1 Verification ILASFAA Springfield, IL April 16, 2008

2 What Is Verification? Process whereby certain information provided on the FAFSA is reviewed for accuracy and completeness  thru – Subpart E

3 For Each Selected Applicant School must provide a written statement providing a clear explanation of the documentation requirements and the applicant’s responsibilities with regard to the verification process

4 Required Policies & Procedures Applicant’s responsibilities Clear explanation of documentation requirements Deadlines for student to provide documentation and consequences of failure to meet deadlines Method by which student is notified of award changes resulting from verification Procedures for correction of applicant data Procedures for referring overpayments to ED

5 Applicant Selection  CPS selection Edit checks which identify inconsistencies and potential error Random selection  School selection School criteria

6 Verification Exclusions Student is incarcerated Student is recent immigrant – either calendar year of award year Student is deceased Student is Pacific Island resident Spouse/parent unavailable Physical or mental incapacity Lives in foreign country and cannot be reached through normal means of communication

7 How Many Applications Must Be Verified? CPS selections General requirement is to verify all those selected by CPS BUT You may stop at 30% of your applicant pool, if CPS selects more than 30%

8 30% Verification Option No school is required to verify more than 30% of its total number of Title IV applicants You define your total number of Title IV applicants

9 Total Number Of Applicants Could be: Total # of students who apply to the institution Total # of students who are enrolled Total # of students who receive Title IV Total # of students for whom we have ISIR’s

10 Of Your Total Look at how many were selected for verification by CPS  If its 30% or less, verify every applicant selected  If its greater than 30%, verify only 30%

11 Required Verification Items Adjusted Gross Income U.S. income tax paid Household size Number in college Certain untaxed income and benefits

12 Required Verification Items Certain untaxed income and benefits: Social Security benefits Child support IRA/Keogh deductions Foreign income exclusion Earned income credit Interest on tax-free bonds

13 Verification Flags on ISIR  Verification Flag  Indicates if student selected on any transaction  Y, N, *  Verification Tracking Flag  Identifies priority for selection based upon likelihood of error  Range is 0001 to 9999 Higher number is higher priority

14 Verification Selection Change Flag  Verification Selection Change Flag  Only reflects a Y – tells you that this transaction is first transaction selected for verification

15 After Disbursement, Verification Do you have to do it?  YES YES YES YES!  Future disbursements are on hold Must aid be revised if verification results in eligibility change?  YES! Student doesn’t complete verification  Any disbursements made prior to verification selection are okay

16 Interim Disbursements Verification allows first disbursement of Pell, FSEOG, and Perkins certification/origination of Stafford Loan FWS employee may work for max of 60 consecutive days from start of enrollment

17 Verification and Submitting Corrections Must be submitted to CPS if School does not recalculate EFC OR School recalculates EFC and Pell award changes

18 Verification Tolerance  No recalculation or reprocessing is necessary if  No change in non-dollar items used to calculate EFC AND  No dollar amount in excess of $400 as calculated by the following formula

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20 Verification Extension  Extension only allowed if ISIR with official EFC processed while student still enrolled  For Pell Grant - earlier of 120 days after last day of enrollment or date published in Federal Register  For campus-based aid and FFEL/DL, school may set deadline, no later than that published in Federal Register  Student may never increase Pell award during verification extension

21 Verification Status Codes Used when reporting to COD  V is verified  S is selected, but not verified  W is paid without documentation  Leave blank if not selected by CPS or school

22 Updating Must always update dependency status if it changes during an award year * Must always update household size and number in college when student is selected for verification *  Unless the reason is a change in the student’s marital status

23 Subsequent ISIR’s You MUST review all subsequent ISIR’s you receive  Even if you’ve already verified and/or already disbursed  WHY????

24 Because NSLDS postscreening INS/BCIS secondary confirmation Reject to EFC or EFC to Reject New verification selection Student/parent may make changes Another school may make changes

25 And You Must Review MRR’s  Concurrent enrollment  Potential Overaward NSLDS Transfer Monitoring Alerts

26 HEROES Act December 12, 2003 Federal Register provides waivers and modifications of statutory and regulatory provisions for individuals pursuant to the HEROES Act 4 categories of affected individuals Include all or some of the following applicants

27 Applicants Of Title IV Aid Serving on active duty or Performing qualifying National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency Reside or are employed in an area tht is declared a disaster area by any Federal, State, or local official in connection with a national emergency Suffered direct economic hardship as a direct result of a war or other military operation or national emergency, as determined by the Secretary

28 Verification – category 1 Acceptance of W-2 instead of tax return if automatic IRS filing extension granted No IRS documentation of tax filing extension required Accept statement that not filed and not required to request extension

29 Verification – category 4 Dependent student’s list of household size and number in college may be submitted without parent’s signature if no parent can sign because he/she is an “affected” individual

30 You Can Ask For Anything If you believe that any information provided is incorrect, you must require that the information be documented  Any data element may be documented BUT USE WHAT YOU COLLECT!!

31 Resources FSA Handbook, Application and Verification Guide achments/0809AVG.pdf FSA Coach – Lesson 7  dule_7.html dule_7.html FSA Assessments  erification.html

32 Bruce Foote Executive Director Financial Aid Services University of St. Francis Special credit to Jamie Malone, U.S. Department of Education for providing me this material.