Federal Verification
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the federal financial aid application students complete to apply for all federal aid eligibility.
Federal verification is a process that requires institutions to verify the accuracy of the information provided on a student’s FAFSA. If your FAFSA is selected for verification by the U.S. Department of Education, you are required to provide documentation to the school so they may verify the information you entered on your FAFSA is accurate. There are various reason's a student is selected for verification, such as inconsistent information or a can be randomly selected.
Required Documentation
Required documentation varies depending on the reason(s) your application was selected. Typically, if your FAFSA is selected for verification, you and your parent(s) must complete the following:
- Verification Worksheet
- Contributors who manually entered tax year information when completing your FAFSA:
- If your parent(s) have filed federal taxes, they need to submit a signed copy of their federal tax return, or submit an IRS Tax Return Transcript
- If you have filed federal taxes, you need to submit a signed copy of your federal tax return, or submit an IRS Tax Return Transcript
- If you and/or your parent(s) earned income from any source, submit a copy of each Form W-2 received or if no W-2, a list of the source(s) and total earnings.
- If your parent(s) did not and were not required to file a tax return, your parent(s) will need to complete the Parent Non-Tax Filer’s Statement.
- You may be contacted if additional documentation is required.
New students should submit the documents through the College Board IDOC service.
Continuing students should submit the documents directly to the Office of Financial Aid via the Secure Upload Portal.
Caution:
If you are sending documents to us with Personally Identifiable Information (e.g., Social Security Number, Driver’s License or State ID Number, Alien Registration Number, Date of Birth), we suggest that you take several steps to secure your data. Social Security Numbers should be redacted / blackened out and the message you are sending should be encrypted.
Corrections to the FAFSA as a Result of Federal Verification
If corrections to your FAFSA are required based on the information you proficed to our office, the student will receive an update FAFSA Submission Summary indicating changes were made by the school and items corrected highlighted.
Priority Submission Date for Completing Verification
Verification must be completed by the last day of your enrollment during the school year for which your application has been selected. In some instances, a student who is no longer enrolled may be eligible for a late disbursement of federal aid. If eligible the student is notified.
IRS Tax Return Transcript Request
Tax filers who do not have a copy of their tax return may request a Tax Return Transcript ( do NOT request an Account Transcript) from the IRS in one of three ways:
- The IRS website by selecting “Get Transcript ONLINE” or “Get Transcript by MAIL”
- The IRS automated phone transcript service at 1-800-908-9946
- Complete and submit Form 4506T-EZ or Form 4506-T to the IRS by mail
Note: For electronic filers, an IRS Tax Return Transcript may be requested within 2-3 weeks after the return has been accepted by the IRS. The IRS Tax Return Transcript may take up to eight weeks to be available for those who file paper tax returns.
Identity Theft Information
If you have been a victim of identity theft, you cannot obtain an IRS Tax Return Transcript until the issue has been resolved by the IRS. Since resolution can take a significant amount of time, please provide a copy of the Transcript Database View (TRDBV) of the tax transcript to our office along with a signed and dated statement by the tax filer indicating you were a victim of IRS tax-related identity theft and the IRS is aware. You may obtain a copy of the TRDBV from the IRS by calling 1-800-908-4490.
Ineligibility or Changes in Financial Aid
If you are selected for federal verification but do NOT wish to complete the process and want to cancel your aid application, you should send a written notification to the Office of Financial Aid. You will no longer be considered for eligibility for federal aid.
In rare cases, a student who has already been awarded federal financial aid may be selected for verification after financial aid has been disbursed. In the event this happens, we will send a notification to the student by email. Failure to comply with the verification requirements will result in your aid being canceled and any future aid not disbursing to your student account. If financial aid has already been disbursed to your student account, your financial aid on your account will also be canceled which may result in a balance due on your University student account.
Fraud or Criminal Misconduct
By law, the University must refer to the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) any credible information it discovers, including as part of the verification process, that indicates an applicant for federal student aid may have engaged in fraud or other criminal misconduct in connection with his or her application for such aid. Common types of fraud or misconduct include false claims of independent student status, false claims of citizenship, use of false identities, forgery of signatures of certifications, and false statements of income.
If a University employee suspects that a student, another employee, or some other party has misreported information or altered documentation to fraudulently obtain federal student aid, the employee with such suspicion is required to bring that information to the attention of the University’s Director of Financial Aid. The Director of Financial Aid will work with University legal counsel to review the documentation and determine if a referral to the OIG is required. Any decision to refer information to the OIG will be coordinated by University legal counsel in accordance with Federal Regulations.