Verification - Policy and Procedural Statement

Federal verification guidelines require that applicants are selected for verification by the Central Processing System (CPS) or by the school. At MSMC, Federal verification is performed on all applicants selected by the CPS and any application that the College has reason to believe is incorrect or has conflicting documentation.

Under certain circumstances, a CPS selected application may be excluded from some or all of the Federal verification requirements due to the following unusual circumstances including: death of the student, not an aid recipient, applicant is eligible to receive only unsubsidized student financial assistance. With the exception of the death of the student, however, none of these exemptions excuse the College from the requirement to resolve conflicting information. Federal verification must typically be completed prior to the end of the academic year or before the student ceases enrollment, whichever occurs first. Students who fail to comply with verification requirements, including submitting documentation within required timelines, will not have Federal Title IV funds disbursed and may have Federal Title IV funds cancelled. MSMC considers the student to be the responsible party for providing information and completing the verification process.

To complete the verification process, acceptable documentation will include Student Verification Worksheet, IRS Tax Transcripts or IRS DRT, and W-2's. To resolve discrepancies in reported information, students may be required to complete and submit additional information including IRS Tax Returns, schedules or other documentation. Verification results that require changes to the applicant information and subsequent changes to the student's financial aid package will be made prior to final disbursement of Federal funds. For all students eligible for subsidized Title IV aid, the College will make appropriate changes to the student information electronically through the Department of Education's CPS to ensure each student has a correct valid ISIR. The student will be notified of this adjustment through a revised financial aid award letter.

If the verification results do not justify aid already disbursed, the student is responsible for repaying all aid for which s/he is not eligible. Failure to meet the repayment obligation will result in the student being referred by MSMC to the U.S. Department of Education. Verification results that reveal possible fraud or criminal misconduct in connection with the financial aid application or verification processes will result in the matter being referred by MSMC to the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education for investigation.