I was selected for verification. What is it?
One-third of all students who apply for financial aid are chosen by the Dept. of Education Central Processor for an auditing process called "verification." It allows us to check the accuracy of the information our students are submitting on their FAFSAs. If you are chosen, there will be a comment on your Student Aid Report. We will notify you by mailing/e-mailing you a Verification Worksheet. You and your parents, if required, must complete the Verification Worksheet and submit signed copies of federal tax forms and W2 forms.

What do you do with the verification materials?
Our staff compares the Verification Worksheet and tax information to the information you provided on your FAFSA. If a discrepancy is found between the two, a correction is submitted to the Central Processor. Once the corrected information is received at LSC, we continue processing your financial aid application.

I've been chosen two years in a row. How come?
It could either be "luck of the draw" or your application is failing pre-set edits that the Central Processor has established. For instance, if the taxes paid that you reported on your FAFSA do not appear to be correct for your adjusted gross income and family size, an edit will fail. In either case, you must complete the process each year that you are chosen.

How long does the verification process take?
The initial process is usually completed within a few days of when you turn in the paperwork. However, if your information is incomplete or we have to follow-up with you regarding the information you provided, the process is slowed down considerably. The process also takes longer during late summer when we receive hundreds of verifications in a short time frame. If we find a discrepancy between the information provided for verification and what you originally provided on your FAFSA, we are required to make a correction with the Department of Education Central Processor. The corrected information is generally available to us in about 4 days of when it was submitted. We then continue processing your financial aid application. Depending on what happens with your information, it can take anywhere from 2 days to 2 or 3 weeks to complete the process.