The U.S. Department of Education selects approximately 30 percent of all applications for verification. If the U.S. Department of Education chooses your application, a message will appear on your Student Aid Report (SAR), and you will have to complete certain verification requirements.
The Financial Aid Office selects an additional 5 to 10 percent of applications for a separate and more extensive verification. If you receive an offer of Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant or Institutional Grant, you will be included in this group and you will be asked to provide additional documents, including your W-2 Withholding Statements and those of your parents (if you are a dependent student). If you are an independent student, you will provide your own W-2 Withholding Statements and those of your spouse (if you are married). You may also have to provide proof of enrollment for any other family member who is in college.
Whether you are undergoing basic or expanded verification, the process involves the following steps:
You must send all requested documentation to the financial aid office for review.
If the verification process results in changes to your application, the financial aid office will transmit corrections electronically to the federal processor.
The federal processor will reprocess corrected data, and transmit corrected application results to the Financial Aid Office.
If the verification process results in changes to your eligibility, your financial aid may change. We encourage you to respond promptly and completely to any request for verification materials.
We cannot finalize your aid and authorize the payment of funds to your university account until the verification process is complete. If you complete the verification process after July 1, you will not receive a fall term disbursement until after the beginning of the fall term. If you do not provide all requested documents within 30 days from the date of our initial request, your aid offer will be cancelled. If you complete the verification process after your aid is cancelled, a new aid offer will contain only aid available at the time your verification process is complete.