Verification

Every year, federal regulation requires all post-secondary institutions awarding federal financial aid to complete verification on a select number of their FAFSA applicants (CFR Title 34, Part 668, Subpart E ). The students are selected by either the US Department of Education or the institution. Students chosen for verification must provide required supporting documentation as well as complete a Verification Form. These documents will be compared to what was submitted in the student’s FAFSA, and any necessary corrections will be made to the FAFSA by the institution.

Important Deadlines

Checklist

  • All information is legible, signed, and fully completed
  • Federal tax documents and/or income statements are from 2018 for the 20-21 FAFSA
  • All pages of the Student and/or Parent Verification Form are fully completed
If the forms contain incomplete, missing or non-legible information, there will be a delay of 3-4 weeks in processing the student’s financial aid.

Submission of Verification

Students are now able to complete and sign the Student Institutional Verification Form online through AccessPlus on the FAFSA status page.

The Parent Institutional Verification Form can also be completed on the AccessPlus FAFSA status page, by a parent on the FAFSA, who the student has assigned 3rd Party access to for financial aid information. If the student chooses to assign 3rd party access to their parent’s AccessPlus account, directions are available here.

When completed, the verification documents should be sent to ISU Office of Student Financial Aid in one of the following ways:

Mail to:
Office of Student Financial Aid
515 Morrill Road
0210 Beardshear Hall
Ames, IA 50011-2103

Fax to: (515) 294-3622

Deliver to:
Room 0210
Beardshear Hall

Follow-Up

Check the FAFSA Status page on AccessPlus to confirm receipt of any documentation submitted.

Students and those with third party access can view current document and verification status on AccessPlus under:
  • Student tab > Financial Aid > FAFSA Status
  • Due to COVID-19 process accommodations, it may take 4+ weeks for documents provided to show a status change on the AccessPlus FAFSA Status page.
Courtesy Reminders will be sent to students via their ISU email/AccessPlus on a monthly basis beginning in February if any documents are needed to resolve verification.