Verification

The Verification Process

 

To allow for additional processing that may be required by the Department of Education (ED), we highly recommend that you complete your FAFSA no later than May 1st for the Fall semester and no later than October 1st for the spring semester.

 

Verification

Once the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been completed, the information is processed by the Department of Education and the results are sent to all colleges listed on the FAFSA as well as to the student. Generally, ED is checking the applicant's eligibility requirements as well as looking for items that may be incorrect based on pre-determined factors. 

In some cases, the Department of Education may select a file for a process called verification.  If your FAFSA is selected, you will be required to submit signed copies of certain financial documents via Collin's Financial Aid Portal.  

The verification process requires that information from the student's FAFSA application be compared with copies of the student's, spouse's (if married) and parent's (if dependent) federal tax information, or other financial documents. In addition to the tax documents, the school may require you to submit other documentation, information, or clarification to ensure accuracy of the FAFSA data. Notification of any outstanding requirements is sent to students via e-mail (the e-mail account the student entered on the FAFSA). The student's Cougar Web account will also list the document requirements and the status. 

Once the required document or documents are submitted, the verification processing staff will compare the information on the FAFSA with the information on the financial documents and will make any adjustments or corrections as necessary. If submission of the corrections is necessary (not all differences require submission), the financial aid staff will electronically submit the changes on the student's behalf to the Department of Education so eligibility can be recalculated. Once the adjustment is reprocessed, the college will receive a new FAFSA with the corrected results which will be used to package the student's financial aid award. 

Notification

If corrections are submitted, the notification will be posted in the college's system which the student can view via their Cougar Web account. We ask students NOT to make any corrections once verification documentation has been submitted to the Financial Aid Office, since this can significantly delay the process.

 

Note: Whenever the college receives a flagged FAFSA form, whether for verification or any other issue, a missing information e-mail or letter is sent to the student requesting the information needed to complete the student's file. In addition, students can view any requirements in their Cougar Web account. No further action will be taken on the student's file until all documentation or information requested is received. 

 

Overawards

It is standard Collin procedure not to award any financial assistance until verification is completed.

 

Deadlines

All required documents should be submitted to the Financial Aid Office as soon as possible after being notified of the requirement. Delays in submitting all required documents will cause a delay in awarding of financial aid.  Also, it could result in the student needing to pay all of or part of their bill from their own resources (i.e., out-of-pocket) until awarding takes place.

 

Students are expected to apply for aid and complete the verification process before the term has ended. Otherwise, the student is in jeopardy of not receiving any federal aid for their period of enrollment.  A Pell Grant applicant must complete the entire process before August 1 or 120 days after the last day of the student's enrollment whichever is earlier. If the process is not completed the student is not eligible for Pell for that award year. 

New Verification Requirements

 

The Department of Education instituted some changes to the verification process beginning with the 2012-2013 award year.  According to the U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter GEN 11-03:

Since most applicants can quickly and easily access IRS data through the FAFSA's IRS Data Retrieval process, we no longer consider it reasonable for an institution to accept anything less than reliable IRS-supplied evidence for verification of income data. Therefore, if an applicant selected for verification, who has not successfully transferred information from the IRS, or one who did transfer the information but then changed it, the Department expects the institution to require the applicant, and if necessary the applicant's parents, to provide an official IRS transcript of their Federal Income Tax information.

What This Means

Students and parents can no longer submit a signed copy of their Federal tax returns as a means of confirming the income reported on the FAFSA. When completing the income sections of the FAFSA, the applicant is given the option to have this data retrieved directly from the IRS.

If applicants decide not to use the IRS data retrieval process and the application is selected for verification, the applicant and parents will be required to submit an IRS Tax Transcript. If the tax information that is retrieved from the IRS is changed on the FAFSA, the applicant (and/or parents) will be required to submit an IRS Tax Transcript.

However, if the retrieved data is not changed, then an IRS Tax Transcript will not be required.

 

Tax Filers with Special Circumstances

The IRS Tax Retrieval tool may not be available for the applicant (or parents) in the following circumstances:   

• A joint tax return was filed for the tax year, but the student or the student's parents have filed the FAFSA with a marital status of separated, divorced or widowed.
  
  
• If the tax filer is married to someone other than the individual on the joint tax return.
  
  
• If the parent or student was not married in the tax year, but is married at the time the FAFSA is filed. The current spouse's income must be reported on the FAFSA.

• If the parents or the student are married, but filed separate returns.
      
• If an amended tax return was filed. (The IRS Data Retrieval too will retrieve the original return information; but will not include the amended information.)
     
• If the tax return was filed less than two weeks before filing the FAFSA.

 

Requesting an IRS Tax Transcript

 

This can be done free of charge from the IRS in one of four ways:

    - Online at the IRS website  www.irs.gov

        There are two ways to order from the IRS website.      

 

        * You can download a pdf copy of your Tax Return Transcript in minutes using the IRS's new "Get Transcript" function. Simply go to this link and
          follow the instructions there.

        * You can order a copy of your Tax Return Transcript to be mailed to your address currently on file with the IRS (the address you used on the last tax return
          filed).  Mailed transcripts typically arrive within 5 to 10 days from the time the online request was successfully transmitted to the IRS.

   - By telephone:  Call the IRS at 1-800-908-9946.  Select "Option 2" to request an IRS Tax Return Transcript.  It takes 5 to 10 days from the time the
     IRS receives the request.

   - By paper form 4506T-EZ available for download at www.irs.gov


For a more detailed explanation of how to request an IRS Tax Transcript, click here.

Non-Tax Filers Selected for Verification

For an individual that has not filed and, under IRS rules is not required to file an income tax return, a copy of IRS Form W-2 for each source of employment income received in the tax year must be provided.

 

Collin College Verification Policy

To see the "official" Collin College Verification Policy, click here.