Financial Aid

Verification

Verification Details

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) randomly selects students who complete the FAFSA for a process called “verification”. During verification, the school must confirm the data reported on the FAFSA is accurate. Students selected for verification will receive notification from ED when they receive their FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS), a letter or an email from the Financial Aid Office at UW-W, and the required documents will appear on the To Do List within WINS. The type of documents a student is required to submit will vary for each student. Check with the Financial Aid Office if you are not sure what documents to submit.

Documents can be submitted in the following ways:

Via email to UWWFAO@uww.edu*
Fax to (262) 472-5655
Drop off at Hyer Hall Room 130
Mail to:
UW-Whitewater
Financial Aid Office
800 West Main Street
Whitewater, WI 53190

Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions documents for additional details.

*We do not recommend submitting documents via email if those documents contain personal information (such as social security numbers).

Deadlines

We recommend submitting any requested verification materials within two weeks of receiving notification from our office. Failure to complete verification requirements by the deadlines may prevent you from receiving a financial aid award for that aid year.

For most financial aid programs, including Federal Direct Loans, verification documents must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the last day of the semester or your last day of attendance for that term, whichever is earlier, in order to receive aid.

For a Federal Pell Grant, verification documents must be submitted no later than 120 days after your last day of attendance or the final deadline for the academic year, whichever is earlier:

for 2024-2025, the final deadline is September 20, 2025.
the 2025-2026 final deadline will be published once released in the Federal Register.

Verifying Income Data – Tax Filers

If all FAFSA contributors filed federal tax returns and consented to using the IRS Direct Data Exchange, students selected for verification will need to send in fewer documents, and possibly no documents at all to verify their income data. If any FAFSA contributor manually entered their income data, they may be required to submit documents including, but not limited to, the following:

For the 2025-2026 academic year:

A signed copy of the 2023 federal income tax form (form 1040 and all schedules)
Copies of 2023 W-2s from all jobs worked in 2023
A copy of a 2023 tax return transcript*

For the 2024-2025 academic year:

A signed copy of the 2022 federal income tax form (form 1040 and all schedules)
Copies of 2022 W-2s from all jobs worked in 2022
A copy of a 2022 tax return transcript*

*There are three ways you can obtain a tax transcript:

BY MAIL	ONLINE	PAPER FORM
1. Go to the IRS, click "Get Your Tax Record.” 2. Click “Get Transcript by Mail.” Make sure to request the “Return Transcript” and NOT the “Account Transcript.” 3. The transcript is generally received within 10 business days from the IRS’s receipt of the online request. 4. Once you receive it from the IRS, you will need to send a copy to the UW-W Financial Aid Office.	1. Go to the IRS, click "Get Your Tax Record." 2. Click “Get Transcript Online.” Make sure to request the “Return Transcript” and NOT the “Account Transcript.” 3. To use the Get Transcript Online tool, the user must have (1) access to a valid email address, (2) a text-enabled mobile phone (pay-as-you-go plans cannot be used) in the user’s name, and (3) specific financial account numbers (such as a credit card number or an account number for a home mortgage or auto loan). 4. The transcript displays online upon successful completion of the IRS’s two-step authentication. 5. Once you receive it from the IRS, you will need to send a copy to the UW-W Financial Aid Office.	1. Obtain IRS Form 4506T-EZ or IRS Form 4506-T. from the IRS website. 2. Complete the form and mail or fax them to the IRS using contact information on the form. 3. The transcript is generally received within 10 business days from the IRS’s receipt of the paper request form. 4. Once you receive it from the IRS, you will need to send a copy to the UW-W Financial Aid Office.

BY MAIL

ONLINE

PAPER FORM

1. Go to the IRS, click "Get Your Tax Record.”

2. Click “Get Transcript by Mail.” Make sure to request the “Return Transcript” and NOT the “Account Transcript.”

3. The transcript is generally received within 10 business days from the IRS’s receipt of the online request.

4. Once you receive it from the IRS, you will need to send a copy to the UW-W Financial Aid Office.

1. Go to the IRS, click "Get Your Tax Record."

2. Click “Get Transcript Online.” Make sure to request the “Return Transcript” and NOT the “Account Transcript.”

3. To use the Get Transcript Online tool, the user must have (1) access to a valid email address, (2) a text-enabled mobile phone (pay-as-you-go plans cannot be used) in the user’s name, and (3) specific financial account numbers (such as a credit card number or an account number for a home mortgage or auto loan).

4. The transcript displays online upon successful completion of the IRS’s two-step authentication.

5. Once you receive it from the IRS, you will need to send a copy to the UW-W Financial Aid Office.

1. Obtain IRS Form 4506T-EZ or IRS Form 4506-T. from the IRS website.

2. Complete the form and mail or fax them to the IRS using contact information on the form.

3. The transcript is generally received within 10 business days from the IRS’s receipt of the paper request form.

4. Once you receive it from the IRS, you will need to send a copy to the UW-W Financial Aid Office.

Verifying Income Data – Non-Tax Filers

All FAFSA contributors who did not file federal tax returns will be required to verify their income earned from work. This is done by completing a Verification of Non-Filing Form (available at Financial Aid Forms) and by submitting copies of 2022 W-2s* from all jobs worked in 2022 (for the 2024-2025 academic year) and copies of 2023 W-2s* from all jobs worked in 2023 (for the 2025-2026 academic year).

*If you cannot find your W-2s, first contact your employer to obtain a copy. If the employer cannot provide a copy, obtain a copy from the IRS using Form 4506-T and requesting a Form W-2.

Verifying Household Size

If you manually entered your household size, you will be required to verify it by completing the Verification Worksheet available at Financial Aid Forms.

Statement of Identity and Educational Purpose

Students selected to sign a Statement of Identity and Educational Purpose must do so in person in the Financial Aid Office*. In addition, you must bring with you and present a valid government-issued photo identification, such as:

Driver’s license
Other state-issued ID
Military identification, or
Passport

You are welcome to visit our office in Room 130 of Hyer Hall during our regular lobby hours of Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

If you prefer to schedule an appointment with your Financial Aid Administrator, please contact us at 262-472-1130.

*If you are unable to appear in person, please contact your Financial Aid Administrator for information on how to complete this requirement remotely.

Amended Tax Returns

If you have submitted an amended return to the IRS, please send the Financial Aid Office a signed copy of the amended return (1040X form). If you did not file an amended return, but the Financial Aid Office requests a 1040X form, please submit a Record of Account Transcript from the IRS. These are requested when you utilize the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and the IRS flags the record as amended. You can obtain the Record of Account Transcript by using the Get Transcript Online process or submitting a 4506-T form to the IRS. The Record of Account indicates if the IRS amended a data field on your tax return.

Identity Theft

If you have been the victim of identity theft and you cannot obtain tax transcripts, you must provide the following documents:

A Tax Return DataBase View (TRDBV) transcript obtained from the IRS by contacting the IRS's Identity Protection Unit (IPSU) at 1-800-908-4490.
A signed and dated statement from the tax filer indicating they are a victim of tax-related identity theft and the IRS has been made aware of the situation.

W-2 Forms

If you did not save a copy of your W-2 form(s), you can contact your employer(s) for copies. You can also obtain a copy by submitting the 4506-T Form to the IRS. You only need to submit W-2s if they are requested.