Good morning parents, I have an incoming college freshman son who was chosen for verification and S1 who is in his freshman year now who was not. I’m just curious as to why S2 was chosen for selection when I used the exact same information for both sons on their FAFSA’S? Thoughts?
Years ago colleges were required to verify a certain percentage of FAFSA applicants and it was pretty random. Out of 9 years and 3 kids I got chosen once. With the ability to import tax information the rules are probably changed Did your import your information? If not, perhaps there is still a requirement to verify a percentage of FAFSA applications.
@momofthreeboys Yes I used the data retrieval tool to import the tax information… my numbers were very accurate from my estimation I provided to my sons’ in January.
It is totally by school; some schools only verified the percentage as required by the federal government while other schools verify every single candidate
While you have a verification asterisk onnthe FAFSA…wait for the colleges to let you know what each wants…if anything. The will let you know.
When my son was in undergrad…2003-2007…he was selected for verification every single year. And didn’t get a dime of need based aid…just a Direct Loan. Whatever. We sent in what the college requested every year.
There is no longer a minimum percentage required to be verified, but some schools do choose to verify certain groups based on their own determination. Is there an asterisk on the FAFSA? If so, it’s the processor, not the school, that chose the FAFSA for verification … so the school is required to verify. There are a number of reasons it may have been selected, but I agree it’s unusual for one S to be selected & the other not (if the selection is actually income-based) - it used to not be unusual, but with the move to more targeted verification selection in the past couple years, it would be a bit less likely now (assuming info on both FAFSAs is relatively the same). Have you been asked to provide any info yet? There are some verification groups that are not based on income … one has to do with proving identity, another high school completion, and yet another involves unusual enrollment history (this one is for students who have attended & received aid at several schools in a given time period).
@kelsmom so if there is an asterisk on the FAFSA…would that mean ALL of,the schools to which the FAFSA was submitted would be required to verify?
Yes, unless they are a Quality Assurance school (this program allows schools to establish their own verification groups - the program ends after the 16-17 award year).
@kelsmom Yes there is an asterisk on S2 FAFSA. He applied to 13 schools. I have had to provide all signed tax information, W2’s, Declination of SNAP page, Family size info, etc. The information on both FAFSA’s was EXACTLY the same. I transferred the information via the option to do so. I really am feeling somewhat vulnerable with our most private information out there to so many schools.