Verification, once performed entirely by the school, is increasingly a shared effort by the school and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to ensure that federal student ...

Verification, once performed entirely by the school, is increasingly a shared effort by the school and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to ensure that federal student aid funds are awarded and paid based on accurate family financial information. A student’s application for federal student aid (the FAFSA®) may be chosen for verification by ED or by the school. The information that must be verified varies by applicant, as, effective for the 2012-13 award year, ED transitioned to a targeted approach that specifies verification of only those items that appear most likely to be in error.

Related terms: Need Analysis; Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

Verification, once performed entirely by the school, is increasingly a shared effort by the school and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to ensure that federal student aid funds are awarded and paid based on accurate family financial information. A student’s application for federal student aid (the FAFSA®) may be chosen for verification by ED or by the school. The information that must be verified varies by applicant, as, effective for the 2012-13 award year, ED transitioned to a targeted approach that specifies verification of only those items that appear most likely to be in error.

Related terms: Need Analysis; Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA)

PDF 2023-24 Tax Transcript Decoder
PDF 2022-23 Tax Transcript Decoder

(National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)

Web URL Cooling Out in the Verification Process: A Mixed Methods Exploration into the Relevance of Racism in Community College Students’ Financial Aid Experiences

(ProQuest Dissertations Publishing)

Customized Nudging to Improve FAFSA Completion and Income Verification

(Journal of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, AERA)

Web URL Disproportionate Burden: Estimating the Cost of FAFSA Verification for Public Colleges and Universities

(Annenberg Institute at Brown University)

Web URL Exploring Ways to Enhance FAFSA Efficiency: Exploring the Relationship Between FAFSA Verification and Pell Grant Award Change

(National College Attainment Network)

Web URL FAFSA Verification: Good Government or Red Tape?

(National College Attainment Network)

Web URL Federal Pell Grant Eligibility and Receipt: Explaining Nonreceipt and Changes to EFC Using National and Institutional Data

(Journal of Student Financial Aid)

Web URL Impact of Verification on Iowa FAFSA Filers

(Iowa College Aid)

Web URL Improving the Financial Aid Process for Community College Students: A Literature Review of FAFSA Simplification, Information, and Verification

(Community College Journal of Research and Practice)

Web URL Income Verification for Federal Aid Hinders Low-Income Students

(Inside Higher Ed)

Web URL NCAN Conducts First Comprehensive Review of Impact of Verification on Pell Grant Awards

(National College Attainment Network)

Web URL On the Sidelines of Simplification: Stories of Navigating the FAFSA Verification Process

(The Institute for College Access and Success)

Web URL Summer Melt and Free Application for Federal Student Aid Verification

(Houston Education Research Consortium)

PDF The Burden of Proof: Impact of and Solutions for FAFSA Verification

(National College Attainment Network)

Web URL The Hidden Costs of Corroboration: Estimating the Effects of Financial Aid Verification on College Enrollment

(Educational Policy: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Policy and Practice)

Web URL The Leaky FAFSA Pipeline

(National College Attainment Network)

Web URL Verification AskRegs Knowledgebase Q&As

(National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)

Web URL Verification Self-Study Guide

(National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)

Web URL GEN-17-08
Web URL GEN-10-16
Web URL Electronic Announcement, 8/21/20
Web URL Electronic Announcement, 5/15/20

UPDATED Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Web URL Electronic Announcement, 4/3/20
Web URL Electronic Announcement, 9/13/17
Web URL GEN-11-05

(Effective partially for 2023-24 and 2024-25 award years)

See also Professional Judgment, Dependency status

Web URL GEN-22-15
Web URL HEA 479(A)(c) 20 USC 1087tt(c)(3)(B)

(For the 2024-25 award year and beyond, this also includes untaxed portions of IRA distributions, untaxed portions of pensions, and Foreign Earned Income Exclusions.)

PDF Federal Register, 9/19/23, p. 64424
Web URL Electronic Announcement, 1/25/23 (VERIF-23-01)
Web URL Electronic Announcement, 1/18/22 (VERIF-22-01)
New! Web URL FAFSA Simplification Q&A, SAI-Q9/SAI-A9
Web URL Program Integrity Q&A, Verification, VI-Q4/VI-A4
PDF 2023-24 FSA Handbook, Vol. AVG, Ch. 4, December 2022
PDF 2022-23 FSA Handbook, Vol. AVG, Ch. 4, November 2021
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