Verification
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View Financial Aid FormsWhat is Verification and how did I get selected?
Verification is the process by which an educational institution confirms the accuracy of the data reported on your individual student FAFSA. About 30% of all Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA's) are selected for verification by the Central Processing System (CPS). Bellevue University, through the Office of Financial Aid (FA), may also select applicants for verification to correct any potential conflicts in information.
If your application is selected, FA is required to collect all necessary documentation from you and your parents or spouse, if applicable, per federal guidelines. Information from these documents is then compared to your FAFSA information and corrections to the FAFSA are made when necessary. FA must verify all applicants selected for verification, including students previously verified by another school.
Submit documentation as soon as possible
It is the responsibility of all students chosen for verification to submit the required verification documentation as listed below to FA as soon as possible. Bellevue University does not award federal (Title IV) aid until the verification process is complete.
Note: On the rare occasion that a student is selected for verification after being awarded Title IV aid, the student will be subject to all the rules and requirements of verification as those applicants who were selected before being awarded. If the student's federal Title IV aid eligibility changes as a result of corrections made through the verification process, the student will be responsible for any reduction to their Title IV aid. CPS will issue the student an updated SAR, reflecting any corrections made to their FAFSA, and FA will notify the student, through Bellevue University email, of any changes to their Title IV aid. All Title IV aid changes will also be reflected on their Financial Aid Award.
All Bellevue University students who are selected for verification will be sent a Verification Communication to their BU email requesting the federally required verification documents needed to complete the verification of their FAFSA. If the student has not been assigned a BU email, Verification Communication will be sent to the email listed on their BU application.
It is possible that we will need tax information from you in order to confirm the income and assets that were reported based on the FAFSA.
The tax year that is required will be displayed in the details section of the document request that can be accessed through the financial aid portal under the heading "Documents."
If you did not submit all of the requested documentation or failed to complete or sign the submitted documents or if the Specialist verifying your FAFSA needs additional information or documentation, you will be contacted by FA and be requested to submit the information still needed to complete the verification process. You will usually be contacted via your student email (or the email listed on your Bellevue University application if a Bellevue University student email hasn't been assigned), but may also be contacted by phone, if necessary, or mailed a request if no phone or email is available. Please submit the requested information back to our office as soon as possible!
If a discrepancy is found during the verification process, all necessary corrections are made to the FAFSA then sent to CPS for reprocessing. Once the corrections have been processed by CPS, you will receive another SAR which will reflect any changes made to your FAFSA as well as any changes to your Expected Family Contribution number (EFC). You will then be awarded financial aid based on the updated EFC.
Once all of the requested verification documents are submitted, the verification process can take up to 10 days due to the quality of the verification documents submitted to Financial Aid, the number of discrepancies and/or other student eligibility issues present on the application, and the volume of applications being received by FA.
You can appeal a decision made on your FAFSA by going into your financial aid portal and selecting the quick links option from the menu. Students have the option of submitting a variety of appeals, including the following: a request to be considered independent; a loss of income; a request for increase in cost of attendance; extenuating circumstances; unexpected medical or dental costs; and so on. Any appeal requires that you provide supporting documentation along with it.
Should we request additional information from you or if FAFSA income or identity verification is required, please be aware that you must submit the necessary documents within 7 days. For your initial FAFSA application, the priority deadline is 14 days prior to the start of classes, or prior to being cleared for registration. If you're enrolled in traditional term classes and choose not to complete your initial FAFSA, you have until June 30th after you begin classes to submit it. For students in non-traditional cohort classes who opt not to complete the initial FAFSA, you have a 90-day window after starting classes to submit it. Please note that failing to meet these deadlines may result in us being unable to process your financial aid application for either the current or previous academic year.
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