Below are some common questions students and families have regarding the verification process. If you have additional questions or unique circumstances, please contact our office (UofL’s Student Financial Aid Office—SFAO) for assistance.
Please note the responses provided below are intended to be utilized by undergraduate, graduate, and law students.
Why was I selected for verification?
What happens during verification?
Do I have to complete verification?
How do I submit my form and additional documentation?
What if my parent(s) doesn't want to provide their information for verification?
Who do I include in the family size section?
My or my parents’ marital status has changed since filing the FAFSA. What do I turn in?
My financial situation has changed. Can I use more recent information?
Can I meet with someone to help me fill out the verification form?
Verification is completed. What can I expect?
I received an email saying my FAFSA was rejected. What do I do?
Why was I selected for verification?
- The U.S. Department of Education selects a portion of students who file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the verification process. In some cases, you may be selected by the University of Louisville when it appears there is conflicting information on your FAFSA.
- Verification is simply the process used to confirm the FAFSA data you reported is accurate. Don’t assume you’re being accused of doing anything wrong, and don’t worry—we’re here to help you through the process.
What happens during verification?
- We (the SFAO) will confirm certain household, tax, and income information reported on your FAFSA.
- In some cases, the SFAO will ask for income documents, tax returns/tax return transcripts, or send an additional form(s) to verify certain information that is not transferred from the IRS. Make sure to check your UofL email and ULink account regularly in case additional information is needed from you.
Do I have to complete verification?
- If you fail to complete the verification process, you will forgo your opportunity to be evaluated or receive certain types of financial aid. Even if you don’t plan on using federal financial aid, some state, institutional, and/or other aid programs require verification to be completed.
- If your FAFSA is selected, you must submit your verification forms and all required documents to the SFAO before your federal aid eligibility can be evaluated and/or disbursed to your student account with the Bursar’s Office.
- Please note UofL does not use KHEAA Verify. You must complete verification with our office even if you used KHEAA Verify or completed the verification process at another institution. Additionally, if you intend to enroll or transfer to another institution, you may still need to complete verification at your other school.
How do I submit my form and additional documentation?
The verification form and any additional required documentation can be submitted to UofL’s Student Financial Aid Office via the ULink Financial Aid Document Upload process or by mail, in person, or by fax. DO NOT email the verification form or additional required documentation. We cannot accept verification forms or additional required documentation by email.
What if my parent(s) doesn't want to provide their information for verification?
- If you were required to provided parental information on your FAFSA, unfortunately the verification process cannot be completed without your parent’s/parents’ information. By providing information to complete the verification process, your parent(s) is not automatically taking out a loan or required to cover any outstanding university charges. The information simply allows our office to complete verification, which is required to determine your eligibility for certain types of financial aid.
- For additional information regarding providing parental data on the FAFSA, please visit https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out#parent-info.
Who do I include in the family size section?
- Please refer to the information provided on the ‘Family Size Section’ on your verification form and/or the applicable interactive verification module to determine who should be included in the household.
- Please ensure:
- If you provided parental information on your FAFSA, the information provided on the verification form matches the information for the parent(s) you listed on the FAFSA. If a parent or stepparent is included on the verification form but not listed on the FAFSA, additional information may be requested.
- For all who are listed in the family size section on your verification form, ensure you include their name, age, and relationship to you (the student). Verification cannot be processed if any requested and required information is missing on the form.
My or my parents’ marital status has changed since filing the FAFSA. What do I turn in?
- In some cases, we may be able to consider this change as part of the verification process. Please indicate when and how your or your parent’s marital status has changed when you submit your verification form. From there, we will determine what other information is needed.
My financial situation has changed. Can I use more recent information?
- You will first need to complete the verification process based on the information required to be provided on your FAFSA.
- Once the verification process is completed, if there are unusual situations or circumstances (for example, if you’ve lost a job or otherwise experienced a drop in income) that impact your federal student aid eligibility, you may request a review of your account to gain a more accurate assessment of your family's ability to contribute to your cost of education.
- This action, known as a ‘Professional Judgement’, can be used to determine if adjustments to the data elements on the FAFSA that impact your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) would be beneficial to you.
- If you would like to request a ‘Professional Judgement’ evaluation be completed, please contact our office.
What if I can’t get my W-2?
- Please request a Wage and Income Transcript from the IRS. You can find instructions for requesting a Wage and Income Transcript here.
- If you are unable to obtain a Wage and Income Transcript, please contact our office.
Can I meet with someone to help me fill out the verification form?
- Absolutely! The Student Financial Aid Office provides walk-in counseling and call center service. Please click here for office hours.
Verification is completed. What can I expect?
- Verification is completed when the item (‘Verification Form’) no longer shows on your ULink ‘Tasks’ tile under your ‘To Do List’.
- The SFAO may have to send corrections to your FAFSA. If applicable, you should receive an email letting you know when such corrections are processed by the U.S. Department of Education.
- You will receive an email from our office when verification is completed. Make sure to check your ‘Tasks’ tile on ULink for any other items that may need to be completed.
I received an email saying my FAFSA was rejected. What do I do?
- After verification is processed, you and/or your parent (if applicable) may have to provide additional information on your FAFSA.
- You will need to log back into your FAFSA and answer questions pertaining to assets.
- Answers to asset question(s) must be provided, even if the answer is no or the amount is $0. Once these questions are answered, you will need to sign and resubmit the FAFSA. If any other information is changed on your FAFSA, it will delay the financial aid process.
Why am I being asked to submit additional information or documentation after I already turned in my forms?
Federal law requires the resolution of any potentially conflicting information before disbursing federal student aid (grants, loans, work-study). After we have received this information, we will contact you if anything additional is needed to complete the review process for your financial aid. Examples of information the Student Financial Aid Office may need to follow-up about includes, but is not limited to:
- Verifying which parent(s) should be reported on the FAFSA
- Determining if the correct tax filing status was used
- Determining the correct marital status (and family size, if applicable)
- Determining the correct amount of scholarship funds and grant aid included in the Adjusted Gross Income, as reported on the FAFSA.