Verification
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)
See also Subtopics for more specific references.
Federal Register, 9/3/20, pp. 55003 to 55007
2021-22 FSA Handbook, Vol. AVG
Federal Register, 5/24/19, pp. 24118 to 24122
2020-21 FSA Handbook, Vol. AVG
Federal Register, 9/29/17, pp. 45465 to 45471
Federal Register, 10/29/10, pp. 66902 to 66933
Federal Register, 6/18/10, pp. 34825 to 34834
Electronic Announcement, 9/25/20 [2021-2022 Verification Suggested Text Package]
2020-21 Tax Transcript Decoder
(National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)
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)
Disproportionate Burden: Estimating the Cost of FAFSA Verification for Public Colleges and Universities
(Annenberg Institute at Brown University)
Exploring Ways to Enhance FAFSA Efficiency: Exploring the Relationship Between FAFSA Verification and Pell Grant Award Change
(National College Attainment Network)
FAFSA Verification: Good Government or Red Tape?
(National College Attainment Network)
Federal Pell Grant Eligibility and Receipt: Explaining Nonreceipt and Changes to EFC Using National and Institutional Data
(Journal of Student Financial Aid)
Impact of Verification on Iowa FAFSA Filers
(Iowa College Aid)
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)
Income Verification for Federal Aid Hinders Low-Income Students
(Inside Higher Ed)
On the Sidelines of Simplification: Stories of Navigating the FAFSA Verification Process
(The Institute for College Access and Success)
Summer Melt and Free Application for Federal Student Aid Verification
(Houston Education Research Consortium)
The Hidden Costs of Corroboration: Estimating the Effects of Financial Aid Verification on College Enrollment
(Educational Policy: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Policy and Practice)
The Leaky FAFSA Pipeline
(National College Attainment Network)
Verification AskRegs Knowledgebase Q&As
(National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)
Verification Self-Study Guide
(National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)
Electronic Announcement, 8/21/20
Electronic Announcement, 5/15/20
UPDATED Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Federal Register, 5/29/19, pp. 24118 to 24122
Electronic Announcement, 5/15/20
UPDATED Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Electronic Announcement, 7/23/19
Program Integrity Q&A, Verification, DOC-Q22/DOC-A22
Program Integrity Q&A, Verification, UPD-Q2/ UPD-A2
2021-22 FSA Handbook, Vol. AVG, Ch. 4
2020-21 FSA Handbook, Vol. AVG, Ch. 4
2021-22 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference, Section 2
2020-21 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference, Section 2