VERIFICATION

            for the upcoming 2013-2014 academic year

Because students sometime make errors on their FAFSA, the United State Department of Education has developed a process known as Verification, whereby the Central Processing System (CPS), which processed your FAFSA, selects certain FAFSAs to be verified. The Verification process is conducted by a student’s college/university. The school is required to collect, at a minimum, a Verification Worksheet, filled out and signed by a student if the student is classified as Independent. If a student is considered to be Dependent, the student’s parent must also sign the Verification Worksheet. Additional documentation may be required and varies according to the “Verification Group” in which the CPS places a student.

The following information is taken, in part, from the U.S. Department of Education’s Application and Verification Guide for 2013-2014:

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VERIFICATION GROUPS

Students who are selected for verification will be placed in one of the five following groups. The group determines which FAFSA information must be verified for the student.

V1 - Standard Verification Group, commonly referred to as Verification Group V1.

Students in this group must verify the following if they are tax filers:

household size

number in college

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

SNAP benefits

child support paid

Students who are not tax filers must verify the following:

income earned from work

household size

number in college

SNAP benefits

child support paid

V2 - SNAP Verification Group, commonly referred to as Verification Group V2.

Students in this group must verify the receipt of SNAP benefits.

V3 - Child Support Paid Verification Group, commonly referred to as

         Verification Group V3.

Students must verify child support paid by them or their spouse, their parents, or both.

V4 - Custom Verification Group, commonly referred to as Verification Group V4.

Students must verify high school completion status and identity/statement of educational purpose in addition to receipt of SNAP benefits and payment of child support.

V5 - Aggregate Verification Group, commonly referred to a Verification Group 5.

Students must verify high school completion status and identity/statement of educational purpose in addition to the items in the Standard Verification Group (V1).

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PLEASE NOTE: In addition to completing any of the above Verification Worksheets, a student may be required to provide supporting documentation for any information disclosed on a Verification Worksheet or on the FAFSA.

The Chicago State University Office of Student Financial Aid has developed several Verification Worksheets, which you must use dependent upon the Group in which you have been placed.

The Verification Worksheet for those students have been selected for Standard Verification (V1), SNAP Verification (V2), and Child Support Paid Verification (V3), is a combined worksheet which you may use for any one of the aforementioned V1, V2 or V3 categories. Please pay careful attention to the instructions on the page which precedes the actual Verification Worksheet. You need only complete those sections as identified in the instructions  dependent upon your classification.

PLEASE NOTE: If a school has any reason to believe that any information provided on the FAFSA is incorrect, it has the right require a student to verify any FAFSA information and provide documentation to support the information.

If you are a Dependent Student, and are part of the above discussed V1, V2 or V3 Groups, please download and complete the .  .  .

2013-2014 VERIFICATION WORKSHEET - Dependent Students

If you are an Independent Student, and are part of the above discussed V1, V2 or V3 Groups, please download and complete the .  .  .

2013-2014 VERIFICATION WORKSHEET - Independent Students

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You will need      to download the forms on this web page.