Financial Aid Verification Disclosure

What is verification?

Verification is a review process, mandated by the federal government, to check the accuracy of information reported on financial aid documents submitted by students and their families.

The federal verification process was established to ensure that limited financial aid dollars are awarded to eligible students in an equitable and consistent manner. Nationwide, the federal government selects more than 30 percent of student financial aid applications for verification.

If your application is selected for verification, you will receive official notification from the U.S. Department of Education via your Federal Student Aid Report (SAR).

The Office of Student Financial Aid

• Verifies applications selected by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Verifies application data that fails to successfully complete a mandatory federal data match.
• Verifies files status as independent but do not appear to meet the criteria for age, being a foster child, orphan, having children or other dependents, marital status, active duty military status, veteran status, being graduate/professional students, having a legal guardian, being an emancipated minor, being an unaccompanied youth or having dependency status overrides
• Verifies conflicting information within the student's file.
• Verifies information believed to be inaccurate to establish aid eligibility.

Required Documents

Do not submit any documents unless requested to do so. The Office of Student Financial Aid will send a notification to your student email. You may also view a list of required documents on Banner Self-Service. Verification documents may include IRS Tax Transcripts, a completed Verification Worksheet, or other documents. In some circumstances, you may go back to your FAFSA application and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to download your income tax information. If you are unable to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, submit an IRS Tax Return Transcript obtained from the IRS.

• You may no longer submit copies of tax returns (IRS 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ), with the exception of tax returns from Puerto Rico or foreign income tax returns.

Document Submission

Please submit all documents with your student name and your student number. To submit verification documents, you may bring them to the Office of Student Financial Aid, fax them to 419.334.9035, or e-mail them to financialaid@terra.edu.

Deadlines for Submission of Documents

Per federal regulation, to be eligible, students must have a valid Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on file with the Office of Student Financial Aid while the student is in attendance.

Consequences of Missed Deadlines

Your file will not be complete until all requested documents are received and processed by the Office of Student Financial Aid. The verification process may delay the awarding of financial aid if corrections need to be submitted to the federal processor. Financial Aid Awards will not be made until the verification process is complete. All verification documents must be received prior to the end of the term in which you are applying for aid.