Verification

Some FAFSAs are selected for verification by the U.S. Department of Education. The verification process is designed to ensure accuracy in Federal Student Aid applications. Some FAFSA filers are selected randomly, and some are selected based on specific criteria used by the Department of Education. If your FAFSA is selected for verification, the Financial Aid Office must collect additional documents from you and verify some of the information on your FAFSA.

How Do I Know If My FAFSA Is Selected for Verification?

If you are a current student, after your FAFSA results have been received by the Financial Aid Office you may log in to 1600grand and click the Student Life tab to find a list of documents required to complete your financial aid application. For all students (current, prospective, and recently deposited), we will also send notices of additional required documents by mail and/or email.

Your FAFSA Submission Summary, delivered to you shortly after your FAFSA is processed, will also tell you whether you have been selected for verification. If it indicates that you have been selected and you do not receive a notice of additional required documents from us, please contact our office.

If you have already received an estimate of your financial aid package, any adjustments to your financial aid as a result of the verification process will be communicated to you with a revised financial aid eligibility notification within two weeks of receiving all of your required additional documents.

Commonly Required Verification Items

Most students whose FAFSAs are selected for verification are asked to verify these items:

• Verification of income.
  • For tax filers: Students and parents who filed tax returns must verify tax information by providing signed copies of federal tax returns or IRS tax return transcripts.
  • For non-tax filers: Students and parents who did not file tax returns must complete a Non-Filer Statement, located on our Forms page. Parents and independent students who did not file tax returns must also obtain a Verification of Non-Filing Letter from the IRS. Instructions are available on the Non-Filer Statement.
• Verification of household information. Students may need to complete a household form (found on the Forms page), which verifies the size of the household and the number of family members in college. Usually, students who are selected for verification only need to complete this form if they put in manual information about their family size on the FAFSA.
• Verification of identity. Some students are selected to have their identity verified. Please click the link to read more about this process.

Some students will be required to provide additional information to our office to complete the verification process. Please make sure to check 1600grand or review the notices from our office to confirm what documents we need.