| Perspectives
Letter to the Membership
Message From the Editor
View From the Past Chair
Association News
State News
Committee Updates
Spotlight Features
Spring Conference
Bill2Law Day
The Tax Detective
D.C. Outreach Project
NASFAA: Coming Soon!
Special Features
Avoid Verification Pitfalls
Consolidation
Early Awareness
Degree Doubles Income
People and Places
Support
Sponsors
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
| Issue |
Due Date |
 |
Fall
|
9/15 |
| Winter |
12/01 |
| Spring |
04/15 |
| Summer |
06/30 |
Submit articles to
Melissa Rakes
|
Avoid
Common Verification Pitfalls
Submitted
by: Gene Logan, USA Funds
The U.S. Department of Education defines verification as the process
of ensuring the accuracy of information reported on the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid. The process involves the review of the base-year-income
information provided by students on their applications for federal
student aid.
To help smooth the verification process for financial-aid administrators,
USA Funds® University offers the following list of common verification
blunders to avoid:
-
Failing to resolve discrepant or conflicting information
in a student’s file.
- A financial office’s policy and procedure manual that contains
incomplete or undocumented verification procedures. No documentation
of verification in the student’s file.
-
Collection of tax returns up front and no completion
of verification.
-
Failure to obtain tax returns from both parents
of a dependent student when the parents are married, report dual-income
information on the application, and file separate tax returns.
-
Accepting income documentation from a noncustodial
parent and spouse when verifying the student’s application
data. This error results when parental information on the student’s
FAFSA is for one parent and stepparent, yet the tax return submitted
to the school and used for verification is for the student’s
other parent and stepparent.
-
Failure to obtain the tax return of an independent
student’s spouse. In this instance, the student is married
at the time of application, but not during the base year, and does
not submit the spouse’s tax return or other income information.
Please remember that schools must follow their own school's policies
and procedures, even if they are more stringent than the Department’s.
|
