see this page for instructions to the SecuredBox service through which you may share a scan/photo of your Social Security Card. This will allow the Office of the Registrar to add or edit your SSN electronically.

Note: It may take up to one day for MyUW to recognize that you have entered an SSN, which means the pop-up message may still appear in MyUW for up to one day after you've entered or declined to enter an SSN.


Enter your SSN: Error Messages

  • "The format of the Social Security Number must be nine digits (no dashes). Format: #########"
    You have incorrectly entered your SSN. Try re-entering it without using special characters.
  • "The Social Security Number you entered already exists. Please enter a valid Social Security Number"
    Confirm that you are entering the correct SSN in both fields. Otherwise, contact the Office of the Registrar.
  • "SSN does not match. The Social Security Number you entered does not match the Reentered Social Security Number"
    The SSNs you entered in both fields do not match. Try re-entering them.
  • "You must enter your Social Security Number twice before saving"
    You need to enter your SSN in both fields.
  • "You cannot provide a Social Security Number and choose to opt out at the same time. Please either:
    1. Remove the Social Security Number values from both fields
    2. Uncheck the check box and enter a Social Security Number in both fields"
    You have entered your SSN in both fields and checked the box to opt out of entering your SSN. Choose to either enter your SSN or not do so.

Declining to enter your Social Security Number: Step-by-Step

  1. Log in to MyUW.
  2. Click on the Student Center tile, then the Profile tile.

    Student center tile   Profile tile

  3. From the menu on the left, click on Social Security Number.

    Select SSN from menu

  4. Check the "I do not wish to provide my Social Security Number" box. Click Save.

    SSN Entry page with box around I do not wish to provide my SSN statement and save button

  5. Click the "I do not wish to provide my Social Security Number" radio button.

    SSN Entry page with box around two radio selection options

  6. You will be taken to a page confirming that you have successfully declined to provide your Social Security Number.

    Successfully declined to provide your SSN

    When visiting the SSN tab in the future, you will be informed you have opted to not provide a SSN.

    Previously opted to not provide SSN

If at any time you would like to add your SSN, please see Secure Box - Uploading SSN Card for instructions on the SecuredBox service through which you may share a scan/photo of your Social Security Card.

Note: It may take up to one day for MyUW to recognize that you have entered an SSN, which means the pop-up message may still appear in MyUW for up to one day after you've entered or declined to enter an SSN.



International students who are employed by UW–Madison and have an F-1 or J-1 visa will not be able to manually add their SSN or ITIN through the Student Center. Please see Secure Box - Uploading SSN Card for instructions on the SecuredBox service through which you may share a scan/photo of your Social Security Card. This will allow the Office of the Registrar to add or edit your SSN electronically.



Keywords:
add, change, course (courses, class), course search and enroll, dars (DARS), degree (degrees, degree planner), drop, gpa (GPA), hold, honors, indicators, name, permission, plan (plans, planner), record (records), requisite (prerequisite), schedule (scheduler), sis (SIS), swap, textbook (textbooks), transcript, transfer, wait (waitlist, wait list), withdraw (withdrawal) 
Doc ID:
12359
Owned by:
Logan R. in Office of the Registrar
Created:
2009-10-04
Updated:
2024-10-30
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, My UW-Madison Portal, Office of the Registrar