Hello!
I am in the midst of the wonderful verification process. I am very stressed and concerned. I am 28 and live with my father with my 4 kids. I have been unable to work since early last year due to a heart condition I was diagnosed with. So… when I did my fafsa verification I put down my child support which wasnt much around 1500 and my snap benefits, and my w2 from my last job even though I didnt file because i only made a little over 1000. I talked to a guy at their office yesterday and he said they would still wonder how I survive on that amount and I told them I live with my dad and my kids are on medicaid. I am divorced but I have full custody. Ok so he says that they didnt need anything else at the moment so I am thinking I am all good.
Well I got a call today that my independent household verification worksheet was incomplete and I was talking to a not so very nice woman this time. She asked me the same things he did and toward the end of our conversation noted that the guy I talked to yesterdays comments were there and apparently someone didn’t see them??? She said that was all she needed and hung up.
I am so confused. I don’t understand why this is taking so long and why these people apparently don’t communicate well or what? Does anyone know how long after they receive your paperwork that this should take? I was chosen by the Central Processor. I have no clue why but imagine it’s because of the 0 efc.
My sister who loves in Ohio had the exact same circumstances and she didn’t get pulled for verification. School starts on the 24th and I have no way of getting my books without my aid. Does this mean I won’t get any aid or is this normal? I have been dealing with this for almost 2 weeks already. What is the process for verification beyond the University? Do they have to verify all my info at the board of ed too or is it the college that does it and sends it in saying yes we verified it?
Thanks in advance for any info!
You really need to find this info out from the school. Best to be pleasant to everyone, yes you might have to explain this in detail and show how you live and what you live on in detail. Some people get verified and others don’t, some schools verify everyone and some verify 0 efc. It doesn’t matter about your sister–not relevant. Yes you have to report earnings even if you didn’t file taxes and you have to report child support. It is the college financial aid office who does the verification on behalf of the govt.
Usually you file FAFSA early in the year. This is very last minute. The school will have to tell you if you will get the payments processed in time. Seems doubtful but it depends on your school. Any aid gets applied against tuition and fees first, then if there is any left, they will give you a ‘refund.’ Usually this happens later after classes start, sometimes after the drop date. Students often need some ‘seed money’ to pay for things upfront while they wait. If your college does direct deposit, set that up for fastest access to any refund.
Verification varies by school; some schools verify every single student while other schools verify only a percentage of students.
You definitely got a low income verification, because based on your income/snap and child support, they want to know how you are meeting your day to day expenses (and they are required to ask).
Just roll with it, because you will get no monies until they complete their process. Any anticipated aid will be credited to you your bill (tuition and fees). if there are monies left over you will receive a refund, usually late september/october) after you have enrolled and are attending classes.
I would not count on you getting a lot of money up front (you will have to contact your school to find out if and when this will happen).
Ok thank you. I’m not concerned about having any extra refund money over the price of my books and tuition. I just knew that they allow you to get your textbooks applied to your account if you have financial aid coming over the amount of your tuition. I was told by various financial aid workers that I should know something by next friday but then of course something else pops up and the date gets pushed back. I know I qualify and should receive aid I just wasn’t sure how long this process takes. This is my 3rd semester of college after a couple years off for health reasons and my first verification so I had no clue how it worked. Of course before I was married and we had two incomes so that may be the reason why I was never verified before. I’m just very frustrated with the whole situation. Thank you all for your input.
Both my daughters were selected for verification this year. Because of troubles with the new FSA ID and the unavailability of tax transcripts online, it took until mid July until I could send the forms in. Then I had the wrong tax transcript! so had to send stuff again. Both schools just cleared this week, and I think (hope) one is not done yet because the loans still aren’t on the awards page.
Sounds like your school is trying to get yours cleared this week so you will have the money by the start of school. Just keep following up.