Verification Process

Verification is a process whereby the data provided by the student and/or their parent(s) on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is compared to information on the student and/or parents’ financial documents (e.g., tax return, w-2, etc.). Any discrepancies noted will be corrected and the student’s eligibility for financial aid will be recalculated.

The Federal Processing System (FPS) will randomly select some FAFSAs, but most others are selected because there is incomplete or missing data, income is manually entered, or the data provided is inconsistent with expected values.  Students selected for verification are not being punished; verification ensures that eligible students receive all the aid for which they qualify and prevents ineligible students from receiving aid by reporting false information. 

NJ TAG grant recipients may also be selected by the NJ Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (NJHESAA) for a state verification process; this process is independent of Monmouth University and documents are submitted directly the NJHESAA.  Monmouth University may also select applications for verification to resolve inconsistent information that comes to our attention. 

If you are selected for federal verification, it will be noted on your FAFSA Submission Summary. There will be an asterisk next to the Student Aid Index SAI) and a comment in the “Application Status” section informing the student that their school has the authority to ask for additional documentation to complete verification. In addition, the Financial Aid Office will send you a notification to your Monmouth University email account and a text to your cell phone, if you have opted in for messaging.

Students selected for NJ state verification will be notified directly by email from the NJ Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA). The Financial Aid Office will send follow-up reminders by email and by text.

Verification documents can be uploaded to our verification portal, once you have created an account; one parent of dependent students must also create an account.  Here are instructions for creating and accessing verification portal accounts:

• Student Account
• Parent Account

Not all applicants will be asked to submit the same documents.  You may also be asked to provide different documents than you have in previous years.  The documents you will be asked to supply will depend on the verification category that Federal Student Aid placed you in (V1, V4 or V5). The data to be verified for each group is as follows:

V1—Standard Verification Group

Tax filers (student, student spouse, parent, and parent spouse/partner, as applicable) must verify the following:

• Adjusted gross income
• Income earned from work
• U.S. income tax paid
• Untaxed portions of IRA distributions
• Untaxed portions of pensions
• IRA deductions and payments
• Tax exempt interest income
• Education Credits
• Foreign income exempt from federal taxation
• Family size

Non-tax filers (student, student spouse, parent, and parent spouse/partner, as applicable) must verify the following:

• Income earned from work
• Family size

V4—Custom Verification Group

Students must verify the following:

• Identity

V5—Aggregate Verification Group

This group is a combination of V1 and V4. Tax filers and non-tax filers must verify the items listed in the Standard Verification Group (V1). Students must also verify their identity.

Verification document submissions are accepted throughout the aid year, but it is in your best interest to submit your documents as soon as possible in order to finalize your aid.  Documents must be submitted before your last day of attendance in the academic year.  (Note that NJ TAG grant recipients must complete both federal and state verification requirements by October 1 or March 1 for spring only applicants.)

If you are selected for verification after financial aid has disbursed you will have 30 days to submit all verification documents or your file may be referred to the Office of Inspector General and reported to the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS). This could affect your ability to receive further federal aid at Monmouth University or any other institution.

If discrepancies are found when your financial documentation is compared to your FAFSA, the Financial Aid Office will make corrections to your FAFSA and recalculate your eligibility for aid. This recalculation could result in you being eligible for more or less financial aid than you were originally offered. If the corrections lead to a change in your eligibility, a revised financial aid offer will be sent to your MU email account.

During peak processing times you can expect that it will take approximately two weeks to complete the verification process once you have supplied all of the requested documentation. We appreciate your patience as we work to ensure that you receive all the aid to which you are entitled.

You will receive email and text (if you have opted in) notifications that verification is complete. If there has been a change to your financial aid as a result of any discrepancies found during verification, you will also receive a revised financial aid offer; the offer is sent to your student email address.

If you do not want to receive federal aid, you are not required to complete the verification process, so in that sense verification is optional.  However, if you wish to receive any federal loans and grants, state grants, or University need-based grants it is not optional and you must complete the verification process.  Please email the office at finaid@monmouth.edu if you wish to opt out of the verification process and decline your federal, state, or University funding.  We will stop the verification communication process.