CFR > Title 34 - Education > SUBTITLE B—Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education > CHAPTER VI—OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (parts 600 to 694) > PART 668—STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS > SUBPART E—Verification of Student Aid Application Information (§668.51 to §668.61) > 668.54—Selection of applications for verification.

668.54—Selection of applications for verification.

(a) General requirements. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an institution shall require an applicant to verify application information as specified in this paragraph.
(2) (i) An institution shall require each applicant whose application is selected for verification on the basis of edits specified by the Secretary, to verify all of the applicable items specified in § 668.56, except that no institution is required to verify the applications of more than 30 percent of its total number of applicants for assistance under the Federal Pell Grant, ACG, National SMART Grant, Federal Direct Stafford/Ford Loan, campus-based, and Federal Stafford Loan programs in an award year.
(ii) An institution may only include those applicants selected for verification by the Secretary in its calculation of 30 percent of total applicants.
(3) If an institution has reason to believe that any information on an application used to calculate an EFC is inaccurate, it shall require the applicant to verify the information that it has reason to believe is inaccurate.
(4) If an applicant is selected to verify the information on his or her application under paragraph (a)(2) of this section, the institution shall require the applicant to verify the information as specified in § 668.56 on each additional application he or she submits for that award year, except for information already verified under a previous application submitted for the applicable award year.
(5) An institution or the Secretary may require an applicant to verify any data elements that the institution or the Secretary specifies.
(b) Exclusions from verification. (1) An institution need not verify an application submitted for an award year if the applicant dies during the award year.
(2) Unless the institution has reason to believe that the information reported by the applicant is incorrect, it need not verify applications of the following applicants:
(i) An applicant who is—
(A) A legal resident of and, in the case of a dependent student, whose parents are also legal residents of, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, or American Samoa; or
(B) A citizen of and, in the case of a dependent student, whose parents are also citizens of, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau.
(ii) An applicant who is incarcerated at the time at which verification would occur.
(iii) An applicant who is a dependent student, whose parents are residing in a country other than the United States and cannot be contacted by normal means of communication.
(iv) An applicant who is an immigrant and who arrived in the United States during either calendar year of the award year.
(v) An applicant whose parents' address is unknown and cannot be obtained by the applicant.
(vi) An applicant who is a dependent student, both of whose parents are deceased or are physically or mentally incapacitated.
(vii) An applicant who does not receive assistance for reasons other than his or her failure to verify the information on the application.
(viii) An applicant who transfers to the institution, had previously completed the verification process at the institution from which he or she transferred, and applies for assistance on the same application used at the previous institution, if the current institution obtains a letter from the previous institution stating that it has verified the applicant's information, the transaction number of the verified application, and, if relevant, the provision used in § 668.59 for not recalculating the applicant's EFC.
(3) An institution need not require an applicant to document a spouse's information or provide a spouse's signature if—
(i) The spouse is deceased;
(ii) The spouse is mentally or physically incapacitated;
(iii) The spouse is residing in a country other than the United States and cannot be contacted by normal means of communication; or
(iv) The spouse cannot be located because his or her address is unknown and cannot be obtained by the applicant.
(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under Control Number 1840-0570)

Code of Federal Regulations

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1091, 1094 )

Code of Federal Regulations

[56 FR 61337, Dec. 2, 1991, as amended at 59 FR 22067, Apr. 28, 1994; 59 FR 61206, Nov. 29, 1994; 63 FR 40625, July 29, 1998; 71 FR 64418, Nov. 1, 2006]

Code of Federal Regulations

Effective Date Note: At 75 FR 66954, Oct. 29, 2010, subpart E to part 668 was revised, effective July 1, 2012. For the convenience of the user, the revised text is set forth as follows: Subpart E—Verification and Updating of Student Aid Application Information § 668.54 Selection of an applicant's FAFSA information for verification. (a) General requirements. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an institution must require an applicant whose FAFSA information is selected for
Code of Federal Regulations 584
verification by the Secretary, to verify the information specified by the Secretary pursuant to § 668.56 . (2) If an institution has reason to believe that an applicant's FAFSA information is inaccurate, it must verify the accuracy of that information. (3) An institution may require an applicant to verify any FAFSA information that it specifies. (4) If an applicant is selected to verify FAFSA information under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the institution must require the applicant to verify the information as specified in § 668.56 if the applicant is selected for a subsequent verification of FAFSA information, except that the applicant is not required to provide documentation for the FAFSA information previously verified for the applicable award year to the extent that the FAFSA information previously verified remains unchanged. (b) Exclusions from verification. (1) An institution need not verify an applicant's FAFSA information if— (i) The applicant dies; (ii) The applicant does not receive assistance under the title IV, HEA programs for reasons other than failure to verify FAFSA information; (iii) The applicant is eligible to receive only unsubsidized student financial assistance; or (iv) The applicant who transfers to the institution, had previously completed verification at the institution from which he or she transferred, and applies for assistance based on the same FAFSA information used at the previous institution, if the current institution obtains a letter from the previous institution— (A) Stating that it has verified the applicant's information; and (B) Providing the transaction number of the applicable valid ISIR. (2) Unless the institution has reason to believe that the information reported by a dependent student is incorrect, it need not verify the applicant's parents' FAFSA information if— (i) The parents are residing in a country other than the United States and cannot be contacted by normal means of communication; (ii) The parents cannot be located because their contact information is unknown and cannot be obtained by the applicant; or (iii) Both of the applicant's parents are mentally incapacitated. (3) Unless the institution has reason to believe that the information reported by an independent student is incorrect, it need not verify the applicant's spouse's information if— (i) The spouse is deceased; (ii) The spouse is mentally incapacitated; (iii) The spouse is residing in a country other than the United States and cannot be contacted by normal means of communication; or (iv) The spouse cannot be located because his or her contact information is unknown and cannot be obtained by the applicant. (Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1845-0041) (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1091, 1094 )