Federal Verification FAQs

Verification is a process by which the University of Dayton reviews the demographic and financial information on the FAFSA as selected by the Department of Education. Selection for verification does not imply that you have made an error or made false statements.

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) does not share with applicants the specific reason why their FAFSA was selected. The DOE uses a formula, not revealed to colleges and universities, to select applicants based on common data errors.

An IRS Tax Transcript is a document issued by the IRS which provides most line items from your originally filed federal tax return. The two fastest methods to request a transcript are either online at www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript or by calling the IRS at 1-800-908-9946.

Yes, you must complete and submit the requested verification documents for your federal financial aid to be disbursed. Failure to complete the verification process could result in the delay or reduction of your financial aid. If you do not wish to utilize federal financial aid, please contact the Office of Financial Aid. If you are an incoming student, failure to complete Verification can possibly affect your University aid as well. 

If a student who is selected for verification does not complete the verification process, then any Federal and/or need-based aid (Pell Grant, SEOG, Federal Work-Study, Federal Direct loans, certain scholarships, and institutional aid) will NOT be awarded or disbursed.

Once your verification documents are reviewed with your FAFSA, there is sometimes a need to make corrections to your FAFSA based on the information the student has provided.  When a correction is requested to your FAFSA, processing will delay your verification by 3 to 5 business days while we wait to receive your corrected FAFSA.

An international student must be considered an eligible noncitizen to be eligible for federal aid to then complete the FAFSA. Eligible noncitizens include U.S. permanent residents who hold valid green cards, U.S. nationals, individuals who hold form I-94 and have been granted refugee or asylum status, and certain other noncitizens.

During verification, the Office of Financial Aid compares information from the student’s FAFSA with all other required verification documents. If needed, we will correct a student’s FAFSA and submit them to the federal processor. Therefore, it is very important during or after verification that a student (or parent, spouse) NOT make any changes to the FAFSA as this will only delay the awarding and disbursing of Federal or need-based aid (Pell Grant, Federal Direct Loans, Work-Study, certain scholarships, etc.).

Verification processing time is generally two weeks during peak season (June-October), and one to two weeks during non-peak season (November-May) once all required documents have been received. Therefore, students should start the process as soon as possible. We recommend having paperwork submitted NO LATER THAN JUNE 1^ST in order to be ready for the fall term. See below for a few ways to expedite the process:

• Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool OR Request Tax Return Transcripts as soon as notified.
• Complete the required AdobeSign form(s) accurately and attach all necessary documents.
• Keep a copy of all documents submitted for your records

We will reach out via the student’s University of Dayton email address. We encourage students to regularly check their university email.