FAFSA Verification FAQs

Yes.

The U.S. Department of Education requires that you comply with our requests for financial information. If you do not complete and return all the requested information within 30 days, the Office of Financial Aid is required to cancel your financial aid. Completion of verification is necessary to remain eligible for both federal aid and also for most types of scholarships.

Be sure all forms are complete and that you have included all requested information and documents before you submit the paperwork to the OSA. Mail the completed forms, signed federal tax returns, and W-2s and any other supplemental information to:

Office of Financial Aid

2495 Amsterdam Ave, Suite 1013A
New York, NY 10033

Or fax the documents to: 212-960-0037

Or upload to our

You may also drop the information off in person at:

Office of Financial Aid

2495 Amsterdam Ave, Suite 1013A
New York, NY 10033

The purpose of the process is to allow the Office of Student Aid to collect the documents necessary to verify that the information reported on the FAFSA is correct. If any information is incorrect, the Office of Student Aid must make corrections and submit the corrections to the Department of Education for reprocessing.

You and your family agreed to provide financial information when you completed the FAFSA. Everyone who signs the FAFSA agrees to "If asked, provide information that will verify the accuracy of your completed form."

Yes - all of your financial information, including your federal tax returns, will be kept confidential. However, if corrections are necessary, the Office of Student Aid will transmit them electronically to the U.S. Department of Education.

You must immediately notify the Office of Student Aid. Also, you must immediately request copies of your W-2s from your employers (who are required by law to provide an additional copy) and/or contact the Internal Revenue Service (toll-free 1-800-829-1040) or 

Your parents may submit a copy of their tax transcript directly to the Office of Student Aid. Though we prefer that your parent's tax transcript be enclosed with your other completed verification forms, it can be submitted separately. However, they must write your ID on each page of the return so that we can match it with the rest of your verification paperwork.

Not necessarily. After reviewing the documents you submitted we may need to request additional information and/or documentation to resolve any discrepancies. You must respond to these requests for additional information within two weeks.

As instructed by the verification forms, submit to the Office of Student Aid a copy of your Form 4868 (the request for an extension to file a federal return). You (and/or your parents) must immediately submit the federal tax transcript as soon as the extension expires.

If federal regulations did not require that you (or your parents) file a return, you will need to request a Verification of Non-Filing Letter from the IRS . If you (or your parents) were required to file a federal tax return but did not, you must file immediately and submit a copy to the Office of Student Aid to remain eligible for financial aid. Failure to comply with federal tax law will force the Office of Student Aid to cancel your financial aid.

You can check Insidetrack for the message "verification documents received.

Typically, documents are reviewed within two weeks of receipt. However, the Office of Student Aid may request additional documents and/or information. You must respond to these additional requests within two weeks.

You will not be sent an e-mail, but you can check your Insidetrack for the message "verification complete."

It is possible that your aid will be affected. The awards most likely to be affected are any Federal Pell Grants. The award may increase or decrease. If you under-reported your income or assets on the FAFSA, the above awards are likely to be reduced or cancelled. Other federal aid, FSEOG Grants, Stafford and Perkins Loans, and scholarships could also be affected.

Most of the time, though not always, the people listed as exemptions on your federal income tax return (or your parent's, if you are a dependent student) qualify as members of the household.

For dependent students

The student and the parents with whom they reside always count as members of the household. Brothers and sisters of the student also count, if the parents provide more than 50% of their support (though they may not necessarily live with your parents). Other people count as part of the household if they lived with the student's parents last year, will continue to do so from July 1 this year to June 30 next year, and will receive more than 50% of their support from the student's parents.

For independent students

The student and their spouse (as long as they are not separated or divorced) always count as members of the household. Other people count as part of the student's household if they lived with the student last year, will continue to do so from July 1 this year to June 30 next year, and will receive more than 50% of their support from the student and/or the student's spouse.

You should include the information for the parent with whom you lived for most of the year. This is typically the custodial parent. If your custodial parent has remarried you must also include the financial information for the new spouse. If your non-custodial parent contributed money to you (for your education or otherwise) it must be included as your (you, the student) other untaxed income. If the non-custodial parent does not provide any financial support to you at all, then they are excluded from the FAFSA data.

Include the information only if they provide money to you as support. If they are providing "support in kind" (i.e. housing or food) then it does not need to be included.

Yes, you must include your stepparent's information on the verification forms and submit copies of their federal income tax returns and W-2s. The U.S. Department of Education requires that you submit all requested information for the parent(s) with whom you live and also anyone married to the parent with whom you live. You must comply with the Office of Student Aid's requests whether or not the stepparent provides any financial support.

You must still submit that stepparent's financial information. Neither pre-nuptial agreements nor any other sort of legal agreement release a stepparent from the obligation to provide financial information necessary to complete verification. Of course, simply submitting information for verification in no way obliges your stepparent to support you or to pay for your education. They are simply providing information that will be used to determine your financial need.

If, according to federal guidelines, you are a dependent student, your parents must submit any and all financial information requested by the Office of Student Aid, regardless of whether or not they support you or intend to continue supporting you.

You can contact the Office of Student Aid by e-mail at studentaid@yu.edu or by phone at 646-592-6250. You may visit us in person between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday at the Belfer Hall, room 1013A.