Financial Aid Policies
Verification Forms and Documentation Be sure that the institutional verification document is signed, that all required sections are completed, and that the relevant tax or alterna-
the parents of a dependent student if any of the following apply: • Both of the parents are mentally incapacitated. • They are residing in a country other than the United States and can’t be contacted by normal means. • They can’t be located because the student does not have and cannot get their contact information. The FAO may require documentation of reported FAFSA information given concerning the spouse of a dependent student if any of the following apply: • The spouse has died. • They are mentally incapacitated. • They are residing in a country other than the United States and cannot be contacted by normal means. The spouse cannot be located because the student does not have and cannot get the spouse’s contact Who can be excluded from the verification process? • Death of the student. • Not an aid recipient. • The applicant is eligible to receive only unsubsidized student financial assistance. What documentation is needed? Documenting Family Income and Tax Paid The department encourages students and parents to use the FAFSA/ IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT). For the retrieved data to be accept- able documentation of tax data, it is necessary that neither students nor parents change the data after it is transferred from the IRS. If the data was changed or if your FAO has a reason to believe the data transferred is incorrect, the student will need to provide other docu- mentation as explained below. The IRS request field(s) on the ISIR will have a value of “02” when the data is unchanged. If students cannot or will not use IRS Data Retrieval, either at initial FAFSA filing or through the FOTW correction process, they must document AGI, taxes paid, and untaxed income by providing an IRS tax return transcript for the student and spouse or parents, as applicable. Under the following conditions the IRS Data Retrieval is not available in FOTW (FASFA on the web). All apply to both students and parents unless otherwise noted: • The person did not indicate on the FAFSA that the tax return has been completed. • The marriage date is January 2021 or later. • The first three digits of the SSN are 666. • The tax return was amended. • The person filed a Puerto Rican or foreign tax return. • The person is married and filed the tax return either as head of household or married but filing a separate return. • Neither married parent entered a valid SSN. • A non-married parent or both married parents entered all zeros for the SSN.
tive documents are attached. Timing of Signatures
Any required signatures, such as signatures on worksheets or on copies of tax returns, must be collected at the time of verification — they cannot be collected after the verification deadline for that award year. Interim Disbursements If the student is selected for verification on the original ISIR, Interim Disbursements ARE NOT allowed prior to the completion of the ver- ification process. If selected on subsequent ISIR, the student will not be eligible for additional aid until the verification process is completed. NOTE: In the 12-13 Handbook, the Department allows disburse- ments prior to verification, however, many times a verification stays incomplete, therefore the funds disbursed would become a liability to the institution. How to Submit Corrections and Updates Corrections and updates can be submitted by the student on the SAR or the Web or by the school using FAA Access to CPS Online or the Electronic Data Exchange (EDE). Using FAFSA on the Web (FOTW). Any student who has a PIN — regardless of how he originally applied — may correct any of his own data by using FAFSA on the Web at www.fafsa.gov. If dependent students need to change parental data, a parent must either sign electronically with her own FSA ID or print out and sign a signature page. EFC Changes and Changes on Title IV Awards Students making changes to their data as a result of the verification process that resulted in a change to the EFC or a change to the Title IV awards would be notified by the school via a revised offer letter. The method used by the institution to deliver the first award letter will be used for subsequent notifications. Failure to Submit Documentation From the time the student is selected for verification by the Depart- ment of Education or by the school, the student that fails to complete the verification process will lose his/her eligibility for Title IV funds. If the student received aid prior to being selected, that aid remains as an eligible disbursement. Once selected on a subsequent ISIR, all future disbursements will depend on the completion of the verification process, referring students to the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The institution has an obligation to refer certain cases where the institution believed that intentional fraud seems to have taken place to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Those cases would be followed up by OIG as appropriate.
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