Federal regulations allow financial aid officers to request verification of any data item reported on the FAFSA. During a review of the FAFSA application, we may request additional data items that are not required for federal verification. We may also request data items for students (and their parents) who were not selected by the federal government. We refer to this as institutional verification.
If you have been selected to verify certain items from your FAFSA, a message will be posted to your MYLMU account and the additional requirements posted as missing items. You must submit these items before we can complete a review of your aid application and provide you with your financial aid award. Below are common examples:
Independent Status Confirmation
LMU may require undergraduate students who indicate an independent status for a reason other than age on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to provide documentation to confirm their status.
LMU Financial Aid may post a requirement on the student's PROWL account requesting documentation. Examples of acceptable circumstances and documentation can be found here.
Students who receive this requirement may want to review their Student Aid Report (SAR) on the FAFSA website to ensure that all questions regarding dependency were answered correctly.
Conflicting Information
If there is conflicting information between the FAFSA and other documents, such as an appeal letter or forms, you have submitted to LMU Financial Aid in the current or a prior year, we may request additional requirements to resolve the conflict. For example:
- The same amount is reported for both parent and student Income or Assets
- The family reports parent marital status as married on the FAFSA but reports a federal tax filing status of head of household.
- A family reports Adjusted Gross Income and Wages that conflict with their report that they are eligible to file a 1040 EZ or 1040A.
- A family reports that they qualify for federal means-tested benefits but report significant assets.
- A family reports that they are a dislocated worker, but an appeal letter indicates parent quit their job.
Appeals
During the review of an appeal, we may request federal and institutional data items.