My colleague Amanda blogged about the Verification process last week – and I thought I would continue on with a little more information about it as there’s a good chance you may be selected for this federally-required process. 

So, your Student Aid Report  (SAR) says you’ve been selected for verification, what’s that?

The verification process is a way for your financial aid office to verify the accuracy of the information you listed on your FAFSA. The U.S. Department of Education mandates that your school must verify your information if you have been selected.

Ok, so why was I selected? The U.S. Department of Education automatically chooses approximately 30% of every school’s FAFSA filers. You may just be one of the lucky random chosen ones (hehehe) or you have been selected for a specific reason. If you filed a FAFSA in the prior years and there is a big difference in your household size or income, or your FAFSA was incomplete, or your FAFSA contained estimated information are all reasons to be selected. You may also be selected by the U.S. Department of Education if you filed a FAFSA and then later made changes to your FAFSA, depending on what information you changed. Now, even if your SAR doesn’t state that you have been selected, your school has the right to select any student it deems necessary.

Ok, so what does this mean for you, the student? If you have been selected for verification your school needs additional information from you. The most common documents you will need to provide are signed copies of your 2010 federal tax return (and parents if dependent), possibly W-2s and tax schedules, and a supplemental form called a verification worksheet. Your school will provide these forms to you or instruct you to their website to download them. You may also be required to submit documentation of student and/or parent untaxed income received during the calendar year, or any other documents your school sees fit to determine your aid eligibility.

Once your school receives all the documentation they need to complete the verification process they will compare the information for any discrepancies. If discrepancies are found, they will make corrections to your FAFSA on the Central Processing System for the U.S. Department of Education. Once the corrections have been processed, you will receive a corrected SAR. Please review your SAR carefully to make sure it is correct. If you do not agree with the corrections that your financial aid office has made please call their office before making any additional corrections. This corrected SAR is what your financial aid office will now use to determine your aid eligibility.

My advice to all FAFSA filers, keep copies of all financial documents. If you file your taxes electronically, as most of us do, print a copy of the tax return before you file it. And please sign the copy before you send it to your financial aid office. Please note- your financial aid office will not award you aid until they have received all the required documents and completed the verification process.

So, that’s an overview of verification. It’s not a difficult process if you have all the necessary documents to provide to your financial aid office and follow all instructions. If you have been selected and have any questions about the verification process, do not hesitate to contact your school’s financial aid office, they are there to help you. Good luck!

See you next month,
Lisa