After filing FAFSA for non-UC and non-CSU schools in my college list, the SAR (student aid report) says my FAFSA has been chosen for verification. Which means I have to submit other notarized documents to the schools.
My question is: if I am not looking for need-based aid, should I skip filing FAFSA for the UCs and CSUs?
My feeling is my application will be stuck because of the verification process and anyway there wont be anything awarded because of the FAFSA (I might qualify for merit based scholarship but nothing need based). So I am better off skipping the process altogether. Would like to know if my thinking is correct.
7 years ago, we filled out S15’s fafsa in a hurry, completely messed it up, and were asked to verify it all. We did nothing, because we 1)knew we were not taking out any loans 2)knew his U didnt require it; nor did any scholarships that he applied for.
Before you decide not to verify it all, I guess I’d ask you to know for sure if your schools don’t require it; potential scholarships dont require it; and you dont want to take out loans. I’d be double checking these things.
You wouldn’t file a new FAFSA for the UCs, just add their codes to your current one. It is specific schools that ask you to verify. If a school feels its appropriate, it can change your FAFSA so then maybe other schools wouldn’t ask you to reverify.
In 2020, some schools gave out covid funds to any student who had a FAFSA on file even if they didn’t take a loan or get any federal money through the fAFSA filing. Something like that could happen again.
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Once the FAFSA has been selected by the processor for verification, every school is required to verify the information in order for you to get federal aid. Verification isn’t a big deal. It’s up to you whether or not you choose to complete verification requirements that each school will request from you.
My I ask what documents are needed for the verification process? And they need to be notarized?
Each university may ask for whatever they want. Or not ask anything. In one case, a notarized statement that the federal financial aid will be used for education purpose only. Because the tax documents were sent directly through IRS (FAFSA allows that at the time of filing), so no tax docs were asked. It does sound like a “I shall follow the rules” declaration. But I am not sure of the timeline that university expects to be met. Hopefully they dont hold the admission decision back because of that. Ideally, I dont mind sending such form to the place I shall commit by May 1.
You need to respond to verification document requests quickly. Your student won’t receive a nickel of need based aid until the process is completed. And what each college might want could vary.
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Some schools require FAFSA (and possibly verification) for merit scholarships. Bizarre but true. Check with the school to see if they do.
Some states give modest grants to instate applicants for things like GPA, regardless of income, but you have to file FAFSA to get it.
If you want to take out a federal student loan (~$6000/year max), then you need to do FAFSA and any requested verification.
If none of these situations apply to you, then you can ask your application to be considered without aid. Call the school and they can change it. Otherwise they will be looking for FAFSA and any requested verification.
They will be looking for the forms definitely for NEED based aid. They very well might not want them at all for MERIT aid which is what this OP is asking.
Best bet is to contact the college(s) and ask. They will tell you!
Right. That’s why I mentioned that some schools require FAFSA even for merit. Some don’t, of course. If the school in question does not require FAFSA for merit then that situation would not apply to OP. I instructed OP to ask the school.
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There are two possible reasons the student was selected for verification. One has to do with financial information, but the other is unrelated to financial information. The non financial reason has to do with the need to verify the student’s identity & obtain a statement of educational purpose. This one requires a notary’s signature; the financial reason does not. You need to wait to see what is requested, then submit that information to each school (if you choose to complete verification).
How do schools verify a student’s identity and educational purpose if that student doesn’t submit FAFSA at all (doesn’t need aid). I’ve never heard of that and am curious.
Identity/statement of educational purpose verification is intended to thwart possible fraud related to receipt of federal funds. Schools aren’t choosing to select students to verify their identity. It’s purely a Department of Education thing related to federal student aid. So no FAFSA, no need to verify identity in this manner.
For instance, I had a student selected who had attended several schools & received federal aid at each in the span of a few years. She had cancer, which necessitated dropping out and changing schools. But ED didn’t know her backstory, so it just threw up a red flag that this student might possibly be running from school to school, collecting aid refunds. In her case, she wasn’t really getting any significant federal aid, but the flag goes up, anyway. She just had to fill out a form & get it notarized. Two years later, her Masters was successfully completed.