Verification | Financial Aid Office | SIU

Verification is the process of confirming that information reported by you and your parents or spouse on the FAFSA is accurate. Random applicants are selected to verify information provided on the financial aid application by the FAFSA Processing System (FPS). You may also be selected by the University. 

If you are selected for verification, the Financial Aid Office will send you an Institutional Verification Form (IVF) that you and your parents or spouse must complete and return to our office along with any other documentation that may be requested. Students selected for verification must provide all requested documentation to be eligible to receive and maintain financial aid awards and payments.

U.S. income tax return information is part of the verification process.  You may complete the FAFSA income section using the IRS Future Act Direct Data Exchange (FA DDX), which is the preferred method of the SIU Financial Aid Office.  If you do not use the FA DDX, you must send a copy of the IRS Federal Tax Return Transcript.  Please include the student’s full name and Student ID number (Dawg Tag) on the copy.

Federal Tax Return Transcript(s) may be requested online at www.irs.gov. Click "Get a tax record> Click "Get Transcript by Mail or Get Transcript Online", and provide the requested information or you may call 800/908-9946 and follow the prompts to request a transcript. Make sure to request the Tax Return Transcript and not the Tax Account Transcript.  There is no cost, but there is a 7-15 day processing time.   

Once the required documentation is received, the Financial Aid Office will compare the submitted documents to the information initially provided on your FASFA. If there are any discrepancies with the information initially provided on the FAFSA, the Financial Aid Office will make the corrections and you will receive an updated FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS). Occasionally, the documentation that was provided does not provide all of the necessary information to complete the verification process. In these situations, you will be sent another letter outlining the additional documentation that is needed.  Students that are selected for verification, must provide the school the verification documents and a valid output document no later than 120 days after the last day of enrollment.  Once the verification process is complete, you will receive a financial aid offer letter notification informing you of your financial aid.

Financial Aid Forms