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FAFSA Verification Policy

Before qualifying for Federal Financial Aid Programs, U.S. Department of Education requires some students to verify the information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This process is called FAFSA Verification. In limited situations SDSU may also select students for FAFSA Verification.

Students whose FAFSAs are selected for Verification, are required to complete Verification forms and provide supporting documentation. The U.S. Department of Education decides annually which FAFSA responses are subject to Verification and for which group of students. Different students may be asked to verify different FAFSA responses.

The South Dakota Board of Regents Enrollment Services Center (ESC) oversees FAFSA Verification for SDSU. If your FAFSA is selected for Verification, you will receive an email from ESC with instructions on how to access your Verification forms and instructions. You can also log into your Financial Aid Self Service portal and access the Verification documents and instructions on the Requirements tab.

Verification forms and documents should be returned to ESC. ESC will reach out to students who provide incomplete forms or insufficient documentation to complete the Verification process. Students will not be eligible for Federal Financial Aid until the verification process has been completed.

Once ESC has received your completed Verification forms and documentation, the ESC staff will compare your documentation to the responses listed on your FAFSA. If your documentation matches your FAFSA, no corrections will be needed and your financial aid offer will be based on the information you provided on your FAFSA. If your documentation does not match the response on your FAFSA, ESC will correct your FAFSA to reflect the documentation you provided. You will receive an email from FAFSA Central Processing when your FAFSA has been updated with the correct information.

If your FAFSA was corrected through the Verification process, your financial aid offer will be based on the verified FAFSA results. If you received an aid offer before you were Verified, your financial aid offer will be updated to reflect the corrected FAFSA results. This may result in adjustments to financial aid that has already been accepted and/or disbursed. The Financial Aid Office will notify students whose aid offers have been updated based on FAFSA Verification.

For some students, FAFSA Verification may result in an a higher Estimated Family Contribution number and a reduction in financial aid eligibility. Students may be required to return financial aid that they have already received. Students owing a refund to a federal student aid program are ineligible for additional aid and may be considered in default on a student loan if the aid is not repaid timely. Additional student aid cannot be paid to the student until the refund is resolved with the SDSU Financial Aid Office. Unresolved refunds and/or fraud verification cases may be referred to the United States Department of Education for collection purposes and to document ineligibility for future student financial aid.