Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

Required Documentation

AwardYear: 1997-1998
ChapterNumber: 2
ChapterTitle: Required Verification Items And Acceptable Documentation
Section: Required Documentation
PageNumber:


[[ED's verification worksheets]]
For each required verification item, specific documentation is
required, and you have the authority to require students to provide
such documentation. As an aid in completing the verification
process, ED has developed verification worksheets specifically
designed to obtain most of the documentation needed. You may
reproduce the 1997-98 worksheets you received in Action Letter #5
(GEN-96-22, November 1996), download the worksheets through
EDE Express, or reproduce the worksheets on pages 13 through 16
of this guide.

A Tip for Collecting Documentation
A completed verification worksheet, with the relevant tax forms
attached, usually provides all the required documentation for
verifying a student's application. In unusual situations, you may
need additional documents, but for most students the process can
be very simple.

You may use a federal worksheet, your own worksheet, or no
worksheet. When a student completes a verification worksheet and
attaches the appropriate tax forms or alternative documents
(discussed later), usually you will have enough data to complete the
verification process. Using a verification worksheet, therefore,
simplifies the task of collecting and examining a student's
documentation.

[[The 1997-98 Verification Worksheets on pages 13-16 are currently
unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document
for additional information.]]

Using worksheets is not mandatory; you may require other
documentation in addition to, or instead of, a completed verification
worksheet. The chart below shows other forms of acceptable
documentation for each required verification item. Later in this
chapter, these other documents are discussed in detail.

[[The chart "Acceptable Documentation" on page 17 is currently
unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document
for additional information.]]


Using a Verification Worksheet

[[School that require worksheets must supply them]]
[[Copied signatures and documents are acceptable]]
If you require your students to complete verification worksheets, you
must provide the worksheets because they are no longer sent
automatically. Upon completing the appropriate worksheet and
attaching a copy of the relevant income tax returns or alternative
documents, students should submit the documents to the school, not
to ED or to the FAFSA processor through which they applied. The
school should make sure that all required worksheet sections are
COMPLETED and APPROPRIATELY SIGNED and that the
relevant tax returns or alternative documents are attached. COPIES
(SUCH AS PHOTOCOPIES, TELEFAXES, DIGITAL IMAGES,
ETC.) OF WORKSHEETS, TAX RETURNS, OR OTHER
DOCUMENTATION ARE ACCEPTABLE. Unless specifically
noted in this guide, an original signature--that is, a handwritten pen-
and-ink signature that has not been copied--is NOT required.) After
checking the documentation against the student's application data,
you may either disburse the student's award or make the necessary
corrections and updates. (See Chapter Three, "Completing The
Verification Process.")