<p>I just got an email from my school saying that my financial aid application has been selected for federal verification. I have already been accepted Early Decision II and received full cost of attendance in scholarships, work-study, and loans. This is a school known for its lack of financial aid to students and I am a bit worried. If someone could explain what this is, I would appreciate it.</p>
<p>Its an audit. It could have been random, or someone could have seen something that looks atypical and asked for an audit. If you have been honest in your FAFSA I wouldn’t worry about it. Just fill out the form and send it back. I think mostly they check your fafsa numbers against the income tax return(s).</p>
<p>As long as your verified numbers don’t change, ie. your tax data & income asset data, your package should remain the same. However, this package is probably contingent on everything being accurate.</p>
<p>Didnt they tell you exactly what was needed for verification?
It is to your best interest to complete the forms asap, while they still have aid left.
( when were you notified? It seems kinda late in the process)</p>
<p>Don’t panic yet. Our verification was called a standard federal verification. It was a simple two page form that asked for name, address, etc and had us list the names and number of dependents. We also had to agree to use the IRS data retrieval service, which we had done anyway.</p>
<p>As long as your FAFSA was accurate and no one lied filling it out then you have nothing to worry about. Follow the instructions to the letter and make sure to get it done well before the deadline or you do put your aid at risk.</p>
<p>Just get the verification info to the school ASAP! As long as the numbers are accurate, there shouldn’t be an issue.</p>
<p>There is no reason to panic as this is often routine. We got selected for verification when my son just wanted some unsubsidized Direct Student loans that had no connection to income. Anyone can get that. But at that time it involved sending in tax returns and answering a bunch of questions. Now I think the tax returns are available to the feds without you having to send the physical copies to them. We just got picked randomly, and most of the questions they asked us had already been answered on the FAFSA which was a bit puzzling. Just sent the return they wanted, and said son did not need to file return the prior year due to lower than threshold income, was registered for the draft and had no drug related convictions. Also we said, yes, we were all US citizens. There was no issue at all.</p>
<p>One thing that I know has hung up some folks who were getting need based aid which did change the EFC, is if the assets were not reported accurately on the date that the FAFSA was filed. Some people leave out earmarked funds–can’t do that, or report as of 12/31 instead of the actual date. If you are asked to give account info as of that day and it does not match up with what you reported, that could change your EFC. The other thing people do is estimate what they usually have in their accounts. You should not fill out FAFSA on Payday or while you have pending (especially large) payments sitting in your accounts, because you still have to report them. You can explain that it is your kidney transplant money, but you still have to report the amount just the same. And if it’s insurance money you got to replace damages to your place that you’ve yet to have done, you could be out of luck.</p>
<p>If you agree to link your federal income tax forms to the fafsa, it should avoid complications in the process. That also may reduce the likelihood of having to go through verification in the future.</p>
<p>A high percentage of parents do go through verification.</p>
<p>I am almost always verified. This happened to me at my community college where I just took out unsub loans. I think I read somewhere they verify everybody and I think there a lot of schools that do this. Just send in what ever paperwork they ask for.</p>