Financial Aid Verification

Verifying your FAFSA

The federal government randomly selects a number of FAFSAs to undergo the verification process. This is a quality assurance tool utilized by the Department of Education to ensure students are consistently awarded the correct types and the correct amounts of aid.

Deadlines

Be sure to remember these important deadlines for the FAFSA and verification!

November

30

Last day to turn in verification documents for Fall 2023 only loans
March

29

Last day to turn in verification documents for Fall 2023 Pell Grant
April

22

Last day to turn in verification documents for Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 loans
July

15

Last day to turn in verification documents for Summer 2024 loans

The verification process

If you are selected for verification, Missouri State University will compare the information from your FAFSA to the corresponding items from your tax return, and any errors on your FAFSA will be corrected by our office. If clarification is needed, you will be contacted through your MSU email account.

Your role in verification

You will be notified of what documents our office needs in order to complete your verification. Generally, the documents that will be requested are:

  • A copy of your and your parent(s) federal Tax Return or Transcript
  • Copies of all your and your parent(s) W-2’s, if you are a dependent student
  • If you did not file a tax return, a Verification of Non-Filing Letter from the IRS, unless you are a dependent student (your parents are listed on your FAFSA)
  • A completed copy of either the Dependent Verification Worksheet or the Independent Verification Worksheet

You and your parent(s) should submit these documents to our office as soon as you can upon receiving notification that you were selected for verification. The sooner we receive your verification documents the sooner we can complete your verification and award financial aid. You will not be eligible to receive any financial aid until the verification process has been completed.

Contact the office of student financial aid at 417-836-5262 if you have any questions.

Using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool

Every FAFSA is subject to verification, but the time it takes can be reduced by transferring your IRS data directly to your FAFSA. You may use the Data Retrieval Tool either during the initial application or during a correction. Doing so may also reduce the amount of paperwork requested from you or your parents.

IRS Data Retrieval Tool

2022-23, 2023-24, & 2024-23 deadlines for federal loans and grants
Description Turn in documents for federal loans by: Turn in documents for Pell Grant by:
Attended through Fall 2022 December 1, 2022 March 3, 2023
Attended through Spring 2023 May 4, 2023 September 1, 2023
Attended through Summer 2023 July 21, 2023 September 1, 2023
Attended through Fall 2023 November 30, 2023 March 29, 2024
Attended through Spring 2024 April 22, 2024 August 23, 2024
Attended through Summer 2024 July 15, 2024 August 23, 2024
Attended through Fall 2024 November 28, 2024 March 28, 2025
Attended through Spring 2025 April 24, 2025 August 22, 2025
Attended through Summer 2025 July 11, 2025 August 22, 2025

*Estimated to allow 2 weeks for processing. Date must be adjusted if the last day enrolled is prior to end of semester, such as in a withdrawal.