Potential Issues

 

There are 2 purposes to the FAFSA and for the particular information collected from students and parents:

1.     To verify eligibility criteria, and

2.     Calculate the EFC (Expected Family Contribution)

Eligibility

 

Let’s address the first one in a little more detail; verification of certain eligibility criteria.  

 

Once the student has signed and submitted the FAFSA, the Central Processing System (CPS) will try to verify certain eligibility criteria by sending the student’s, and in the case of a dependent student, their parent’s information, to a variety of external, federal organizations to verify a particular piece(es) of information.

 

Some examples include:

• The Social Security Administration – to check SSN’s, names, dates of birth, and citizenship
• The Dept. of Homeland Security – to check eligible non-citizen status
• The National Student Loan Database (NSLDS) – to check for defaulted loans, grant overpayments, lifetime limits, aggregate limits, etc.
• The Dept. of Veterans Affairs – to check Veteran status
• The Dept. of Defense – to check for Iran/Afghanistan Grant eligibility

 

Calculating the EFC

 

Now let’s briefly look at the process of calculating the EFC.

 

Once a student submits their FAFSA, the Central Processing System will run the data through a formula known as the Federal Methodology.  At the same time, the software is searching for numbers that statistically might not be correct.  The result of this process will be the student’s EFC or Expected Family Contribution.

Problems Arise 

During the processing phase, which includes the database checks described above, calculating the EFC, checking for possible errors, etc., issues can and do arise.  

 

For example, let’s say one of the database checks indicates an issue with citizenship. CPS will flag the student’s FAFSA with a citizenship flag and the school is then required to obtain documentation from the student proving they have an eligible citizenship status. Citizenship, verification and Unusual Enrollment History (UEH) are three common flags on a student’s FAFSA.  However, these three items are discussed in more detail elsewhere on the website. 

 

The following section lists some of the other items that may be flagged for resolution by the school.  This list is not all-inclusive, but does list some of the more common issues.

• Missing student and/or parent signatures
• Incorrect Social Security Number, date of birth and/or name
• Missing income or asset information
• Taxes paid are equal to or greater than the AGI
• Student or parent did not file an income tax return, but income was over the limit required to file
• Marital status issues
• Household size issues
• Dependent student did not provide parent information
• Student indicated veteran of active duty but VA cannot confirm
• Student has a defaulted loan
• Student has a grant overpayment

 

There are a few other items that will cause a flag at the school level.  In these cases, the student must submit proof of the claimed status.

 

These items include:

• Student indicated homeless or at risk of being homeless
• Student indicated they are an orphan or ward of the court
• Student indicated they were in foster care
• Student indicated they were in a legal guardianship
• Student indicated they were emancipated
• Dependent student indicated they cannot provide parent data

Resolution 

In all cases, the student, and sometimes the parent, will be required to submit proof of their status or provide the missing information and so forth. Occasionally, the school may simply request a statement of clarification about an item. 

 

Regardless of the situation, the student’s financial aid cannot be processed until all required documentation, missing information, statement, etc., is submitted. 

 

For this reason, we encourage students to file their FAFSA as early as possible as well as follow-up with any requests from the school as soon as possible.