FAFSA Verification
VERIFICATION PROCESS
A student’s application for federal financial aid may be selected for review by the U.S. Department of Education in a process called “Verification.” Financial aid regulations say that schools have the right to ask for financial information and other information, as it applies to your application, before awarding federal aid.
The verification process requires that a student’s application be reviewed based on specific pre-determined criteria set by the Department of Education. The federal verification process is a random selection process. It is usually a more in-depth review of the student’s application data, as set according to the Department of Education’s Student Aid Handbook.
APPLICATION REVIEW
The verification process requires that information from the student’s application be compared with copies of the student’s, spouse’s (if married) and parents’ (if dependent) federal tax forms or financial documents. Other documentation may be required as it applies to the information on the application. Notification to students is sent via email stating that there are outstanding requirements. The student’s Genisys account will also list the document requirements and the status.
VERIFICATION SELECTION
Each year about 18 percent of students’ financial aid applications nationwide are chosen for verification. The main reasons for being selected for verification include that you were chosen randomly, the FAFSA you submitted was incomplete, your FAFSA contains estimated information or the data you provided on the FAFSA is inconsistent. Verification is a federal regulation. Students who are selected for verification are not being punished; rather verification prevents ineligible students from receiving aid by reporting false information and ensures that eligible students receive all of the aid for which they are qualified.
If you are selected for verification, the Student Financial Aid Office is required to verify the accuracy of some or all the following items found on the FAFSA:
- Adjusted gross income
- Income earned from work
- U.S. income taxes paid
- Untaxed portions of IRA distributions
- Untaxed portions of pensions
- IRA deductions and payments
- Tax-exempt interest income
- Education credits
- Foreign income exempt from Federal taxation
- Family size
- Identity
Students who are not tax filers must verify the following:
- Income earned from work
- Family size
- Identity
To assist in the verification of the items above, the following documents may be required. You should only provide documents if we request them. Applicants selected for verification will receive a customized list of document requirements.
- Current year Verification Worksheet
- Federal Tax Return Transcript for prior prior tax year with applicable Schedules 1, 2, and/or 3, if filed
- Student W2s for prior prior tax year
- Spouse’s Federal Tax Return Transcript for prior prior tax year with applicable Schedules 1, 2, and/or 3, if filed and married
- Spouse W2s for prior prior tax year (if married)
- Parent Federal Income Tax Return Transcripts for prior prior tax year with applicable Schedules 1, 2, and/or 3, if filed and dependent student
- Parent W2s for prior prior tax year (if dependent student)
- Schedule C/CEZ for prior prior tax year (if self-employed)
- Identity Verification Form
TIME OF VERIFICATION
It is the student’s responsibility to provide the required verification items to the school in a timely manner. Students are encouraged to review the tuition payment deadline for the semester and submit all required verification documents well in advance of the deadline to avoid late payment fees and potential interruption of their enrollment. Verification documents must be received by the institution no later than 120 days after the student’s last date of enrollment for the award year or by the deadline published in the Federal Register for the award year (whichever is earlier). The Federal Register deadline for 2025-2026 is September of 2026 (exact date pending).
Additionally, students can only receive a late disbursement of a Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, or PLUS loan if FAFSA Processing System (FPS) processed the FAFSA Submission Summary with an official Student Aid Index (SAI) and the loan was originated prior to the date the student ceased half-time enrollment for the period. Late TEACH Grant funds may be disbursed only if FPS processed the FAFSA Submission Summary with an official SAI and the grant was originated prior to the date the student ceased enrollment for the award year. A student can receive a late disbursement of a Federal Pell Grant only if FPS processed a FAFSA Submission Summary with an official SAI prior to the date the student ceased enrollment for the award year.
CORRECTIONS & AWARD ADJUSTMENTS
If the Student Financial Aid Office finds that your FAFSA information must be updated because of verification, the corrections will be automatically sent to the Department of Education. Students will receive an updated FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) listing the corrected FAFSA information. If adjustments are made to a student’s awards because of the correction, the changes will be reflected in the MyRegent portal under the Financial Aid Dashboard.
FAQs
An amended tax return is a 1040-X with the corrected amount in Column C.
An As-Amended form is a new 1040 form that shows the breakdown of the category corrections in Column C of the 1040-X. Category changes such as Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or total tax credits are reflected on the 1040-X. Since the school also needs to know more precisely which items within those categories changed, we need to see the new updated (as-amended) 1040 created from the corrected tax information.
Amended returns are most easily retrieved if they were filed with a professional who created an amended tax return. When using professional software like TurboTax, you will also receive a copy of the 1040-X (amended) and new 1040 (as-amended) documents.
These documents are generated after a corrected tax return is filed. Your tax professional or tax software will typically generate a 1040-X and new 1040. However, some professionals may not automatically provide those documents to the customer, and you may have to ask for them.
Students selected for Identity verification are required to complete the Identity Verification. The student should complete this form either on campus while meeting with a Financial Aid Officer or in the presence of a Notary Public.
If completing the Identity Verification Form with a valid Notary Public, a valid government issued photo ID must be presented to them. The completed, original form and the copy of the ID verified by the notary will then need to be mailed to the Student Financial Aid Office. The Identity Verification Form is aid year specific and must be completed for each individual aid year when selected by the Department of Education.
If meeting with a Regent University Financial Aid Office in person, you must present a valid government issued photo ID to them. The representative will then scan your valid government issued photo ID as part of the verification process and complete the Identity Verification Form. If selected by Department of Education in subsequent aid years, this process must be completed for each individual aid year.