| AwardYear: 1997-1998 ChapterNumber: 1 ChapterTitle: Basic Requirements Section: Applications that Must Be Verified PageNumber: When verification is required for an application, that application is said to have been "selected" for verification. Applications are selected either by the Central Processing System (as evidenced by an asterisk on the output document) or by the school. "Selected Applications" Edit-selected Applications Applications Selected by the School Under certain circumstances, a selected application may be excluded from required verification (see the "30% Verification Option" and "Verification Exclusions" sections later in this chapter). Edit-Selected Applications Students apply for ED's student aid programs using one of several methods: - completing a paper Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or paper Renewal FAFSA; - filing an electronic FAFSA or Renewal FAFSA through a school participating in Electronic Data Exchange (EDE); [[FAFSA Express is a new filing option--see "Dear Colleague" GEN-96-2"]] - filing through FAFSA Express, ED's new software package that allows students to complete and transmit a FAFSA using a PC and a modem. Regardless of the filing option used, the FAFSA is always processed in the same way, and the verification procedures are also the same. [[Processing and edit checks]] One of two FAFSA processors will scan or manually enter the FAFSA data and transmit the data to the Central Processing System (CPS). The CPS calculates a student's eligibility and checks the application, using several editing criteria designed to detect possible inconsistencies and mistakes. For instance, if a dependent student reported the parents' marital status as married but also reported the household size as "2," the processing system's edit checks would catch the inconsistency, and the student will receive a SAR comment alerting him or her about the inconsistency. As a result of this edit procedure, certain student aid applications are flagged for verification. Each applicant who applies for federal student aid will receive an "output document," which contains the calculation of the applicant's official Expected Family Contribution (EFC). If the applicant applied using the paper FAFSA or FAFSA Express, he or she will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR). An applicant who applied electronically through his or her school will receive a SAR Information Acknowledgement. In each of these cases, the applicant's school can also receive an output document, the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). When applying, the student may designate up to six schools to receive the ISIR. The schools receive the ISIR either electronically through the EDE system or by tape or cartridge. "Output Document" SAR or SAR Information Acknowledgment Electronic ISIR (through EDE) Tape or Cartridge ISIR from the CPS [[FAFSA processors no longer produce output documents]] Since the 1996-97 award year, FAFSA processors have no longer had to send their own output documents containing CPS data to applicants and schools. The only output document will come from the Central Processing System (CPS). The output document indicates whether the CPS has selected a student's application for verification. For example, on the SAR (or SAR Information Acknowledgement), the processor prints an asterisk (*) to the right of the EFC and includes, in the comments portion of the SAR, verification instructions for the student. Verification selection is also shown on the ISIR. If an application is edit-selected for verification, an asterisk (*) will appear on the SAR, to the right of the EFC. In the FAA Information Section on the SAR, the verification selection codes (1-25) are numbered in order of importance. If you are verifying no more than 30 percent of the total number of your school's federal student aid applicants, you might want to select those applications with higher priority verification numbers. For example, reasons 2, 5, 8, and 10 have greater significance than reasons 13, 15, 19, and 24. NOTE THAT SELECTING APPLICATIONS WITH HIGHER PRIORITY NUMBERS IS A SUGGESTION, NOT A REQUIREMENT. [[Database matches]] The CPS "matches" the application data to several databases (including the National Student Loan Data System [NSLDS], a comprehensive database containing selected federal financial aid histories of SFA fund recipients) to flag certain applicants, such as those who have defaulted on federal student loans or who owe repayments on federal grants. Such students may still be eligible for federal aid, but their federal output document will note the questionable items. You must resolve those items before delivering any funds to the student. School-Selected Applications Your school may also select applications to be verified, as long as your selection procedures are in accordance with consistently applied institutional policies. THE VERIFICATION RULES APPLY EQUALLY to applications the CPS selects and applications your school selects, except that students your school selects are required to verify only the items your school chooses. |