Verification/Quality Assurance

In order to make the financial aid process the most effective and efficient possible, applications and information submitted to our office must be verified. This verification is a necessary part of the financial aid process. As a participant in the Quality Assurance Program for more than a dozen years, the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships determines verification criteria at Washington State University. This criterion is developed based on evaluation of error-prone areas on the FAFSA or other federally mandated factors. This tailored verification process has allowed the office to make many strides in eliminating confusing or difficult portions of the overall process for students and their families.

Information that may be required includes tax returns, documentation of family size, additional information about other sources of income, etc. Families are asked to submit any requested items as soon as possible after they are requested in order to facilitate the review process and the subsequent awarding of financial aid funds to students. Once all requested information has been received, a counselor will review the file to see if all of the information matches the FAFSA data.

• If the information does match (to the dollar for income figures and to the exact number for all other questions), the file is forwarded to the packaging process.
• If the data submitted is different from the FAFSA, the counselor submits a correction for the student to the federal processor electronically. The federal processor then recalculates the student's EFC based on the updated or corrected information and returns a new EFC figure to us within 5-7 working days. The student's file is then forwarded to the awarding process.

Some families may not need to submit any additional documentation, so students should check the on-line To Do List frequently to get the most updated information. For more information about what type of information our office may need, and the review process, we ask students to check their Financial Aid To Do List at myWSU.