The Verification Process

Verification is required by the federal government to ensure that applicants are submitting correct information. This information is the determining factor in receiving Title IV funds and is of the utmost importance. The federal processor selects applicants for verification. The College may also select applicants for verification.

Who Must Be Verified

The College will verify applicants selected by the U. S. Department of Education via federally approved edits.
The College will verify all Title IV eligible applicants selected by the U. S. Department of Education for verification.
The College will verify all applicants selected by the U.S. Department of Education, even if previously verified by another institution.
The College will verify any applicant with missing, inaccurate, or conflicting information.
The College may select any applicant for verification if the validity of the information is questioned.

Verification Items

For applicants selected under Item 1 above, the College will verify the items specified in 34 CFR Part 668.56.
1. The Department of Education has established several verification groups. Verification requirements are specified for each group in the FSA Handbook, on the IFAP website and in other documentation from ED. For the award year, each required data element will be verified based on the verification group assigned.
2. Students who are selected for verification will be placed in one of the following groups to determine which FAFSA information must be verified:
V1—Standard Verification Group

Students in this group must verify the following if they are tax filers:
- adjusted gross income
- U.S. income tax paid
- untaxed portions of IRA distributions
- untaxed portions of pensions
- IRA deductions and payments
- tax-exempt interest income
- education credits
- household size
- number in college
Students who are not tax filers must verify the following:
- income earned from work
- household size
- number in college
V2—Reserved for future use by the Department.

V3—Reserved for future use by the Department.

V4—Custom Verification Group

Students must verify high school completion status and identity/statement of educational purpose

V5—Aggregate Verification Group

Students must verify high school completion status and identity/statement of educational purpose in addition to the items in the Standard Verification Group.

V6—Reserved for future use by the Department.

Reporting results for groups V4 and V5

We will report the verification results of identity and high school completion status for any student for whom you receive an ISIR with tracking flag V4 or V5—as selected by the CPS, not your school—and request verification documentation. We will report this information on the FAA Access to CPS Online website: select the Identity Verification Results option from the main menu, enter your school identifiers, the year, and the student identifiers. We will then enter one of the following numeric codes that most applies:

1—verification completed in person, no issues found

2—verification completed using notary, no issues found

3—verification attempted, issues found with identity

4—verification attempted, issues found with HS completion

5—no response from applicant or unable to locate
The Financial Aid Specialist will resolve and document discrepant application information for all applicants prior to disbursing Title IV aid, and in compliance with 34 CFR Part 668. Some examples of conflicting or discrepant information include, but are not limited to:
1. Married, but filed taxes as Head of Household
2. Under age 24, with children, but no income
3. Income over tax filing required amount, but no taxes filed
Upon receipt of all requested verification documents, the student’s ISIR is compared with the documentation provided.
1. If all students’ information is correct and there is no conflicting information, the student’s file is checked in Banner as “verified” and aid is awarded.
2. If all of the student’s information does not match and the total is more than $25, a correction is required to be submitted to CPS through FAA Access online.
3. If any non-dollar item is incorrect, a correction is submitted to CPS.

ATC financial aid office, may at our discretion, if inaccuracies are suspected, requires a student to verify any FAFSA information and to provide any reasonable documentation in accordance with consistently applied school policies.

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