Policies and Procedures for Verification of Applicant Information

Some students are selected by the U.S. Department of Education for a process called verification. If selected for verification, the student must provide documentation to support the data elements contained on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

Generally, this documentation includes copies of income tax returns (which should be submitted utilizing the IRS Data Retrieval System for the FAFSA, or provide IRS tax transcripts) or a certification that a return was not required to be filed, sources and amounts of income, household size, number of family members attending post-secondary schools, dependency status, etc.

The following procedures are in effect for those students who have been selected for verification:

Selected applicants should submit required verification documents within thirty (30) days of notification;
Students are informed of their responsibilities regarding the verification of application information, including the institution’s deadline for completion of any actions required;
Students are given a clear explanation of the documentation needed to satisfy the verification requirements and the process for document submission;
The institution will inform students in a timely manner of the consequences of failing to complete the verification requirements and the actions the institution will take if the student does not submit the requested documentation within the time period specified;
The institution will assist the student in correcting erroneous information;
If the student fails to provide the required documentation within the established time frame, the student is treated as a cash paying student until the documents are provided;
If the student does not meet the deadline and is not capable of making cash payments, they may be dismissed from school. If dismissed, the student may re-enter the institution only when they can provide the documentation;
Students are notified if the results of verification change the student’s scheduled award;
Any suspected case of fraud is reported to the Regional Office of the Inspector General, or, if more appropriate, to a state or local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction to investigate the matter. Referrals to local or state agencies are reported on an annual basis to the Inspector General;
No interim disbursements of Title IV aid are made prior to the completion of verification.