Home » Admissions & Enrollment » Financial Aid Home » Financial Aid Policies » Verification

Verification

Verification is a process by which financial aid advisors verify certain information on your student aid report (SAR).  Mandatory information that will be verified are: adjusted gross income, taxes paid, untaxed income and benefits, household size, and number enrolled in college.

Selection for verification

The Central Processing System randomly selects student aid reports for verification.  Any student aid report selected by the CPS for verification (* next to the EFC number) will be verified by the financial aid office. 

State Fair Community College may select other student aid reports for verification.   Examples of when SFCC may select a SAR for verification are: taxes paid are equal to or greater than adjusted gross income or upon request by the student.

Notifying selected students

You will be sent a missing document letter that outlines the documents the student must provide to the financial aid office. This letter will be sent via student email and through the postal service.  This notification will also contain a verification worksheet that you will need to complete and return.

Student’s responsibilities in the verification process

You must provide the requested documentation before your aid can be awarded.  You  may provide original documents or copies.  The financial aid office can make copies of any original documents.  Documents should have a signature on them.  Common documents needed to verify your financial aid file are federal income tax forms (1040/A/EZ), any associated tax schedules, all W-2’s, child support received/paid documents, social security benefits documents, welfare benefits, and a verification worksheet (provided by the Financial Aid Office). 

Students may submit verification documents up to the end of the financial aid award year (as long as they are currently enrolled). However, no federal aid will be awarded until the student completes the verification process.

Notification of results of the verification

The financial aid advisor will compare information on the documents to information on the SAR.  If information on the documents is different than what is on the SAR the advisor will make the necessary changes through the financial aid system based on the signed documents.  The student’s aid will be based on this new information/EFC.  In a case where two documents provided by the student have conflicting information, the financial aid advisor will normally request a written clarification from the student.  In cases where the “official/original” documents were provided and they conflict with handwritten information, the official document information will be used.   These conflicting information discrepancies must be resolved before any student aid will be awarded. 

Once verification is completed, an award letter will be generated and emailed/mailed to the student.  Normally, award letters are printed every 7-10 days and mailed within 3 days of printing.

Referral of fraud cases

In cases where fraud is suspected the financial aid office will report it to the Office of Inspector General, Kansas City, Mo (816)-880-4034.  The financial aid office will provide any documentation/evidence of suspected fraud to the OIG.