FAFSA Verification?

Question

I will be a junior in college next year and am also transferring schools. I have just learned that my FAFSA has been chosen for verification. My SAR was 1899 and I thought that this was pretty low. What exactly does this mean?? Will this hinder the amount of aid I can receive.. or will they give away the aid they were going to give to me?? I have never had this happen before and am very nervous because I need all the help I can get. I heard that this is a relatively common process but no one I know has gone through this so I am not sure what to do, or exactly what this means. Please help!

Answer 1

Every year, FAFSA runs through the applications and chooses a certain percentages of them for "verification." It is an audit process. It's very common, it's random and it's no big deal.

You may be asked to submit copies of your mom's income tax filings so that it can be verified that the numbers you reported are the same as were reported to the IRS.

The verification process has nothing to do with the validity of your request for aid or how much you will get. It's just an audit required by the federal government since federal monies are involved. You have absolutely  nothing to worry about there.

In terms of your SAR:  I can't say if this is high or low or accurate. It's all relative to several other factors.

Once you complete the verification process, which won't take long at all, all the info will continue to be process by your new school. If for some reason the SAR is not a true reflection of your situation, you  may be able to have it adjusted. SAF officers are pretty good about finding money when it's necessary and making adjustments to accommodate students.

This is not to say that you have carte blanche just for the asking, but given that you've been in the system and things have gone along well for you, there is no reason to believe that that is going to change.

Don't be nervous. Sounds like everything is on track for you. Good luck at your new school!

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Answer 2

It's common, contact your financial aid advisor at your school

also the reason for verification is because you are changing schools, so you might want to check out the financial ad office at that school ether way you have to speak with them

Answer 3

This happened to me twice. They are just trying to catch people who lie on the FAFSA--this does not mean that you are lying or that they think you are lying, of course! It's random, to make sure that the information you gave them is correct.

Like I said, I did this twice, once my SAR came out to be more than originally calculated, once it came out to be less. I saw no difference in the amount of aid given to me.

1899 is indeed very low. Unless it jumps to something crazy like 10,000 after the verification (which it probably won't unless you made a serious mistake on your FAFSA) you should be fine.