Federal Verification Requirements

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education selects a group of students who completed a FAFSA for verification of information reported on their FAFSA.

If you are selected by the Department of Education for verification, you (and your parents, if you are a dependent student, or spouse if you are married) will need to submit paperwork to support the information reported on your FAFSA. A list of these requirements will be listed on your offer of financial assistance, as well as on Banner. You can download forms on our Forms page.

Your offer of financial assistance may be revised based on the information provided if that information is different from what you put on the FAFSA. The deadline for submitting your verification documents is 30 days after receiving notification or August 1, but prior to the end of your last quarter of attendance.

If you miss the deadline:

  • Funds may be limited.
  • Need-based aid will not pay toward your charges.
  • Late fees will accrue on your owing balance.
  • If your account is not paid in full, you will not be allowed to register for classes in future quarters.
  • Financial aid may be cancelled if verification requirements are not completed.

Once all verification requirements are received by our office, we will review them and you will receive an updated offer of financial assistance via your SPU e-mail account within 3-4 weeks.

Important: If we need to verify your tax information, you will need to complete the IRS Data Retrieval process on your FAFSA or request an official IRS tax transcript available from the IRS. Be sure to keep a copy for your records. An example of how to the use of the IRS Data Retrieval tool on the FAFSA is below. Please note that IRS Data Retrieval is no longer available on the 2024-2025 FAFSA, and you will need to provide consent to transfer your federal tax information.

Filing Your FAFSA

IRS Data Retrieval Tool