VERIFICATION
Verification is a requirement of the US Department of Education and is the process of confirming information submitted for consideration of the various Federal Title IV Funds including the Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, and Federal Direct Loans. Applicants should be aware that this federal regulation requires them to submit tax data and other requested information to the Office of Financial Assistance before the processing of student loan applications and/or the awarding of funds. To complete verification, students must submit all required information at least 45 days before their enrollment ends. Failure to comply with the verification requirements within the timeframe will result in the loss of funds.
Items to be verified include: adjusted gross income; US income taxes paid; number of family members for whom parents provide more than half of their support; dependency status; untaxed income; eligible non‑citizen status and any other item for which conflicting information has been submitted to the Office of Financial Assistance.
Documents and Required Data
- Dependent students:
- Transfer of financial data from the Direct Data Exchange onto the FAFSA or submission of US Tax Return Transcript from parents/stepparent and student, if applicable.
- Dependent Verification Worksheet
- Independent students:
- Transfer of financial data from the Direct Data Exchange onto the FAFSA or submission of US Tax Return Transcript from student and spouse, if applicable
- Independent Verification Worksheet
- If the student or custodial parent or stepparent (if applicable) did not file a tax return, a signed non‑tax filer statement and copies of all W‑2 forms or proof of earnings must be submitted.
- If the student or custodial parent or stepparent (if applicable) filed a Puerto Rico, other US Territory or Foreign (Non-US) Tax Return, they must submit a copy of that return with the information translated into English and the amounts converted to US Dollars using the exchange rate of the date the FAFSA was filed.