What is FAFSA verification?
The U.S. Department of Education can select any student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for verification. Verification confirms the accuracy of the income and other items you reported on the FAFSA. Schools are required to verify any conflicting or possibly incorrect information.
What happens if I don’t complete the FAFSA verification?
You will be unable to receive most forms of financial aid — including Pell Grants, federal work-study, federal loans and the Excelsior Scholarship — until the verification process is completed.
If you don’t submit or correct all required documentation, UAlbany’s Office of Financial Aid will revise your financial aid package and only disburse the aid you’re eligible to receive. Once you complete the verification process, the other forms of aid may be reinstated.
Please note that some aid — including federal work-study, State University of New York Student Assistance (SUSTA) and the federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) — depends on the availability of funds.
How will I know if I have been selected for verification?
If you are selected for FAFSA verification, Student Financial Services will send a message to your UAlbany email address. You can also see that you’ve been selected by monitoring your Important Notices on MyUAlbany or reviewing the comment sections of your FAFSA.
Students selected for verification may be exempted from some or all of the requirements due to incarceration, recent immigration, spouse or parent unavailable (only applies to spouse or parent data), or death of the student.
What is the deadline for verification?
Fall semester deadline: November 1
Spring semester deadline: April 1
All verification documentation needs to be completed and submitted by the deadline for each term. Please monitor your UAlbany email address for deadline reminders.
Documents received after the deadline date will be reviewed to determine if aid can be awarded under the federal late disbursement regulations.
What information am I required to verify?
The information you need to verify depends on the type of verification you have been selected to complete. Use this chart to find what FAFSA information you’ll be required to verify:
|
Verification tracking flag |
Verification tracking group name |
FAFSA information you’re required to verify |
|---|---|---|
|
V1 |
Standard verification group |
Tax Filers
Non-tax-filers
Tax Filers and Non-tax-filers
|
|
V4 |
Custom verification group |
|
|
V5 |
Standard verification group |
Tax Filers
Non-tax-filers
Tax Filers and Non-tax-filers
|
How do I submit new or corrected documentation?
Requested documents should always be submitted online, using our secure portal Inceptia Verification Gateway, unless otherwise noted. You will receive notification via email with instructions on how to upload these documents. If at any point you need to speak with a financial aid advisor, please contact our office at [email protected] or 518-442-3202.
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To verify household size and the number in college, you’ll need to submit an electronically or physically signed verification form.
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To verify adjusted gross income and taxes paid, you’ll need to submit a signed 1040 or IRS tax transcript, with schedules and 1040X as applicable.
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To verify untaxed income and benefits, you’ll need to submit an electronically or physically signed verification form or an official agency document.
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To verify proof of wages for non-filers, you need to submit W-2s or other official documents showing wages.
How will I know I have completed the verification process?
You’ll receive a notification from Inceptia Verification Gateway once the verification process and subsequent review are complete.
Once Student Financial Services processes any changes to your award eligibility, we’ll send a message to your UAlbany email address asking you to review your updated awards on MyUAlbany.
If your eligibility has changed but your awards were already disbursed into your student account, resulting in an overpayment, funds will be returned the U.S. Department of Education or to the student loan lender as necessary. You will be billed for any remaining balance.
Note: About 40% of UAlbany students are selected for FAFSA Verification each semester, which means our staff is helping more than 4,000 students through on this process. Please allow at least three to four weeks for our review.