• FAFSA
• Verification
• Notification
• Disbursement

Financial Aid Verification

Verification is the process of confirming that information reported by you and your parents or spouse on the FAFSA is accurate. Each year approximately 30% of student applicants nationwide are randomly selected by the Federal Central Processing System for verification. You may also be selected by the College. After being selected for verification the Financial Aid Office will require you and your parents or spouse to submit documentation to validate the information used to file the FAFSA. Students who are selected for verification will not receive an award letter until the verification process is complete.

Once the required documentation is received, the Financial Aid Office will compare the submitted documents to the information initially provided on your FAFSA. If there are any discrepancies with the information initially provided on the FAFSA, the Financial Aid Office will make the corrections and you will receive an updated Student Aid Report (SAR). Occasionally the documentation that was provided to the Financial Aid Office does not provide all of the necessary information to complete the verification process. In these situations you will be contacted by a Financial Aid Staff Member outlining the additional documentation that is needed. Two to three weeks after the verification process is complete, you will receive a financial aid award letter informing you of your financial aid.

If you have recieved your award letter and then make a change to your FAFSA and you are selected for verification after the correction, your financial aid will become void until the verification process has been completed.  Once the verification process has been completed, two or three weeks later you will receive a revised award letter informing you of your financial aid.

You must complete the verification process within 15 DAYS of notification.  Incomplete paperwork will be returned to you for completion thereby delaying the processing of your financial aid award.  FAILURE TO RETURN THE REQUESTED DOCUMENTATION BEFORE THIS TIME MAY CAUSE YOUR AWARD TO BE UNAVAILABLE.

Dependent students will be asked to submit the following forms:

• Verification Worksheet
• Signed and dated copy of parent(s) tax return (first two pages of 1040 or 1040A; first page of 1040EZ) 
• Signed and dated copy of student’s tax return (first two pages of 1040 or 1040A; first page of 1040EZ) 

Independent students will be asked to submit the following forms:

• Verification Worksheet
• Signed and dated copy of student’s and spouse's (if applicable) complete tax return (first two pages of 1040 or 1040A; first page of 1040EZ) 

 

Need a Copy of Your Tax Return Information?