Verification
Federal regulation requires all higher learning institutions awarding federal financial aid to complete verification on a select number of their FAFSA applicants. The U.S. Department of Education and UNMC are responsible for selecting students to complete this process.
Students selected for verification must provide the supporting documentation listed on their MyRecords To Do List. The documentation will be compared to information submitted on the student's FAFSA. Corrections made to the FAFSA by the financial aid staff will be re-submitted to the Department of Education for re-processing/correction.
Only students notified of the request for verification documents are required to submit the documentation listed on the MyRecords Financial Aid To Do List. For the 2023-2024 FAFSAs, all income and tax documents submitted must be for the 2021 tax year.
Per federal regulation, the Office of Financial Aid cannot and will not accept 2022 income/tax information for the verification process. If received, documents from 2022 will be destroyed. The required 2021 income and tax documents will remain on your MyRecords To Do List until the correct documentation is received.
Verification Process
Notification of Verification/Before Submission
- The Office of Financial Aid loads FAFSA applications into the system every Monday. Once UNMC receives a student’s FAFSA, an electronic notification will be sent to the student through unmc.edu email on the Friday the FAFSA is received. The email will be archived in the student’s MyRecords Notices Sent box
- Within a week of receiving the FAFSA, if the student was selected for the federal verification process, the student will be sent a verification letter at their unmc.edu email address. Again, this letter is archived in the student’s MyRecords Notices sent box.
- The student will then be directed to their UNMC MyRecords To Do List for required verification documentation.
Before documents are submitted, please be sure:
- All information is legible, reviewed for completion and signed with ink. Electronic signatures will not be accepted.
- To include student’s name and UNMC ID at the top of every document (or where space allows).
- Federal tax documents and/or income statements are for 2021 for the 2023-2024 FAFSA.
- Both pages of the student verification worksheet have been completed to the best of the student and parents' knowledge and signed.
- Dependent worksheets are signed by both the student and the parent(s). Students cannot sign on behalf of the parent.
- Documentation of child support received/paid, SNAP and other items listed on the TO DO LIST are submitted to complete the verification process.
If the forms contain incomplete, missing or illegible information, the documents will be returned to the student for completion and/or legible documents via the student’s UNMC email with instructions on what needs to be done to correct/complete the documentation. Pictures or photographs of documents will not be accepted.
- Documentation is to be sent to the Office of Financial Aid. Once reviewed for completion, the MyRecords To Do List items will be removed. If incomplete documents are received, a personal email notice will be sent to the student’s unmc.edu email address to advise them of what needs to be done to complete/correct the documents. This email is NOT archived in the MyRecords Notifications Sent box.
- If the Financial Aid office needs to make corrections to the FAFSA, a new record is submitted to the Department of Education. Once the corrected record has been accepted, the student is sent a new Student Aid Report showing the corrections that were made. Please do not change any of the corrected fields on the new FAFSA/Student Aid Report (SAR).
Verification documents should be sent to the Office of Financial Aid in only one of the following ways:
- Mail:
Office of Financial Aid
984265 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-4265 - Fax:
(402)559-6796 - Deliver:
Room 2.0.020 Williams Science Hall - Scan and Email:
finaid@unmc.edu
- Check your MyRecords page to determine if documents have been received. If the documents have been received, it will no longer appear on your MyRecords To Do List. It may take up to three business days to review and receipt your documents in MyRecords.
- If an item remains on your To Do List for more than 10 days and you know it was submitted, please contact our office at finaid@unmc.edu to inquire why the documents remain on your To Do List. Often times faxes are not received as students/parents assume; mail is sometimes delayed or delivered to the incorrect address; many times students/parents send scanned documents in an email and forget to ‘attach’ the documents.
- If the documentation requirements are not complete, signed, or fail to include the student’s name/NU ID, the document will remain on the To Do List until the documentation requirements are satisfied.
Courtesy reminders will be sent to review your MyRecords To Do List until all financial aid requirements are satisfied. Check your UNMC student email or your MyRecords Notices Sent box for the most recent requests.
JULY 1:
- Fall term: Verification documents assigned to your MyRecords To Do List must be received in the Office of Financial Aid by JULY 1 to ensure consideration for campus-based loan and grant aid.
NOVEMBER 1:
- Spring term: To ensure your financial aid package is prepared/delivered in time for the January/Spring term start date, verification documents assigned to your MyRecords To Do List should be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid by NOVEMBER 1.
- Due to limited funding levels, campus-based loans and grant aid may not be available in Spring due to Fall term expenditures.
Documentation Requirements
Typical verification items requested for the Federal Verification process include: W2 forms; 2020 IRS Federal Tax Return Transcript, Student and/or Parent Verification Worksheets, child support documentation, and/or proof of citizenship/eligible non-citizenship.
U.S. Tax filers
Provide a copy of a 2021 Federal Tax Return Transcript.
Victims of IRS Tax-Related Identity Theft (2 step authentication)
Tax filers, who because of IRS Tax-Related Identity Theft, that are denied an IRS Tax Return Transcript, will be referred to the Identity Protection Specialized Unit at toll-free number at 800-908-4490 or to the identity theft section through the IRS. Tax filers can request for further instructions with the IRS. Additionally, the tax filer will need to provide a completed Verification of IRS Identity Theft Form.
Puerto Rico Tax Filers
Provide a copy of a Puerto Rico Federal 2021 Tax Return Transcript
Non-Tax Filers
If the student, spouse, and/or parent was not required to file taxes under federal regulations, provide:
- All W-2 forms, if there were earnings.
- In accordance with NEW federal regulations, non-tax filers must submit a letter from the IRS with proof of non-filing for 2021. You can submit a 4506-T form, to the IRS to receive an official letter. Please send the results to the Office of Financial Aid.
Citizenship and Eligible Non-Citizenship
If the Department of Homeland Security was unable to confirm U.S. Citizenship or Eligible Non-Citizen Status by the information provided in the FAFSA, proof of citizenship/eligible non-citizen status is required. Acceptable documentation:
- Certificate of Naturalization
- Certificate of Citizenship
- US Passport
- Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card
- Copy of US Birth Certificate
- If you are faxing, scanning or mailing your citizenship/eligible non-citizenship documentation to the UNMC Financial Aid Office, it must be notarized as a true copy of the original. Per federal regulations, un-notarized documents cannot be accepted by fax, scan, or mail. Stopping by the office to request a copy of the document be made, by a financial aid staff member, does not require notarization.
Student and/or Parent Verification Worksheets
You will be directed to these forms using the MyRecords To Do List.
Child Support
If it was indicated on the FAFSA that child support has been received or paid, supporting documentation of child support is required to be submitted.
Verification - FAQs
The Department of Education analyzes the submitted FAFSA data against a series of data edits. If the FAFSA data fails one or more of these edits, the FAFSA may be selected for federal verification. Additionally, in our review of FAFSA data, the Office of Financial Aid may find discrepancies in FAFSA data that require our office to select the FAFSA record for verification.
Students selected for federal verification are notified of required documentation to verify the FAFSA data. Until the verification process is complete, the student cannot be awarded federal, state, and institutional financial aid. Students have 60 days, from the time of notification, to submit the requested verification documents. The verification process cannot be waived.
The Office of Financial Aid will send an email to your UNMC email address. The email communication will provide you with guidance on how to access your verification requirements on your MyRecords To Do List.
If you did not file taxes for the prior-prior year, you will need to obtain an IRS Verification of Non-Filing letter. You may be requested to obtain a copy of your tax transcript. You can do so by filing this form with the IRS.
Walk-in
The financial aid office is located on the second floor of Williams Science Hall.
Email
Completed documents can be scanned and emailed to the Office of Financial Aid at finaid@unmc.edu. cell phone photos of documents are not acceptable.
Fax
You can fax completed documents to 402-559-6796
Mail
University of Nebraska Medical Center
984265 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-4265
No, parent verification documents must be completed and SIGNED by the parent. The form can be sent by mail or fax.
The Office of Financial Aid will extend the 60-day deadline if a student or parent has filed an extension or amendment with the government for documents that are being requested; for example, requesting an extension for filing taxes. Documents will still need to be filed to the Office of Financial Aid as soon as possible. A verification deadline extension is granted provided the student/parent notifies the Office of Financial Aid as quickly as possible after the initial notification of verification requirements is received.
You may electronically request your tax transcript through the IRS website. As such, it may take 5-10 business days to receive your transcript from the IRS, so please plan accordingly. If you are still having issues obtaining your tax transcript, we recommend contacting your local IRS office for assistance. Additionally, if you elected to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, a tax transcript may not be required for the Office of Financial Aid to obtain your tax transcript information.
