Verification Process

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Financial Aid Overview


Financial Aid Verification Process 

Verification is the process established by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to check the accuracy of a student’s financial aid application. This process requires applicants to provide documentation such as federal tax forms to the Office of Financial Aid. Our office then compares the data provided on the original application with the documentation and makes any necessary changes.

Our office is required to submit all changes resulting from verification to the Federal Student Aid Processor. These changes are a result of the documentation submitted for the verification process. The corrections may change your Expected Family Contribution (EFC)/Student Aid Index (SAI), which could affect the amount of aid for which you are eligible. When corrections are made, you, the student, will receive a new electronic Student Aid Report (SAR)/FAFSA Submissions Summary from the Department of Education. The revised SAR will highlight the data that was changed and state that the changes were made by your school.

Students only need to provide verification and tax documents upon request. You will be initially notified via email if you're selected for verification review.

Contact Info

Financial Aid

350 Spelman Lane, S.W., Atlanta, GA. 30314
Packard Hall, 1st floor

404-270-5222
financialaid@spelman.edu

Mon. - Fri. | 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

2025-2026 Verification Process

To simplify and streamline the verification process, the DOE has implemented a “Prior-Prior Year” (PPY) policy. With PPY, the income reported on the FAFSA will be from “two years prior” to the application year for the 2025-26 award year. That will be tax data from your 2023 Tax Return.

When filling out the FAFSA, applicants are required to approve the use of the online Future Act Direct Data Exchange (FA-DDX) to be considered eligible for federal aid. Parents, students (and spouses) must provide this consent even if they did not file a federal tax return. This greatly reduces the amount of manual data entry for applicants. Under certain conditions, however, data will not be transferred via FA-DDX. In addition to non-tax filers, applicants with foreign tax returns or foreign earned income exclusion amounts, and those who are no longer married to the spouse listed on the given year’s tax return, will need to enter income and tax data manually to submit the FAFSA.

By using earlier income data, families will have their completed tax information available by the time they are ready to apply for financial aid. This will make it easier to fill in application forms and increase the likelihood that families will be able to import their 2023 income directly from the IRS using the FA-DDX.

 

2024-25 Verification Process

To simplify and streamline the verification process, the DOE has implemented a “Prior-Prior Year” (PPY) policy. With PPY, the income reported on the FAFSA will be from “two years prior” to the application year for the 2024-25 award year. That will be tax data from your 2022 Tax Return.

When filling out the FAFSA, applicants are required to approve the use of the online Future Act Direct Data Exchange (FA-DDX) to be considered eligible for federal aid. Parents, students (and spouses) must provide this consent even if they did not file a federal tax return. This greatly reduces the amount of manual data entry for applicants. Under certain conditions, however, data will not be transferred via FA-DDX. In addition to non-tax filers, applicants with foreign tax returns or foreign earned income exclusion amounts, and those who are no longer married to the spouse listed on the given year’s tax return, will need to enter income and tax data manually to submit the FAFSA.

By using earlier income data, families will have their completed tax information available by the time they are ready to apply for financial aid. This will make it easier to fill in application forms and increase the likelihood that families will be able to import their 2022 income directly from the IRS using the FA-DDX.

If you are selected for verification, you will need to provide the specific documentation requested based on your dependency status. Financial aid offers are not final and will not be disbursed until the verification process is complete.

 Step 1: View Your Required Verification Documents

  1. Log in to mySpelman
  2. Select Secured Access Login
  3. Select Student Services & Financial Aid
  4. Select Financial Aid
  5. Select Financial Aid Dashboard
  6. Select "Aid Year" relative to requirements for submission

Step 2: Submit Required Documents

  1. Submit documents via etrieve portal

    Our office has implemented a secure portal for students and parents to upload required documentation (such as tax forms) to complete the federal aid process for the relative academic year.

  2. You must authenticate your account before you can login.
  3. Once you have an account, login to complete and upload the required documents.

Step 3: Finish the Verification Process

Important Priority Deadlines

There are priority deadlines in place to assure that your verification is processed in time to be considered for limited institutional funds and to finalize your aid package.

  • May 1 Verification deadline for Incoming First-Year/Transfer & Returning students

 

Required Verification Documents

Review detailed information on how to find, complete, and submit requested verification documents.

View Document Requirements

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