Verification is the process used to confirm that the data reported on your FAFSA form is accurate. If you are selected for verification, we are required to request additional documentation that supports the information you reported on your FAFSA.

 

How to Complete Verification

If you are required to complete verification, you will be notified through your university email account and directed to the Financial Aid Dashboard at my.sc.edu to learn what you must do. There you will be provided with a link to a Dynamic Form to complete the following information:

• If you are a dependent student, you will need to complete a Dependent Verification Form and may be required to provide federal tax information for you and your parent(s).
• If you are an independent student, you will need to complete an Independent Verification Form and may be required to provide federal tax information for you (and your spouse if you are married).

Make sure you read your email and follow all instructions exactly.  If you have questions, contact your Financial Aid Office for help.

 

How to Submit Federal Tax Information

For most students, your tax information will be collected when you complete your FAFSA. Beginning in 2024-25, all contributors (students, parents of dependent students, and spouses of married students) will be required to use the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange (FA-DDX) to transfer their tax information from the IRS to the FAFSA or to confirm their non-filing status. Tax information will not be visible to the student or their contributors on the FAFSA form, ensuring everyone’s privacy.

If you or a contributor were not able to use FA-DDX and manually entered tax information, you may be required to submit federal tax information to our office. If you are required to submit tax documents, you have a couple of options: 

• Submit a signed copy of the first two pages of your 1040 Federal Tax Return and all schedules.
• Submit a Tax Return Transcript directly from the IRS to our office. Click here to learn how to get your 2022 Federal Tax Return Transcript.

If you filed an amended tax return, be sure to submit a signed copy of your original 1040 along with your amended return (1040X). 

If you have filed an extension for your federal taxes, please contact your campus Financial Aid Office so that we can send you the appropriate form to complete verification. 

 

What is the Statement of Educational Purpose?

Some students who are selected for verification will be required to present their identification in person and complete a Statement of Educational Purpose Form in the presence of a witness. To verify their identity, students should appear in person to their Financial Aid Office and present a valid, unexpired, government issued photo ID such as a passport or Real ID or other state issued ID. Your school issued ID is not acceptable for this purpose. 

Students must also sign a Statement of Educational Purpose that certifies who they are and that the federal student aid they may receive will only be used for educational purposes and for the cost of attending school during the current academic year.  

A student who is unable to appear in person at the Financial Aid Office must have their statement notarized by an authorized notary public who will certify that the student appeared before them with a government-issued photo ID and is the person who signed the Statement of Educational Purpose. The student will then submit the original notarized statement along with a photocopy of their government issued ID. 

 

Other Required Documentation

After you submit your FAFSA, we may request other documentation in addition to verification. For example, you might be requested to provide the following:

• A copy of your Social Security card
• A copy of your marriage license
• Citizenship documents such as birth certificate or Alien Registration card.

If we require additional documentation, we will notify you through your USC email and the Financial Aid Dashboard at my.sc.edu. Make sure you read your email and follow all instructions exactly.  If you have questions, contact your Financial Aid Office for help.

 

What Happens Next?

Once you submit the requested verification documentation, your Financial Aid Office will compare the information you provided to that on your FAFSA. We are required to resolve any conflicting information so if we discover a mistake or if you have missing or incomplete documentation, we will notify you through your USC email and the Financial Aid Dashboard.

Once verification is complete, we can then determine your eligibility for financial aid. 

 

I Have Already Been Offered Financial Aid. What Happens After Verification?

If you are selected for verification after you have been offered financial aid, please understand that your financial aid may change based on the information you provide. Your eligibility for aid may also change if your documentation results in changes to your FAFSA. Until verification is complete, all future disbursements will be placed on hold until the process is complete. If you do not complete the verification process any aid disbursed must be cancelled which may result in a balance owed to the university.

 

April 1 Deadline and Packaging of Financial Aid

Our office begins packaging financial aid in early April. To prevent missing out on any limited funding sources, verification must be complete. This means your requirements on Self Service Carolina must be satisfied by April 1. If you do miss the deadline, be sure to satisfy your requirements as soon as possible. 

Occasionally, students are selected for verification after they have been packaged with financial aid. If this happens, your aid will be placed on hold until verification is done. 

 

Unusual Enrollment History

The U.S. Department of Education has established regulations to prevent fraud and abuse in the Federal Pell Grant Program by identifying students with unusual enrollment histories. Some students who have an unusual enrollment history (UEH) have legitimate reasons for their enrollment at multiple institutions. However, such an enrollment history requires our office to review your file to determine future federal financial aid eligibility. If selected by the Department of Education after you submit your FAFSA, this must be resolved before you will receive financial aid. 

Definition of Unusual Enrollment History

The specific pattern the Department of Education uses to select students includes those students who have received a Federal Pell Grant at multiple institutions during the past three academic years. Once the Department of Education indicates that a student has an unusual enrollment history, the Financial Aid Office must then take action to review the academic history prior to determining federal financial aid eligibility for that student. 

What Will Be Required of You?

If selected, you will be required to complete the Unusual Enrollment History Form.  We will check your financial aid history at your previous institutions that you attended during the previous three years. You are required to have received academic credit at any institution you received the Federal Pell grant while attending in those relevant academic years. You need to ensure that we have received all official transcripts for schools previously attended. These records were required at the time of admission and must be on file with the Registrar's /Records Office for your financial aid review. Our office will verify the academic credit was received at each institution during the relevant years. If so, we will notify you that you have satisfied this requirement. If you failed to receive academic credit at any institution where you received a Federal Pell Grant at during the relevant award years, your federal financial aid will be denied and you will be notified of the appeal process and/or how to regain eligibility.

If selected, you will be required to complete an Unusual Enrollment History Form and ensure that the university has receive all of the official transcripts for the schools you previously attended. Your transcripts were required when you were admitted and must be on file with the Registrar's/Records Office. 

To determine your eligibility for financial aid, the Financial Aid Office will review your completed Unusual Enrollment History Form and your financial aid history at your prior institutions. If you received a Federal Pell Grant then you must have received academic credit at your prior institution. If you did not earn academic credit during the relevant aid years, then your federal financial aid will be denied and you will be notified of the appeal process and how to regain eligibility. 

 

Conflicting Information

Students must be careful to submit only accurate information on all forms submitted to the Financial Aid Office. In the scenario that information submitted to the Financial Aid Office conflicts with other information received, additional documentation will be required. Financial Aid cannot be packaged or disbursed until conflicting information is resolved. Both the determination of information conflicting and the resolution of the conflicting information is determined by the Financial Aid Office in conjunction with US Department of Education regulations.

 

Other Verification Documents

You may be required to submit additional documentation during the verification process. The Federal Processor alerts students to issues on the first page of the Student Aid Report. A “C” placed next to the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) indicates issues that need to be resolved. 

You might be requested to provide the following:

• A copy of your Social Security card
• A copy of your marriage license
• Verification of high school completion

If we request the following documents, the student should appear in person and allow the school to review the original document. Scanned or faxed copies of these documents cannot be accepted. We will make a copy for your financial aid file. 

Citizenship papers

• Alien Registration Card
• Birth Certificate

Note: If verification becomes necessary after you are initially packaged or after your financial aid has disbursed, your previously offered aid may be placed on hold until your file once again becomes complete.  If you do not complete the verification process any aid disbursed must be cancelled which may result in a balance owed to the university.