Chesapeake College's Federal Verification Policy
Verification is a process mandated by the Federal government in which schools are required to and have the authority to collect documentation to verify data provided on a student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students are selected for verification by the United States Department of Education's Central Processing System (CPS) at the time the student completes the FAFSA. Chesapeake College reserves the right to select any student not already selected by the CPS if it believes that any application information is incorrect or if there is evidence of conflicting information.
Elements to be Verified
The following data elements are required verification items:
- Household size
- Number in college
- Adjusted gross income
- U.S. taxes paid
- Certain types of untaxed income and benefits:
- Child support (received and/or paid)
- IRA/Keogh deductions
- Foreign income exclusion
- Earned income credit
- Interest on tax-free bonds
- All other untaxed income included on signed copies of U.S. income tax returns or tax transcripts, excluding information on the schedules
- SNAP (food stamp benefits)
- High School Completion/Identity of Educational Purpose
Documents Needed to Complete Verification
Students will be notified by email of documents required to complete verification. On occasion the documents provided may prompt us to request additional documentation. We would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. The following documents may be required but not limited to:
Dependent Students:
- Dependent Verification Form
- Student's signed copies of Federal 1040 income tax returns or tax transcripts
- Students W-2's for all jobs worked in tax year
- Parent's signed copies of Federal 1040 income tax returns or tax transcripts
- Parents W-2'sand K1 income (if applicable) for all jobs worked in tax year.
- Proof of untaxed income (child support received, SNAP, tax-deferred pension plans, etc.)
- Verification of High School Diploma or GED
Independent Students:
- Independent Verification Form
- Student's signed copies of Federal 1040 income tax returns or tax transcripts
- Spouse's signed copies of Federal 1040 income tax returns or tax transcripts (if married and filed separately)
- Student and Spouses W-2's and K1 income (if applicable) for all jobs worked in tax year
- Proof of untaxed income (child support received, SNAP, tax-deferred pension plans, etc.)
- Verification of High School Diploma or GED
Students Will Be Sent Three Status Emails Informing Them Of Documents Required.
As of the 2014/2015 academic year, the U.S. Department of Education is requiring schools to verify that the students and/or parents marital status and tax filing status are correct based on the IRS regulations of tax filing statuses. In order to do this, when the "Marital Status" and "Tax Filing Status" fields on a processed FAFSA are in conflict, the school has the right to reject the FAFSA until the information is corrected.
Students will NOT be considered for any federal or state aid until verification is complete. Students must submit required documents by our priority deadline date (May 1st for Fall and December 1st for Spring) to be considered for aid by semester pay by date. Late documents will be accepted but being packaged with an award by the pay by date is NOT guaranteed.
The Financial Aid Office will verify and correct any data elements that need corrected within two weeks of the file becoming complete.
Students must submit ALL required documentation prior to the last day of class for the current term. Late documents may be reviewed on a case by case basis by the Director of Financial Aid. Decisions made by the Director are final.
A student will receive an electronic Student Aid Report when a correction has been made. The source of the correction will indicate we corrected the data elements by indicating school code, 004650. If an estimated award was done pending receipt of the corrected ISIR back from the Central Processing Center, a student will receive a revised award letter if the award changed. The revised award letter will be mailed within 10 days of receipt of the corrected ISIR.
If a student has been awarded and finalized and is selected for verification by CPS on a subsequent transaction, all awards will be put in "pending" status. The student must submit the required verification documents within 14 days of notification. Failure to comply with request will result in the student owing a balance to the institution for all tuition, fees and books, if applicable for the term(s).