AwardYear: 1995-1996 ChapterNumber: 1 ChapterTitle: Basic Requirements Section: 30% Verification Option PageNumber: Generally, you must verify all applications that have been selected for verification; however, ED does not require a school to verify more than 30 percent of its total number of applicants for federal student assistance. If more than 30 percent of your school's total number of applicants for federal student assistance have been selected for verification, you may CHOOSE to verify all of the selected applications, but ED does not require you to do so. Note: APPLICATIONS SELECTED BY YOUR SCHOOL DO NOT COUNT TOWARD THE 30 PERCENT LEVEL. You can choose to invoke the 30% Verification Option and could therefore cease verifying selected applications once you have verified 30 percent of your total number of applicants for federal student assistance. Of course, if your total number of selected applications is less than 30 percent of your total number of applicants for federal student assistance, you MUST VERIFY ALL selected applications. The 30% Verification Option is better explained with a few examples, shown on the following page. ED does not define the term "applicant" for purposes of the 30% Verfication Option. Each school must develop a definition and apply it consistently. An applicant may be defined as any student who applies for federal financial aid, or more narrowly as a student who is eligible to receive an award. Further, schools could define the total number of applicants for federal student assistance as the total number of applications received (regardless of whether the students are enrolled), as the total number of applications received from enrolled students, or as the total number of applications received from enrolled students who are eligible to receive an award. For Example EXAMPLE ONE Reeves Institute has a total of 1,000 applicants for federal student assistance. Of these, 475 applications are edit-selected for verification during processing. The school itself selects 100 other applications, based on its own criteria. A total of 575 applications were selected, but only 475 were edit- selected and only these count toward the 30 percent. However, this number still exceeds 30 percent of the schools total applicants for federal student assistance (300), so the school may cease verifying once 300 of the edit-selected applications have been verified. EXAMPLE TWO Sobel Tech has a total of 1,000 applicants for federal student assistance. Of these, 289 applications are edit-selected for verification during processing. The school must verify all 289 because that number does not exceed 30 percent of the institutions total applicants for federal student assistance. (The school is not required to verify any additional applications; the 30% Verification Option is NOT a quota.) EXAMPLE THREE Terry College has a total of 1,000 applicants for federal student assistance. Of these, 300 applications are edit-selected for verification during processing. Also, the school identified 40 additional applications as having conflicting information. A total of 300 applications from the school have been selected. Additionally, the school must reconcile the conflicting information of 40 other students. (Because the resolution of conflicting data is a separate and distinct issue from verification, these 40 applications do not count towards the 30 percent.) The school must verify all 300 applications, as this number does not exceed 30 percent of its total applicants for federal student assistance. The school must also resolve each of the 40 cases of conflicting data. Because of the many variables involved, ED does not provide specific guidelines or suggestions in this regard. Schools must develop their own definition of "applicant," as well as policies and procedures for determining the number of applications that constitutes 30 percent of that total. Having established such definitions, policies, and procedures, schools must consistently adhere to and apply them. It is the school's responsibility to assure that selected applications will be properly verified, regardless of whether or not the school elects to invoke the 30% Verification Option. |