<p>One school my son applied to sent us a notice that his financial aid application has been "randomly" selected for verification. This is a form that seems to repeat information that the school already has as well as copies of student"s and parents" 2004 tax forms which the school also already has. In checking online financial aid application status from a second school I realized they are also saying that he has been randomly selected to send Verification Form and copies of 2004 tax forms (this school only required FAFSA). Anyone know anything more about this? Is it actually random? Will all the schools eventually notify us that they need this duplicate information? Most of the schools he applied to required and received Profile w/Business Supplement based on 2004 estimates as well as FAFSA and I have sent them 2004 taxes once they were completed. Should I assume they'll need this Verification Form as well?</p>
<p>We had to send two years worth of tax returns and all the schedules both years as verification. When DS was a senior in high school (applying as a college freshman), the only school requesting this information was the school to which he got accepted. We did NOT qualify for a NICKEL of need based aid and still had to provide this information. I found it odd.</p>
<p>It says in part:
Only a certain percentage of students are selected for FAFSA verification, so if you are part of that percentage, you may be wondering why and what you should do.</p>
<p>Why is your file being verified?
There are several possibilities for being selected for FAFSA verification. Keep in mind that more possibilities exist, but the following are the main reasons for being selected:</p>
<pre><code>* You were selected randomly.
* The submitted FAFSA application has incomplete data.
* The data on the FAFSA application appears to contradict itself.
* The FAFSA application has estimated information on it.
</code></pre>
<p>Thanks thumper and over30 for the replies. I still don't have a clue but at least I know that that's probably how everyone selected for verification feels.</p>
<p>If they don't want info on FAFSA estimated, why do you have to get it in so early? We never can get out tax figured out until April, so we didn't even bother doing FAFSA and I'm glad.</p>
<p>We have been "selected" 2 years in a row at #1's school. They sent us the info for verification well before FAFSA was due both last year and this year. I am wondering if son's school just does this as a matter of course for all students. Don't know though. We have always given hard data, not estimated, filed on time, don't have any unusual circumstances other than 2 in college. If there was missing data, then it would have been snagged at the other school as well, but it wasn't. I find it strange that we would be "randomly" selected 2 years in a row. So that is why I wonder if some schools just do this for everyone.</p>
<p>Shennie and I have similar experiences....selected for verification two years running. The thing with us is we do NOT qualify for need based aid. Do they think we are lying about our assets so we will NOT qualify for finaid? You would think they would verify FAFSAs for those who they are dispensing money to...to make sure that they indeed qualify. We're thinking about not bothering this year....all we get is an unsubsidized Stafford Loan. Merit scholarship is renewed based on GPA...no forms. We'll have to do the FAFSA and the Profile the following year when dd and ds are both in college. Oh joy.</p>
<p>Is also used to verify that you are a resident of the state you claim to be - for the parent and for the student - verification of dependant vs independant status for the student - it is used for verification for the federal residency requirements - and will help to determine the students status for in-state or out-of-state for tuition purposes - among other things.</p>
<p>Some students/parents are 'randomly chosen' just because they are out-of-staters (some schools do verification on all out-of-state applicants) - this is one of ways to get caught if you are attempting to apply as an in-state resident for tuition purposes.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the students status for in-state or out-of-state for tuition purposes >></p>
</blockquote>
<br>
<p>I'm guessing that your post is directed to me as I wondered why my FAFSA was being verified year after year when we qualify for NO need based aid....Student attends a private school....no instate/out of state difference in tuition. Since we are paying the full cost (minus merit aid), it is clear that DS is a dependent. Also, oddly, we had to submit our tax returns WITH the finaid applications...so they KNEW we were residents and knew our incomes (for two years).</p>
<p>My S and I attended a Sleeping Bag Weekend at Carnegie-Mellon a few weeks ago. At a session on Financial Aid, a CMU staff person said that every college participating in Federal loan programs is required by the Feds to verify the info on a certain percentage of its FAFSA submittals. This is a minimum requirement, and many colleges verify a greater percentage -- even 100% -- for their own reasons. He went on to say that, since CMU has limited funds for financial aid, CMU requires ALL aid recipients to verify all of their FAFSA info every year. And that includes even students with merit-based scholarships, who do not qualify for need-based aid.</p>
<p>I think worried mom is probably correct. We did not qualify for any need based aid during my son's first 2 years, but did get the subsidized Stafford this year and will qualify for it for next year as well. (We have 2 kids in college.) Son attends a small private school and I imagine it is easier to verify everyone. However, for larger schools, verifying everyone would be too much of a hassle. (Although Thumpson attends a large school, the program he attends administers their own FA somewhat seperate from the main university.)</p>
<p>It's probably useful for a college to verify from a broad spectrum of families, with a variety of incomes and assets, even those who do not qualify for need-based aid. If you need to know where most errors are made, where things tend to be over-reported or under-reported, etc., this would be the way to get a handle on it.</p>
<p>I know some schools aren't wholly happy with the information the FAFSA provides, but are unwilling to move to the other methodology because that will cost families more money. Perhaps "verification" helps them to get the information they need to fill in FAFSAs blanks.</p>
<p>Verification is a federal requirement whereby schools are asked to verify the information that students and their parents provide on the FAFSA to ensure its accuracy. Only a certain percentage of students are selected for FAFSA verification.</p>
<p>Verification is a process used to verify certain information on the FAFSA. Some students are selected for verification by the US Department of Education. Others are selected by the school due to discrepancies. There are several possibilities for being selected. Here are the main reasons: </p>
<p>You were selected randomly.
The submitted FAFSA has incomplete data.
The FAFSA contains estimated information.
The data on the FAFSA is inconsistent.
If you are selected for verification, you will be required to provide specific documents. Not all students selected for FAFSA verification will have to submit the same documents. Save all records and other materials used in completing the FAFSA. </p>
<p>Verification is used to ensure that the information students and parents report is accurate. 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.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if a school will ask for verification from people chosen randomly from the whole applicant pool that applied to the school? Or do they wait until they know who is accepted and chose random people from that group to verify their information?</p>
<p>The choosing randomly is usually done during the financial aid process - as soon as the FAFSA is submitted - starts right around the schools FAFSA deadline for most schools. Some schools start the process earlier and you may be informed of documentation to submit when/if you apply for fin-aid or scholarships when your applications goes in. But since it is a federal regulation that drives the process - most verifications occurs when the FAFSA is submitted.</p>
<p>I was selected for verification this year. Received the letter two day ago. I am doing my taxes tomorrow and sending a copy to the University. I figure it can't hurt. Quick cooperation might = some money.</p>
<p>Oh, I understand now. I thought that the colleges themselves picked who needs to verify, but it's really done as soon as the FAFSA is submitted, so ALL the school's I applied to are going to ask for verification? Would a school bother to send me the verification papers before they make their admission decisions? UCI wants me to verify it, and I'm just trying to figure out if I got accepted or not. It probably doesn't mean anything about my admissions decision, I don't think.</p>