FAFSA Verification Information and Procedures

When a student files the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the U.S. Department of Education may require additional review by the school through a process called Verification. A comment will be included on the student’s FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) which the student can see. The Financial Aid Office will also receive notification from the U.S. Department of Education and will correspond with the student. The U.S. Department of Education does not select all students for verification

Ozarks Tech may also institutionally select the a student for verification to resolve potentially conflicting information in the student’s record.

The verification process requires the college to collect additional documents from the student and their family to verify information in their student record. If you are selected, you can find the required documents and instructions in MyOTC Student Forms.

Deadline to Complete Verification

The deadline to complete federally or institutionally initiated verification is the earlier of:

  1. 120 calendar days after the student’s last date of attendance for the academic year. The academic year begins with the Fall semester and ends with the Summer semester.
  2. The federal deadline established by the U.S. Department of Education
    • 2024-25 academic year: September 30, 2025
    • 2025-26 academic year: TBD (Estimated to be September 20, 2026)

Ozarks Tech must have sufficient time to process documents and make corrections to the student’s FAFSA before the September FAFSA correction deadline, if required. Documents submitted by the September document submission deadline will be reviewed, but may not be reviewed in time to meet the separate September FAFSA correction deadline.

It is the student’s responsibility to make sure the Financial Aid Office receives required documents by the appropriate deadline.