Questions about federal verification

The federal government, through a series of edits, selects students whose FAFSA information must be verified. When you receive notification that your FAFSA has been processed, your Student Aid Report (SAR) will indicate if you have been selected for verification. In addition, the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) also reserves the right to select individuals for verification.

For example, individuals who submit a Professional Judgment Appeal Form are typically selected for verification to ensure that the data provided on the FAFSA is accurate before any correction and/or adjustments are made to address an individual's or family's unusual circumstances. FAFSAs with inconsistent or conflicting information must be resolved and may therefore be selected for full verification by the OSFA.

If you are selected for verification, respond to our requests for documentation as soon as possible. We will not be able to proceed in the financial aid process until verification is complete. We will notify you by email, text, or paper letter that you are selected for verification and that specific tax documents are needed. The requested documentation will be listed in KSIS, K-State’s student information system, on the Tasks tile or the Student Center tile.

Examples of verification documentation may include a request to complete specific forms, update your FAFSA via the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, submit IRS tax returns and schedules, or submit W-2 forms.

Be sure to submit all requested documentation as quickly as possible as we will not be able to award any federal student aid or authorize existing federal aid for disbursement until verification is complete.

Note: K-State offers students the option of providing view-only access to their financial information in KSIS to other individuals, such as parents, spouses, etc. Viewable information includes:

• items needed to complete the financial aid process
• financial aid offers made to the student
• tuition bill and ability to make payments
• tax information, such as 1098-T.

Read more about K-State’s Designated Access.

If, after reviewing your submitted information, the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) determines that your FAFSA information must be corrected, the office will electronically submit the required corrections to the federal processor. You will be informed that corrections have been made to your FAFSA when you receive a revised Student Aid Report (SAR) from the federal processor. Additionally, once the federal processor has confirmed acceptance of the corrections, the OSFA will mark your record as having successfully completed verification.

If, after reviewing your submitted information, the OSFA determines that no corrections need to be made to your FAFSA information, the office will mark your record as having successfully completed verification.

You will be notified by email or paper letter when you have successfully completed the verification process.

Note: Sometimes, when you submit the requested information, it can cause us to request further information, which either we previously were unaware that we would need, or because the information submitted conflicts with other information in your financial aid file.

If your FAFSA was selected for verification after you were already awarded federal financial aid, no disbursement will be made until verification is complete. If your FAFSA was selected for verification after some or all of your federal financial aid was disbursed to you, verification must still be completed by the relevant federal deadlines. In some cases, you may no longer be eligible for aid previously awarded and/or disbursed to you. You will be responsible for repaying any aid for which you were ineligible. If you fail to provide the requested verification documentation by the deadline, you will be required to repay any grant funds received and no further disbursements of Direct Loans will be made and work study funding for employment will cease.

Verification must be completed by the deadline published in the Federal Register. For the 2024-25 academic year, verification that requires electronic corrections must be completed by September 7, 2025. Verification documents submitted that do not require electronic corrections to the FAFSA need to be submitted by the earlier of the following: 120 days after your last date of enrollment, or September 14, 2025. Since the OSFA must have the results of a valid, correct FAFSA by the last date of your attendance, it is important to submit all requested verification documents prior to the end of the term in which you wish to receive federal student aid. The verification deadline for the 2025-26 academic year has not been published in the Federal Register, but the latest date to complete verification is anticipated to be mid September 2026.

If a student fails to provide the requested verification documentation by the deadline noted above:

• No additional Federal Pell Grant or Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (SEOG) may be authorized for disbursement to the student.
• Federal Work-Study funding will be terminated for student employment.
• No Federal Direct Loans may be authorized for disbursement or originated.
• If the student already received a Federal Pell Grant or SEOG, which was disbursed prior to being selected for verification, he or she will be obligated to return the funds to the federal government.