Financial Aid Office

Verification

The Department of Education selects approximately 30% of students who complete the FAFSA for verification.  Verification is a process where the school confirms the data reported on the FAFSA is accurate.  Students selected for verification will receive notification from the Department of Education on their Student Aid Report (SAR), a letter or an email from our office, and the required documents will appear on the To Do List on WINS.

IRS Data Retrieval

Starting in 2012-2013, the types of documents a student is required to submit will vary depending on the information on the FAFSA.  If students and parents of dependent students utilize the IRS Data Retrieval tool while completing the FAFSA, this could reduce the number of documents required.  Beginning February 1, this tool transfers tax data directly from the IRS.  In general, if you filed your taxes electronically, the IRS Data Retrieval Tool will be available in approximately 2 weeks.  If you filed a paper tax return, it may take 6-8 weeks for the information to be available via the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

Here's how it works:

  • If you indicate the federal tax return has already been completed, an information box will ask if certain situations apply.  These situations are used to determine eligibility for the IRS Data Retrieval.
  • If you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval, you will be asked your PIN and you must click Link to IRS.
  • The IRS will ask a series of questions to verify you are the taxpayer.
  • Once you have verified your identity and the tax information is available, you must click Transfer Now for the data to populate the FAFSA.  If you make any changes to this data, the Financial Aid Office may require you submit a tax transcript.

If the IRS Data Retrieval is unavailable during the initial filing of the FAFSA, you can update this information at a later date.

Need Help Getting the Right Documents?

When the Financial Aid Office requests documents, it is important to submit these documents in a timely manner.  Any documents which are incomplete or illegible will be returned to the student.  If our office needs additional information after reviewing the documents, an email or letter will be sent to the student.

Verification Worksheets are available in our online forms section.

***Tax Return Transcripts*** Starting in 2012-2013, we must collect tax return transcripts for anyone selected for verification who did not use the IRS Data Retrieval or if the data from the IRS was updated after it was transferred.  We will be unable to accept a copy of the tax return in place of a tax transcript.  The IRS will provide a tax return transcript free for any tax filer.  You can order a transcript online or call 1-800-908-9946 between 7am and 7pm.  Be sure to order a Return Transcript because this is FREE.  If you request an actual copy of the tax return, this costs money.  You should have the tax transcript sent directly to you and then either mail or fax the transcript to the Financial Aid Office.  You should expect to receive your tax return transcript within 5-10 days of your request.

Contact your employer for copies of your W-2.  You only need to submit W-2s if they are requested.

If the Financial Aid Office requests verification of Food Stamps, submit the Food Stamps Worksheet along with documentation from the county which provides this assistance.  To retrieve a copy of your data online, you can log into your account through this website: https://access.wisconsin.gov/access/.