(GEN-18-03) (GEN-18-03) Subject: 2019–2020 Award Year: FAFSA® Information to be Verified and Acceptable Documentation

Publication Date: March 29, 2018

DCL ID: GEN-18-03

Subject: 2019–2020 Award Year: FAFSA® Information to be Verified and Acceptable Documentation

Summary: This letter provides information that supplements the 2019–2020 award year verification information provided in the Federal Register notice published on March 28, 2018.

Dear Colleague:

On , we published a Federal Register notice (Vol. 83, No. 60 p. 13266–13269) announcing the 2019–2020 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) items that may require verification for an applicant selected for verification by the Department, as well as the acceptable documentation for those items. The 2019–2020 FAFSA items that may require verification and the 2019-2020 Verification Tracking Groups are the same as those for the 2018–2019 award year. Also, there were no changes to the acceptable documentation requirement for 2019–2020, as specified in the Federal Register notice.

Departmental Verification Selection

As in prior years, the Department will use data-based statistical analysis to select for verification the 2019–2020 FAFSA applicants with the highest statistical probability of error and the greatest impact of such error on award amounts. The Central Processing System (CPS) will set a Verification Tracking Flag on a selected applicant’s Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) indicating that the applicant was selected by the Department for institutional verification. The ISIR will also indicate the Verification Tracking Group for the applicant. See below for a listing of the 2019–2020 Verification Tracking Groups.

Suggested Verification Text

In a subsequent posting on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website, we will provide suggested verification text for the 2019–2020 FAFSA items.

Table of 2019–2020 Verification Tracking Groups

The individual FAFSA items from the 2019–2020 Federal Register notice that an applicant must verify are based upon the Verification Tracking Group to which the applicant is assigned as outlined in the following chart.

2019–2020 Verification Tracking Groups
FAFSA Information Required to be Verified

Verification Tracking Flag

Verification Tracking Group Name

FAFSA Information Required to be Verified

V1

Standard Verification Group

Tax Filers

  • Adjusted Gross Income
  • U.S. Income Tax Paid
  • Untaxed Portions of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Distributions
  • Untaxed Portions of Pensions
  • IRA Deductions and Payments
  • Tax Exempt Interest Income
  • Education Tax Credits

Nontax Filers

  • Income Earned from Work

Tax Filers and Nontax Filers

  • Number of Household Members
  • Number in College

V2

Reserved

N/A

V3

Reserved

N/A

V4

Custom Verification Group
  • High School Completion Status
  • Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose

V5

Aggregate Verification Group

Tax Filers

  • 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 Tax Credits


Nontax Filers

  • Income earned from work

Tax Filers and Nontax Filers

  • Number of Household Members
  • Number in College
  • High School Completion Status
  • Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose

V6

Reserved

N/A

Note: We estimate that the technical specifications for the 2019–2020 ISIR record layout, which includes the Verification Tracking Flag values, will be available on the IFAP website July 2018.

With your support, we are confident that together we can continue to reduce the burden of verification on applicants, their families, and institutions while maintaining the integrity of the Title IV Federal student aid programs.

Sincerely,

Frank T. Brogan
Delegated to Perform the Duties of Assistant Secretary,
Office of Postsecondary Education

Last Modified: 10/15/2021