Just logged into the FAFSA account for my daughter and it has been selected for verification. That’s confusing to me since we used the IRS verification tool and even got a letter from the IRS that they had received the request. I have no idea which one of these schools wants the verification or what kind of verification they want. I’m guessing I must have done something wrong to flag the application? Any advice on how to find out who is asking for what? We have not received anything from any of the schools asking for info. Thanks!
Wait until you hear from the schools. They will tell you what they want!
@thumper1 Thanks. This is just frustrating because we were so diligent to make sure everything on the FAFSA was perfect…double and triple checked against tax returns and bank statements. And she is applying to 18 schools which means a lot of schools to now follow-up with. The gentleman at FSA told me she was likely randomly selected, which was supposed to not happen if you opted for the IRS data retrieval.
You can be verified for any number of reasons. The DRT would only address income, taxes paid, etc. it would not address other things like number of students attending college, number in household, residency status, or any number of other things.
Don’t worry about this. The colleges will send you what they would like to see for documentation. Some might not ask for anything at all.
Just make sure your kid checks his college portals, and his email…and check the spam folder often too. Sometimes requests for verification materials end up not being seen because folks don’t check. And if you get a request…just send it in ASAP.
It was told to me at a college talk with the financial person…that not all schools will have you verify. Some schools will request additional information but its not because of doing something incorrectly just that they are trying to get a complete picture.
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Some schools verify every FA applicant. Some do 1/3 of applicants. Sometimes you are asked to verify you have other kids in school, sometimes income. It is not unusual.
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If you were selected for verification by the federal processor, all schools are required to verify your info. Doing the DRT is helpful from the standpoint that you won’t need to submit a tax return (unless the school asks for them for other reasons - schools that use CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA want to see other stuff besides the tax info FAFSA looks at). You can be selected for a number of reasons, and not all involve the income. The reason for selection is shared with the school in the form of a verification tracking group. Schools are required to collect the specific documentation required for that verification tracking group. Not all the groups require income info. You’ll need to wait to find out what the schools request. Schools won’t ask for anything unless/until they process your kid for aid - at a school with rolling admissions, that will be when they get to processing for accepted students. At schools that admit on a certain date, you may be asked for info prior to the admissions decision (since they need to be ready, in case). Not all schools are ready to verify yet, because they are still getting fall aid in place for their current students.
Watch the mail, and have your kid watch any school portals he/she may have been given access to.
It is also not meant to penalize you^.
Sometimes, a school needs supplemental information that can’t be included for every school on the FAFSA.
The university will contact you and have you fill out information on their forms. Eighteen schools looks like a large number that is going to keep her busy.
Thank you so much. The verification is coming from the federal level, not the schools from what I have been told. So I am assuming I will have to verify with every single school she has applied to. My primary concern is she will loose out on financial aid/institutional aid even though we applied early because the verification process will delay things.
Yes, 18 schools is pretty horrific and why this is really the last thing we are wanting to do right now (she is applying for a performing arts degree, which means many schools and auditioning all over the country.) So as you can imagine, this was the last thing we needed to add to our plate!
Most schools try to do initial verification, then package the students who are good to go (no verification required and verification complete) in one fell swoop (a computer packaging routine is used), in an effort to most equitably award campus-based and institutional funds. They use the date the FAFSA was submitted to them. Being selected doesn’t necessarily penalize you … but not completing verification quickly can, so it’s really important to make sure to submit everything requested right away … and keep in contact to make sure they don’t need anything else.
@kelsmom so would we need to do verification only if she is accepted to the school, or does she need to do it with ever school she has applied to. That is what I am wondering…what the timeline is. If it’s only the schools who accept her that is easier to manage. Trying to keep tabs on 18 colleges is going to be a lot more complicated!
The colleges will let you know what they want…and when.