As noted in the September 1, 2021 Federal Register notice and GEN-21-06, starting with the 2022–23 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) processing year, the Department has removed high school completion status as a verification item under tracking groups V4 and V5. As a result, while high school completion (or recognized equivalent) is still required for Title IV eligibility, institutions will no longer be required to obtain high school completion documentation in order to complete V4 or V5 verification.
Please be advised, following adjustments to the verification process for the 2021-2022 award year, the Department is currently evaluating what changes may be made to the verification process for the 2022-2023 award year. Guidance on those adjustments, if any, will be released as soon as possible.
Departmental Verification Selection Process
Though we have modified the verifiable items under the Verification Tracking Groups V4 and V5, we have not altered our general verification identification or selection process. The Central Processing System (CPS) will set a Verification Tracking Flag on the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) indicating when an applicant is selected by the Department for verification and denote the specific Verification Tracking Group the applicant has been placed in. In addition, SAR/ISIR Comment Codes 170 and 171 will also indicate when a student has been selected for verification.
Starting with the 2022–23 award year, if a student is selected for verification under the V4 or V5 verification tracking group, institutions will not be required to obtain verification of high school completion documentation. This means for the V4 tracking group, institutions will only be required to obtain student identity and statement of educational purpose information. For the V5 tracking group, institutions will still verify all items from Verification Tracking Group V1 (financial and tax information, household size and number in college), along with student identity and statement of educational purpose; however, institutions will not be required to obtain documentation of high school completion.
Please note that the removal of the high school completion status from the V4 and V5 Verification Tracking Groups does not impact an institution’s ability to self-select FAFSA items under the institution’s own verification policy. Institutions may continue, at their discretion, to require a student to verify any FAFSA information, including a student’s high school completion status, according to consistently applied institutional verification policies.
Financial Aid Administrator (FAA) Access to CPS Online
Beginning with the 2014–15 FAFSA processing year, institutions were required to report the verification results of identity and high school completion status using the FAA Access to CPS Online website (https://faaaccess.ed.gov) under the “Enter Identity Verification Results” section. Starting with the 2022–23 FAFSA processing year institutions will only be required to report the verification results of a student’s identity.
Reporting is required no more than 60 days following the institution's first request to the student to submit the required V4 or V5 identity documentation. Institutions must report the results (as described below) for any student for whom they received an ISIR with a Verification Tracking Group of V4 or V5, and for whom they requested verification documentation. Institutions should only use this reporting function for students where the CPS placed the student in Verification Tracking Groups V4 or V5.
At this time, the “Enter Identity Verification Results” section in FAA Access to CPS Online has not been updated to remove references to high school completion status. However, the following revised value descriptions for reporting identity verification results under V4 and V5 should assist institutions when reporting verification results using FAA Access to CPS Online for the 2022–23 award year.
Verification Results Value |
Report When |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Value = 1 |
Verification of identity was satisfactorily completed by the applicant in person, and no issues were found. |
The applicant appeared in person, presented acceptable government-issued photo identification, and signed the Statement of Educational Purpose. |
|
Value = 2 |
Verification of identity was satisfactorily completed remotely by use of a notary, and no issues were found. |
The applicant submitted an original notarized Statement of Educational Purpose and a copy of his/her government-issued photo identification. |
|
Value = 3 |
Verification was attempted, and issues were found with identity. |
The identity documentation that was presented was not acceptable and no signed or notarized Statement of Educational Purpose was received. |
|
Value = 4 |
No longer valid – do not use for 2022–23 and beyond. |
Value used prior to 2022–23 award year to identify when high school completion status issues existed but there were no issues with identity. |
|
Value = 5 |
The applicant did not respond to the request for documentation or the applicant could not be located. |
Verification of identity was not completed, and no signed or notarized Statement of Educational Purpose was received because the applicant did not respond to the request for documentation or the applicant could not be located. |
|
Value = 6 |
No longer valid – do not use for 2022–23 and beyond. |
Value used prior to 2022–23 award year to identify when both high school completion status and identity issues existed. |
Contact Information
If you have questions related to CPS processing or FAA Access to CPS Online, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 1-800-330-5947 or by email at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.