The Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA is the federal financial aid form students complete to apply for all federal student financial aid. Some FAFSAs are selected by the U.S. Department of Education for a process called “verification.”

If your FAFSA is selected for verification, Student Financial Aid will notify you of the documents you need to submit.  Our office will notify you to submit copies of the documents you used to complete your FAFSA. With these documents, we will verify the information you reported on your FAFSA and make any necessary corrections. Verification must be completed before we can determine your eligibility for financial aid.

 

How will I know that I have been selected for verification?

After submitting your FAFSA, you will receive an electronic Student Aid Report, or SAR. If you have been selected for federal verification, there will be a comment on your SAR with details. Additionally, when LCCC receives and processes your FAFSA, you will receive an email notification (“Missing Information Letter”) that outlines the required documents/forms you need to submit for the verification process. These required items will also be included on your “To Do” list in the Student Center of MyCampus.

 

Required Documentation

Required documentation varies depending on the reason(s) your application was selected. Typically, if your FAFSA is selected for verification, you and your parent(s) (as applicable) must complete the following:

Our office recommends that you submit verification documents as soon as possible upon being notified of your selection so that your eligibility for federal financial aid can be finalized. If you are sending documents to us with Personally Identifiable Information (i.e., Social Security Number, Driver’s License or State ID Number, Alien Registration Number, Date of Birth), we suggest that you take several steps to secure your data. Social Security Numbers should be redacted / blackened out and the message you are sending should be encrypted. In all circumstances, the verification process must be completed by the last day of your enrollment during the school year for which your application has been selected, unless you meet certain federal criteria to be considered for later disbursements. Please see below for additional information on the deadline for completing verification.

 

IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)

If you did not choose the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) when you initially filed your FAFSA (or were ineligible), please complete the following:

  • Log-in to studentaid.gov/fafsa to “Correct info”
  • In the “Financial Information” section, click “Link to IRS”
  • On the IRS website, fill out the form and click on “Transfer my tax information into the FAFSA”. Once you complete the IRS information, the system will bring you back to the FAFSA
  • Make sure you submit the corrections and sign your FAFSA using your FSA ID

You will be unable to use IRS Data Retrieval Tool if:

  • The student/parent is married, and either the student/parent or his/her spouse filed as married filing separately
  • The student/parent is married, and either the student/parent or his/her spouse filed as Head of Household
  • The parents’ marital status is “Unmarried and both legal parents living together”
  • The student/parent filed a Puerto Rican or foreign tax return
  • The student/parent filed their tax return electronically within the last three weeks, or through the mail within the last 11 weeks

Additional information about using the DRT is available from the Department of Education.

 

Identity Theft Information

If you have been a victim of identity theft, you cannot obtain an IRS Tax Return Transcript until the issue has been resolved by the IRS. Since resolution can take a significant amount of time, please provide a copy of the Transcript Database View (TRDBV) tax transcript to our office along with a signed and dated statement by the tax filer indicating you were a victim of IRS tax-related identity theft and the IRS has been made aware of the tax-related identity theft. You may obtain a copy of the TRDBV from the IRS by calling 1-800-908-4490.

 

What is the deadline for completing verification?

Verification is complete when we have reviewed all required documentation, and the data in your financial aid application is accurate according to the documentation submitted. In general, verification must be completed by the last day of your enrollment during the school year for which your application has been selected, unless you meet certain federal criteria to be considered for late disbursements. Our office recommends that you submit verification documents as soon as possible upon being notified of your selection.

 

What happens if I do not complete verification?

If you choose not to, or fail to submit verification documents, we will be unable to complete the review of your eligibility for financial aid.

In rare cases, a student who has already been awarded federal financial aid may be selected for verification after financial aid has disbursed. In the event that this happens, we will send notification by email. Failure to comply with the verification requirements will result in your aid being canceled and any future aid not disbursing to your student account. If financial aid had already disbursed to your student account, your financial aid will also be canceled which may result in a balance on your LCCC student account.

If you are selected for federal verification but do not wish to complete the process and want to cancel your aid application, you should send written notification to Student Financial Aid.

 

If verification determines any of my FAFSA information to be in error, how will the information be corrected?

Our office is required to submit all changes resulting from verification to the Federal Student Aid Processor. The Processor sends a revised electronic Student Aid Report (SAR) to the student. The revised SAR highlights the data that was changed and states that the changes were made by Student Financial Aid.

 

How will you notify me if the results of verification changed my financial aid eligibility?

LCCC requires that the verification process be completed prior to determining your eligibility for financial aid.

In the rare case that your FAFSA was selected for verification after we determined your financial aid eligibility, we will notify you via your LCCC student email address. You can view your current financial aid offer in the Student Center of MyCampus.

 

What does the College do in the event it discovers credible information of fraud or criminal misconduct in connection with the verification process?

By law, the College must refer to the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) any credible information it discovers, including as part of the verification process, that indicates an applicant for federal student aid may have engaged in fraud or other criminal misconduct in connection with his or her application for such aid. Common types of fraud or misconduct include false claims of independent student status, false claims of citizenship, use of false identities, forgery of signatures of certifications, and false statements of income.

If a College employee suspects that a student, another employee, or some other party has misreported information or altered documentation to fraudulently obtain federal student aid, the employee with such suspicion is required to bring that information to the attention of the Director of Student Financial Aid. The Director works with College legal counsel to review the documentation and determine if a referral to the OIG is required. Any decision to refer information to the OIG will be coordinated by College legal counsel in accordance with the guidance provided in the Federal Student Aid Handbook. The relevant student file will be held in the office of the Student Financial Aid Director to ensure that all information is secure once a report is made to the OIG.