Dear Colleague:
On July 8, 2022, we published a Federal Register notice (Vol. 87, No. 130 p. 40826) announcing the 2023–2024 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) verification items for applicants selected by the Department as well as the acceptable documentation for those items. As specified in the Federal Register notice, the 2023-2024 Verification Tracking Groups, FAFSA items that may be verified, and the acceptable documentation for those items are the same as those in the 2022-2023 award year. In addition, the Electronic Announcement (EA) published on January 15, 2021, provides the COVID-19 flexibilities and waivers relating to verification. The COVID-19 flexibilities are intended to be utilized only when necessary due to an inability of an applicant to meet normal verification requirements due to circumstances related to COVID-19. Any additional flexibilities will be announced in a future publication.
Confined or Incarcerated Students
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 added section 484(t) to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) to formally establish Pell Grant eligibility for confined or incarcerated students, as long as they are enrolled in a prison education program as defined under the HEA. The Department is currently in the process of establishing regulations to implement the statutory requirements. We anticipate that the regulations will be effective July 1, 2023.
For the 2023-24 award year, a confined or incarcerated student as indicated through the new incarcerated applicant flag will only be required to verify their identity and statement of educational purpose. This means incarcerated students selected for Verification Tracking Group V4 and V5 will only be required to verify their identity and submit a statement of educational purpose. In addition, institutions are not required to verify a confined or incarcerated student selected under Verification Tracking Flag “V1.”
For more information on how the Department will update our systems to account for confined or incarcerated student enrollment please see the Summary of Changes to the Application System (SCAPS) Guide for the 2023-24 award year once available in the Knowledge Center.
Suggested Verification Text
In APPENDIX A, we provide the suggested text for each of the 2023–2024 verification items in the July 8, 2022, Federal Register notice. While use by an institution of the suggested text fulfills the regulatory verification requirements, institutions are not required to use the Department’s suggested text and formats, except as noted below. Instead, institutions may develop and use their own text, forms, documents, statements, and certifications that are specific to the items required to be verified for a particular student or group of students. The one exception is that institutions must use the exact language in the "Statement of Educational Purpose" in APPENDIX A for students who are placed in Verification Tracking Groups V4 or V5.
We suggest that each page of an institutionally developed verification document include appropriate headings and numbering that identify the item(s) being verified. Institutions should ensure that the verification document collects the student’s name, ID number, and other identifying information, and that each page is identified as belonging to that student. Also, institutions may have difficulty matching the tax account information with the student because the last names may be different or because portions of the tax filer’s identifiers are redacted. Therefore, we recommend that institutions advise students to write their own name on the tax information prior to submitting it to the institution. The verification document should include any special instructions necessary so that students will know when and how documents are to be submitted to the institution. Institutions are reminded that documentation obtained as part of the verification process must be maintained at the institution for at least the required Title IV record retention period as outlined in Volume 2 of the Federal Student Aid Handbook.
Changes for the 2024-2025 Award Year and Beyond
The Department is currently working on developing guidance and policy for potential updates that may come with the significant changes in the FUTURE Act and FAFSA Simplification Act. We will consider what adjustments, if any, need to be made to verification and inform institutions of any changes.
We thank institutions for their cooperation and continued role in safeguarding the integrity of the Title IV programs and in preventing improper payments.
Sincerely,
Annmarie Weisman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Innovation
Attachments
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2023-2024 Suggested Verification Text in PDF Format, 307KB, 13 Pages