FAFSA Verification

ktupper Author

02/21/2022 Added

5 Plays

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Learn about the verification process and how to support students and families.

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[00:00:00.080]This session is about how to help your students
[00:00:03.010]understand the steps and the requirements
[00:00:05.320]if they're selected for verification.
[00:00:07.700]Can oftentimes bring about a lot of anxiety,
[00:00:10.940]and so we're here to help.
[00:00:12.420]And then on next Wednesday, on February 23rd,
[00:00:14.912]we're gonna walk through the requirements and features
[00:00:17.470]of the Nebraska Promise Award.
[00:00:18.910]So we hope that you'll be able to join us next Wednesday.
[00:00:21.752]All three of the sessions in our series are being recorded
[00:00:25.070]and we will share those out with you
[00:00:26.590]at the end of our time together at the end of the series.
[00:00:29.760]So now gives me great pleasure
[00:00:31.560]to introduce a really good friend and colleague,
[00:00:33.213]so today's presenter is Kristy Saunders,
[00:00:36.330]and she serves as the Assistant Director of Husker Hub.
[00:00:39.042]So Husker Hub is where students go to handle
[00:00:41.390]the business of being a Husker.
[00:00:43.291]Kristy leads a student services team
[00:00:47.440]that helps students with financial aid,
[00:00:49.312]scholarships, course registration, work study, grants,
[00:00:53.880]loans, and student accounts,
[00:00:55.848]plus they are very, very helpful
[00:00:58.320]as you will know from Kristy,
[00:00:59.390]and also they're just really, really nice people
[00:01:01.150]to work with.
[00:01:01.983]So please take advantage of Kristy and her team.
[00:01:04.240]She has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience
[00:01:06.970]in financial aid, new student orientation,
[00:01:09.202]and especially serving first generation students.
[00:01:11.980]She is an expert in all things financial aid,
[00:01:14.221]and we're pleased to have her today.
[00:01:15.860]So please help me welcome, Kristy Saunders, from Husker Hub.
[00:01:21.230]Thank you so much, Greg.
[00:01:22.280]Hi everyone.
[00:01:23.690]So thank you so much for taking time outta your day
[00:01:25.480]to talk about one of my passions, which is financial aid,
[00:01:28.580]which I know is not everyone's passion.
[00:01:30.690]So thank you for hearing me out
[00:01:33.730]on how wonderful this process can be,
[00:01:36.300]albeit pretty frustrating for students from time to time.
[00:01:39.570]So we have a relatively small group,
[00:01:41.220]so feel free to throw any questions you have
[00:01:43.539]into the chat feature,
[00:01:45.379]or you can hang on to them,
[00:01:47.190]and we'll chat about any of your questions
[00:01:49.330]at the end of our time.
[00:01:50.550]We should have plenty of time for questions
[00:01:52.070]where you can either unmute, raise your hand, what have you.
[00:01:54.837]But go ahead and use that chat
[00:01:57.220]and I will answer them at the end of the presentation.
[00:02:00.059]So like Greg very kindly said, my name is Kristy Saunders.
[00:02:03.900]I'm the Assistant Director of the Husker Hub.
[00:02:06.160]And so we are the one stop shop on campus,
[00:02:09.869]where basically students go to handle all the business side
[00:02:13.190]of being a Husker,
[00:02:14.023]so they can focus on academics
[00:02:15.755]and enjoying college when they leave our office.
[00:02:19.490]So basically, if students have questions
[00:02:21.117]regarding their class registration, transcripts, their bill,
[00:02:25.100]whether or not they're getting financial aid,
[00:02:27.130]scholarships, loans,
[00:02:28.920]they can come to us and we can take care of it all
[00:02:31.210]in one spot.
[00:02:32.910]So they could absolutely meet with us virtually
[00:02:36.040]through our virtual queue, in person,
[00:02:38.740]or of course, call us by phone or email,
[00:02:41.500]which I will give you all that information at the end here.
[00:02:45.400]So today we're gonna be talking about
[00:02:47.120]financial aid verification,
[00:02:48.787]as well as a bit about some FAFSA facts here.
[00:02:52.580]So for those of you who have been helping students
[00:02:54.688]for a while, or are relatively new to this,
[00:02:56.955]you probably have heard of something called
[00:02:59.190]the FAFSA Simplification Act.
[00:03:00.810]So this is something that has been talked about quite a bit
[00:03:04.410]these past year, almost two years now,
[00:03:07.667]where the goal of this act
[00:03:09.740]is actually to make the FAFSA shorter,
[00:03:11.877]much simpler to complete, and hopefully faster.
[00:03:15.280]And also they're hoping that
[00:03:16.780]it will make more students eligible
[00:03:18.530]for the Pell Grant, fingers crossed,
[00:03:20.560]by simplifying how they are calculating eligibility.
[00:03:24.740]The only downside of this is that
[00:03:27.390]it doesn't take effect right away.
[00:03:29.260]So we are looking forward to it,
[00:03:31.506]but it's not taking effect until July 1st, 2024.
[00:03:35.717]If you actually attended this session last year,
[00:03:39.530]I said it was July 1st, 2023, sneaky Congress,
[00:03:43.840]they switched it on us and they moved it ahead
[00:03:45.580]one more year.
[00:03:46.440]But the good news with this is that
[00:03:49.293]there is a light at the end of the tunnel
[00:03:50.990]for students that are struggling
[00:03:52.460]with getting through this process,
[00:03:53.910]that hopefully we will see it be simpler in the future.
[00:03:57.580]But for now I'm gonna go ahead and give you
[00:03:59.737]the rundown of how things currently work:
[00:04:03.340]So for your students for this age year coming up,
[00:04:05.848]as well as for the 2023/2024 age year.
[00:04:11.900]But once we hit fall 2024, spring 2025,
[00:04:15.800]we are hopeful things will be a little bit easier.
[00:04:20.640]So just to start off,
[00:04:21.980]I just wanna talk a bit about,
[00:04:22.940]what is financial aid verification.
[00:04:25.338]This is one of the most common questions that we get
[00:04:27.600]from campus partners,
[00:04:28.590]as well as just from students in general
[00:04:30.420]'cause it sounds really scary.
[00:04:32.310]Like what does that mean?
[00:04:33.660]So basically this is just a process of us verifying
[00:04:36.690]the information that's provided on students FAFSA.
[00:04:39.437]So you may have students say like,
[00:04:40.907]"Why did they need this stuff for me?
[00:04:42.517]"I already answered this.
[00:04:43.897]"I answered this on the application," and they are correct.
[00:04:48.140]But basically what we need to do is go through and double
[00:04:52.000]check all those answers to make sure that we are giving
[00:04:54.565]every penny of aid that student is eligible for.
[00:04:58.190]And this is basically the way that we can go about doing it.
[00:05:01.942]So verification ensures that a student's financial aid
[00:05:05.000]eligibility calculation is accurate.
[00:05:07.140]I will say that while it is possible that verification could
[00:05:10.580]actually make a student less eligible for financial aid,
[00:05:12.924]it is far more likely to make a student more eligible
[00:05:16.750]since we usually will find mistakes that the student did not
[00:05:20.850]realize they made.
[00:05:23.230]But also the problem with verification is that
[00:05:25.520]as you probably are aware,
[00:05:26.580]it can be frustrating and it can be a bit
[00:05:28.870]of a tedious process.
[00:05:30.235]So it's also very important that we are aware of these kind
[00:05:33.730]of hurdles and some of the blockades
[00:05:35.845]that students might face,
[00:05:37.170]so that way they get plenty of support for both them
[00:05:39.630]and their families to able to navigate this
[00:05:42.260]to avoid delays and get the aid they very much deserve.
[00:05:45.813]So we're gonna go through a little bit about what some of
[00:05:48.640]those comments hurdles are,
[00:05:51.262]what are some of the things that students more than likely
[00:05:53.700]will be needing to provide,
[00:05:56.120]as well as kind of reasons why this happens.
[00:05:58.510]Cause I know that's kind of one of the big question marks
[00:06:00.690]of like why is one student selected while another one
[00:06:03.150]is untouched for the entire time they're in school, right?
[00:06:07.070]So to start off,
[00:06:08.321]how does the student even know they've been selected
[00:06:10.750]for verification?
[00:06:11.800]And how can you know if you are helping them?
[00:06:14.773]So basically as you probably may have seen before,
[00:06:18.350]if you've ever completed a FAFSA,
[00:06:19.620]if you've helped students complete FAFSAs,
[00:06:22.460]when the student files,
[00:06:23.620]they will then receive something called
[00:06:25.090]a Student Aid Report.
[00:06:27.550]This is basically that email that they'll receive saying,
[00:06:30.367]"Hey, this is what you might be eligible for."
[00:06:33.250]Usually will say something like,
[00:06:34.377]"This is your expected family contribution.
[00:06:36.184]"You might be eligible for Pell Grant.
[00:06:37.987]"You might be eligible for a loan."
[00:06:40.820]So in that same document,
[00:06:43.010]when it gives you the expected family contribution,
[00:06:45.388]it may say, "EFC of a thousand."
[00:06:49.010]If there is an asterisk next to that EFC,
[00:06:52.530]that is what we like to say is unofficial.
[00:06:55.680]Meaning that they're saying we are. Like, right now saying
[00:06:58.490]that they have an EFC or expected family contribution
[00:07:01.380]of a thousand,
[00:07:02.550]but we can't guarantee that yet until you're verified.
[00:07:06.610]It will also then on that same document,
[00:07:08.680]have a comment at the bottom that says,
[00:07:10.437]"You have been selected for verification,
[00:07:12.175]"please contact your financial aid office."
[00:07:15.352]If just say they did not see this on the SAR
[00:07:17.945]or they didn't read it, which I was 18,
[00:07:21.440]I also did not read my SAR,
[00:07:23.553]then they also will be notified by us.
[00:07:26.210]So basically once we get the FAFSA,
[00:07:28.890]which if you were here last week,
[00:07:30.300]usually takes three to five days
[00:07:31.630]after it's successfully filed.
[00:07:32.826]We will populate it in our system and populate all their
[00:07:35.780]to-do list items that they may have for being verified.
[00:07:39.340]So they can see it in their MyRED as well as of course,
[00:07:42.700]their email.
[00:07:43.533]Once we say like, "Hey, we got your FAFSA,
[00:07:45.287]"but we need some stuff from you."
[00:07:47.560]So that's also the easiest way to be able to tell.
[00:07:52.270]So why are students selected for verification?
[00:07:55.070]So this is probably one of the most common questions we get,
[00:08:00.730]which is okay, I get that I need to do this, but why?
[00:08:04.250]So there's a number of reasons
[00:08:06.030]that could cause this to happen.
[00:08:08.180]The most common and more,
[00:08:11.360]the most likely thing that happened,
[00:08:14.030]so Department of Education does an analysis every year
[00:08:16.890]of all FAFSAs that come in and they have their own set
[00:08:19.840]of criteria, for likelihood of errors on FAFSAs.
[00:08:23.780]So basically based on their data,
[00:08:25.600]they can see certain criteria of our filers to say
[00:08:29.189]who's most likely to have errors in the FAFSA
[00:08:32.660]that could prevent them from getting all the aid
[00:08:34.400]they're eligible for?
[00:08:36.120]We unfortunately are not privy to those criteria,
[00:08:39.950]by design cause they do not want the financial aid folks
[00:08:43.430]to be able to counsel on those things.
[00:08:46.710]However, if it is in that first camp,
[00:08:50.430]the student did nothing wrong.
[00:08:52.310]And honestly, in any of these,
[00:08:53.980]the student did nothing wrong.
[00:08:55.900]But let them know that more than likely they just fell
[00:08:58.420]into that group and so they were selected
[00:09:00.220]by Department of Education just to make sure
[00:09:02.500]that they are, everything's correct
[00:09:04.260]and everything's in order.
[00:09:06.200]Some of the other less common reasons,
[00:09:08.210]but still can happen, would be conflicting information
[00:09:11.410]within the FAFSA.
[00:09:12.530]So basically us as verifiers,
[00:09:15.620]if we see that there's something in the FAFSA
[00:09:17.550]that doesn't seem to add up,
[00:09:19.820]we do have to go in and verify that information
[00:09:23.090]to make sure it's correct.
[00:09:25.010]So to give you an example,
[00:09:26.280]like one of the common ones we see, would be,
[00:09:28.350]let's just say you have two students that are siblings
[00:09:30.470]that are both attending the same school.
[00:09:32.303]And let's say brother said parents may $60,000
[00:09:36.030]two years ago, sister said parents made $50,000,
[00:09:38.973]two years ago.
[00:09:40.800]Same set of parents, same year,
[00:09:43.400]they should have matching information.
[00:09:45.880]So because of that,
[00:09:46.860]we'd have to go in and select them and see which FAFSA's
[00:09:49.370]correct if either of them, but which one's correct,
[00:09:52.100]so we can make sure they're both getting
[00:09:53.920]the aid they deserve.
[00:09:55.890]Probably the least likely,
[00:09:57.510]but still can happen is signs of fraud or stolen identity.
[00:10:01.590]This sounds really scary,
[00:10:03.840]but this is actually to benefit the student.
[00:10:05.920]So it's not us trying to find a student that's trying
[00:10:08.610]to fraud,
[00:10:09.530]it's us to make sure that the person who's receiving the aid
[00:10:12.450]is the person who deserves it.
[00:10:16.610]So unfortunately there have been some times
[00:10:18.540]in the past where someone has fraudulently filed a FAFSA
[00:10:21.650]and stolen someone's Pell Grant or other aid.
[00:10:24.020]So if there's any sort of sign that maybe a student is not
[00:10:26.740]who they say they are,
[00:10:27.960]we will always go through and make sure that we verify
[00:10:29.980]that identity, so that way, when that student does go
[00:10:32.270]to college, they're not gonna have things taken out
[00:10:34.910]under their name.
[00:10:37.120]And finally, if the student requests for us to verify them,
[00:10:40.640]or if there's signs of mistake that we find.
[00:10:43.254]So basically if we see something that's kind of phishing
[00:10:45.910]at a FAFSA that we will talk to the student and say,
[00:10:48.387]"Hey, we think we should select you for verification
[00:10:51.577]"because we think there's a mistake in here
[00:10:53.037]"that's preventing you from getting everything you deserve."
[00:10:55.850]Once again, the most common one being, parent and student,
[00:11:00.390]when filling out the FAFSA, put the same income information
[00:11:04.040]for both.
[00:11:04.873]So if I ever see that a parent made $42,000
[00:11:08.070]and then a student also made $42,000, it could happen,
[00:11:13.700]but more than likely when they were filling it out,
[00:11:16.090]they accidentally just put the information in twice.
[00:11:19.080]So basically in those sorts of situations,
[00:11:21.360]we will chat with the student and give them the option,
[00:11:23.810]but we strongly encourage it since that's doubling
[00:11:27.170]the income and that it's obviously not accurate
[00:11:30.440]for what their situation is.
[00:11:34.540]So your students selected,
[00:11:37.480]and now you're kind of at that point of,
[00:11:39.677]"Okay, I can't really say exactly why you were selected,
[00:11:42.953]"but I kind of understand some of the things
[00:11:44.537]"that might have happened.
[00:11:45.527]"Let's just try to get you through it."
[00:11:46.920]So I always tell students,
[00:11:49.010]prepare for verification before you're selected.
[00:11:52.140]When you're filing that FAFSA,
[00:11:54.302]just have the student even just be aware of where
[00:11:58.640]some of these common documents we may need are.
[00:12:01.350]So the most common thing we're gonna need access to
[00:12:04.530]are federal tax documents and wage information.
[00:12:07.813]So I, so if you have a dependent student,
[00:12:11.200]so it's, in other words,
[00:12:12.033]somebody who has to include their parents on the FAFSA,
[00:12:15.110]make sure that they have talked to their parents and say,
[00:12:17.547]"Do you know where your tax documents are
[00:12:19.237]"from two years ago?"
[00:12:20.687]"And do you as the student know where your W2
[00:12:23.697]"or tax document is from two years ago?"
[00:12:26.440]if you don't, that's totally fine.
[00:12:28.761]However, just know how to get access to it,
[00:12:31.430]whether it be going through your tax preparer
[00:12:33.730]or knowing how to request it through the IRS doc of website,
[00:12:37.470]which is actually pretty handy if you've never had
[00:12:40.090]to do that before.
[00:12:42.270]Also as just a plug for my favorite tool,
[00:12:45.820]and I did mention this last time,
[00:12:47.763]if the student and the parent has the ability to do
[00:12:50.554]the data retrieval tool through the FAFSA,
[00:12:53.124]then this will not be necessary.
[00:12:56.360]So the data retrieval tool basically links the IRS directly
[00:12:59.790]to their FAFSA and we can count that as their tax document.
[00:13:03.650]So even if they're selected for verification,
[00:13:05.780]we won't need to ask for this.
[00:13:07.670]So it saves them a step.
[00:13:09.350]So I strongly recommend it.
[00:13:11.250]There are a few times where they can't
[00:13:12.783]use the data retrieval tool.
[00:13:14.870]So if you have somebody who says they're ineligible,
[00:13:18.410]just let them know that more than likely,
[00:13:20.710]there's a couple different reasons why that might happen.
[00:13:23.120]One, they might have not filed taxes.
[00:13:24.763]If they didn't, then there would be nothing to retrieve.
[00:13:27.106]But some of the other common ones would be that
[00:13:30.010]if just say they had a change in marital status
[00:13:32.170]in the last two years,
[00:13:33.072]or if they amended their taxes.
[00:13:35.900]So if someone's ineligible while I love the tool,
[00:13:39.430]don't make them feel bad.
[00:13:40.480]They can still input the information,
[00:13:42.942]but just make sure they have the taxes handy.
[00:13:45.562]So access to social security card or citizenship documents.
[00:13:49.230]Once again,
[00:13:50.063]the student doesn't need to gather all these right away
[00:13:52.020]and have them, like, have them with them,
[00:13:54.310]but just know where they are.
[00:13:56.280]Too many students are like,
[00:13:57.440]"I don't even know if I have a social security card,
[00:13:59.817]"let alone know where it is."
[00:14:01.680]So just talk to parents and say,
[00:14:03.010]"Is it in a safety deposit box?
[00:14:04.807]"Do you have easy access to it if I need a copy of it?"
[00:14:08.530]And then also access to marriage license, divorce decrees,
[00:14:11.680]proof of common law marriage, if applicable,
[00:14:14.298]especially if the student themselves are the ones
[00:14:16.260]who got married or divorced for that matter.
[00:14:19.030]And like I've been saying throughout this whole thing,
[00:14:20.938]just begin conversations with parents or their spouse
[00:14:24.790]regarding the potential for needing documents
[00:14:27.730]or needing signatures.
[00:14:29.450]One of the things we see students run into a lot is
[00:14:31.610]if parents live outta state or even if they just live
[00:14:34.510]45 minutes away in Omaha, it can be hard to,
[00:14:38.450]to get like mom and dad pinned down to be able to
[00:14:41.090]sign a document.
[00:14:42.580]So have those conversations to say,
[00:14:44.577]"Hey, I'm probably gonna need you to sign some stuff.
[00:14:48.587]"What's the best way for me to do this?
[00:14:50.087]"Do you want me to email it to you?
[00:14:51.637]"Do you want me to drive home
[00:14:53.147]"and bring it to you on weekends?
[00:14:54.657]"What's the best way for you to make sure we get this
[00:14:57.247]"done in time?"
[00:14:58.820]It's worth noting that that most documents do not need
[00:15:01.650]what's called a wet signature,
[00:15:02.920]meaning the original document,
[00:15:04.813]but we will at least need them to actually physically sign
[00:15:08.700]something, so students can email something home,
[00:15:11.090]they could print it, sign it, scan it back.
[00:15:13.100]No issue.
[00:15:13.940]So if you have a student who's driving home to Kansas City
[00:15:16.890]to get something signed, tell them,
[00:15:18.109]just email it,(chuckling) unless they tell you otherwise.
[00:15:24.370]So verification timeline.
[00:15:26.160]So this is like beyond just of course,
[00:15:29.060]trying to get these documents,
[00:15:30.738]this is the part that can really trip students up
[00:15:33.450]if they don't start early.
[00:15:35.450]So like I stated last week,
[00:15:37.060]we do have a couple of priority deadlines that students
[00:15:39.500]must be aware of when it comes to financial aid.
[00:15:43.330]They must file their FAFSA by April 1st,
[00:15:46.470]and they must get all of their verification documents
[00:15:49.210]that we're requesting in by June 1st.
[00:15:51.490]So, if they do that, then this timeline is not a huge deal.
[00:15:57.220]They will be ready to go for fall,
[00:15:59.590]and while it's still frustrating, they're golden.
[00:16:04.810]If just say they do not meet that deadline,
[00:16:08.270]and it takes 'em a little bit longer,
[00:16:10.130]it's worth noting that even if just say,
[00:16:13.000]they get every document into us the same day,
[00:16:16.660]it can take two to three weeks for the verification process
[00:16:19.530]to actually occur.
[00:16:21.380]And so if they are waiting until really close to bill
[00:16:24.330]deadline, or even during the semester,
[00:16:26.960]this can delay when they get awarded,
[00:16:29.270]this can delay when they get the disbursement by a lot.
[00:16:33.110]So the reason being for this is that a lot of people
[00:16:36.580]don't realize that financial aid verification's actually
[00:16:39.220]a manual process.
[00:16:40.920]So it's an actual human being.
[00:16:42.550]that's going through the FAFSA and making corrections
[00:16:45.350]for the student based on the information they provide.
[00:16:48.590]So they will go through,
[00:16:50.490]make the corrections based on the information,
[00:16:53.396]send it off to department of education.
[00:16:56.180]They look it over,
[00:16:57.170]make sure there's nothing glaring wrong.
[00:16:59.160]Then they send it back to us,
[00:17:00.460]and then we look it over again to make sure that we still
[00:17:03.550]didn't miss anything,
[00:17:04.890]and that's when we can officially award them.
[00:17:07.520]So that two to three week timeline,
[00:17:10.290]there's a lot going on in there to make sure
[00:17:12.610]that that student is be being treated fairly
[00:17:15.140]and also being able to get the aid they deserve.
[00:17:17.960]So, if a student is wanting to make sure they have aid
[00:17:20.517]and time for their bill,
[00:17:21.970]the sooner they start this, the better.
[00:17:25.680]So with that in mind, since it is a manual process,
[00:17:28.801]it is possible that even if, just say, the student turns in
[00:17:33.200]all the documents that we ask for initially,
[00:17:35.410]that there may still be more information we may need.
[00:17:38.200]And the reason being that we,
[00:17:39.850]you have a verifier going through the file
[00:17:42.200]as they're making corrections and going through the FAFSA,
[00:17:45.440]they may find other conflicting information
[00:17:48.680]or else just need clarification on something
[00:17:51.310]that was provided to them.
[00:17:53.130]So I always tell students like,
[00:17:54.827]"Thank you so much for getting everything in.
[00:17:56.607]"You're a rock star for being able to get all this stuff
[00:17:59.107]"provided to us, keep watching your MyRED,
[00:18:01.747]"keep watching your email because it's very possible
[00:18:05.347]"we may need some clarification from you
[00:18:06.537]"and the faster you answer, the better.
[00:18:09.086]So it's very,
[00:18:11.570]so one of the most common ones I see just since I like to
[00:18:13.890]give examples would be,
[00:18:16.290]so let's just say the students said they didn't file taxes
[00:18:19.060]and, but they did earn income.
[00:18:20.420]So on the FAFSA said, "I earned eh, around $4,000,"
[00:18:23.620]which if you were here last week,
[00:18:25.310]you remember never estimate,
[00:18:26.780]this is why we say, never estimate,
[00:18:28.528]know exactly how much you earned.
[00:18:30.950]So say they earned, "Ah, earned around $4,000
[00:18:32.555]"and I didn't file taxes."
[00:18:34.710]So we asked for the W2, they gave it to us.
[00:18:37.523]And then we realized that from the W2,
[00:18:39.950]they actually earned over the threshold
[00:18:42.300]where they were required to file taxes that year.
[00:18:45.050]So then the checklist would be added saying,
[00:18:46.767]"Hey, we actually need a copy of your taxes."
[00:18:49.830]So that's kind of the process that can happen,
[00:18:52.020]where they may need to provide us with one extra thing.
[00:18:55.790]So this can be a frustrating process for families,
[00:18:58.190]cause sometimes they kind of feel like, they're like,
[00:19:00.117]"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
[00:19:01.820]And, "Why is it coming up now?" and "What's going on?"
[00:19:04.970]So having them understand that it is manual and that it's us
[00:19:08.120]going through, does help,
[00:19:10.100]so that way they understand that we are taking it one step
[00:19:12.280]at a time and that we are basically discovering things
[00:19:15.440]as we're going through the process.
[00:19:20.150]So some of the additional documentation might be needed
[00:19:23.800]that I wanted to highlight for you.
[00:19:25.510]Sometimes a student may not be selected for verification,
[00:19:27.636]but we might still need some documents in order to complete
[00:19:30.010]the process.
[00:19:31.150]So some of the most common things are basically anything
[00:19:33.760]that would switch a student's dependency status
[00:19:36.610]from dependent to independent.
[00:19:38.860]So for those of you who may not be aware,
[00:19:41.175]a dependent student for the sake of the FAFSA basically
[00:19:44.770]means they must include their parent information
[00:19:46.555]on that FAFSA, including income.
[00:19:49.200]Well, an independent student does not.
[00:19:50.780]So they just only include themselves,
[00:19:53.130]then a spouse if they have one.
[00:19:55.490]So when it comes to how we determine that there's some
[00:19:59.010]pretty baseline criteria,
[00:20:00.840]you have to either be over the age of 24,
[00:20:03.700]have a child of your own, child or dependent
[00:20:06.230]that you financially support,
[00:20:08.370]be a military veteran or be married at the time you file
[00:20:12.640]the FAFSA in order to be considered an independent student.
[00:20:16.320]So, if you are any of those things,
[00:20:18.430]then it automatically switches you to independent.
[00:20:21.960]Some of those may require documentations,
[00:20:24.020]such as proof of active duty military service
[00:20:26.330]beyond basic training or else proof of,
[00:20:30.510]of dependents, or of course, proof of marital status.
[00:20:35.950]There are some things that may make it
[00:20:37.480]so a student could be considered independent,
[00:20:39.810]even though they don't hit those four criteria.
[00:20:42.170]And ask those questions 45 through 57 the FAFSA,
[00:20:45.760]where it's going through a lot more of the serious
[00:20:49.310]subject matter, such as risk of homelessness,
[00:20:52.000]maybe it's not safe to talk to mom and dad,
[00:20:55.113]if they have guardians that are not their biological
[00:20:57.820]parents, that they've had legal guardianship of,
[00:21:01.510]of course also,
[00:21:02.500]if they have been in foster care past the age of 13,
[00:21:06.060]basically any of those circumstances,
[00:21:07.616]if they select yes to any of those,
[00:21:10.364]they will need to provide some sort of documentation
[00:21:13.110]at least for the first year they file the FAFSA,
[00:21:15.670]just so we can say to Department of Ed,
[00:21:17.450]this wasn't a mistake.
[00:21:18.640]They 100% meet this criteria.
[00:21:20.700]They're considered independent student.
[00:21:23.454]So it's worth they, if you have anyone who you know
[00:21:26.670]meets those,
[00:21:27.560]let them know, find that documentation now,
[00:21:29.840]cause they're gonna need it once they get that FAFSA.
[00:21:32.630]If just say, you have a student who is in a gray area
[00:21:35.520]with those and you're like, I don't know if this applies
[00:21:37.530]or not, there is actually a question on the FAFSA that says,
[00:21:40.903]can you supply information on your parents?
[00:21:44.320]Yes or no.
[00:21:45.290]If they say no,
[00:21:46.160]then they will be directed to come chat with us
[00:21:48.840]so we can actually help them determine
[00:21:50.462]if any of these circumstances apply.
[00:21:53.930]It is worth noting that if just say the student is not
[00:21:57.380]in contact with parents, but they could be,
[00:22:00.250]and it's a safe thing, they could be talking to them,
[00:22:02.150]but maybe they just don't want to,
[00:22:03.690]we unfortunately would still need to have the parent
[00:22:05.560]information.
[00:22:06.393]So in that case, we would then have,
[00:22:08.930]of course the documentation come out saying,
[00:22:10.711]now we need parents information.
[00:22:17.240]So finally I just wanted to kind of go over a little bit
[00:22:20.040]about when documents are returned
[00:22:22.000]and I'm sure if you've been helping students
[00:22:23.690]these last couple of months,
[00:22:24.569]you might have had a few students be like, "Man,
[00:22:26.657]"I've turned on this document like three times
[00:22:28.277]"and they just are not satisfied
[00:22:30.197]"and I don't know what they need from me."
[00:22:32.020]So it is very possible that a student can turn in a document
[00:22:34.960]to us and we might mark it as returned, give them an email
[00:22:37.690]explaining why it was returned and saying what we need
[00:22:40.190]from them to satisfy that.
[00:22:41.900]So this can be very frustrating,
[00:22:44.820]especially for parents and students
[00:22:47.243]that are first generation college students have never been
[00:22:49.470]through this before.
[00:22:50.610]A lot of this is very lingo heavy,
[00:22:52.440]and it's things that you don't necessarily usually talk
[00:22:55.180]about when you're filing information.
[00:22:57.890]Things like such as like how many people are in
[00:22:59.680]your household size,
[00:23:00.579]you would think would be a simple question,
[00:23:02.470]but for the sake of the FAFSA can really not be.
[00:23:04.840]It can be very complicated.
[00:23:06.880]So one,
[00:23:08.060]I always tell people to tell students you're not dumb
[00:23:10.710]for having this be returned.
[00:23:12.160]You are not, this is confusing
[00:23:14.630]and it's okay that it was returned.
[00:23:17.910]Just, we need to figure out what they need.
[00:23:21.570]Two is that when you come to us, ask questions.
[00:23:25.310]If possible, if they feel like they can do this,
[00:23:27.926]I always say,
[00:23:29.117]"Ask questions with your information at the center."
[00:23:32.137]So, what I mean by that is, give us the logic of why
[00:23:36.872]you filled it out the way that you did,
[00:23:39.360]because oftentimes you will know a lot more
[00:23:42.560]about your situation than we will.
[00:23:44.930]So if we hear the logic behind why you thought
[00:23:47.160]there was five in your household,
[00:23:48.700]we can then help you go down that path to figure out
[00:23:51.410]how to fix it and how to be correct
[00:23:54.040]in the eyes of the FAFSA.
[00:23:56.510]If just say they're like,
[00:23:57.547]"I have no idea why,
[00:23:58.807]"I really don't know why I filled it out
[00:24:00.467]"the way that I did,"
[00:24:01.300]which is also totally fine,
[00:24:02.790]then honestly, just come chat with us and say,
[00:24:05.127]"What was the issue here? Or what do you need from me?"
[00:24:08.230]And it's totally okay for that student to say,
[00:24:10.957]"I'm sorry, I still don't get it."
[00:24:13.220]We hear that every day.
[00:24:15.247]And we are happy to spend as much time as needed
[00:24:18.640]to make sure that they walk away feeling confident
[00:24:20.440]in filling out those documents
[00:24:21.960]in a way that they can understand.
[00:24:24.270]So I would say that the big thing here is
[00:24:26.560]just come talk with us.
[00:24:28.640]I know that sometimes students are worried about that
[00:24:30.633]cause they're like, "Oh man, they're gonna think I'm dumb
[00:24:33.127]"for not knowing how to do this."
[00:24:34.770]No, almost everyone on my staff are themselves
[00:24:37.970]first generation college students,
[00:24:39.560]and we're drawn to this work because of this.
[00:24:42.600]I tell people all the time that while they say
[00:24:45.850]it's not possible to fail a FAFSA, I failed my first FAFSA.
[00:24:49.350]I did the whole thing wrong, the whole thing wrong.
[00:24:53.274]And so I went through the most intense verification process.
[00:24:57.440]Every single document that you could possibly could need,
[00:24:59.610]I had to do.
[00:25:00.910]So I will say that I was drawn to this work because of that,
[00:25:04.680]because I'm like, okay, I remember how frustrated I was,
[00:25:07.670]how I felt like I didn't belong in school
[00:25:11.600]because I'm like, I haven't started class yet (chuckling).
[00:25:14.960]Already, like doing so poorly.
[00:25:17.220]So please have them come talk to us if they feel anything
[00:25:20.510]like that cause we know this process can be difficult.
[00:25:25.220]So with that in mind, I wanted to push
[00:25:27.420]Husker Hub Virtual Visits.
[00:25:29.410]I will say that we do have in person meetings,
[00:25:31.490]of course, phone call, of course email.
[00:25:33.720]But especially for you that are supporters of students,
[00:25:35.997]if they already have an NUID,
[00:25:38.250]so once they actually get admitted and they have an NUID,
[00:25:41.430]they actually can log in and meet with a specialist
[00:25:43.581]virtually.
[00:25:44.690]And the reason why I love this for y'all is that you can
[00:25:47.770]absolutely be in on that meeting if you wish.
[00:25:50.140]So if you wanna help a student ask questions
[00:25:53.040]or kind of interpret what we're asking,
[00:25:54.909]you can actually join the hub with them.
[00:25:57.970]We have that happen quite a bit with the advisors
[00:26:00.150]as well as school counselors
[00:26:01.670]so you can help them be that support,
[00:26:03.640]and sometimes students don't know what to ask.
[00:26:06.030]So if you wanted to do that,
[00:26:07.730]the student just has to log in with their NUID
[00:26:10.110]and password through Go.unl.edu/virtual-visits.
[00:26:14.210]So for some of your students,
[00:26:15.240]it may not happen until probably later the spring
[00:26:18.570]if they're seniors,
[00:26:19.770]but once they do have access, strongly recommend it.
[00:26:22.720]And they just get put into a Zoom queue
[00:26:24.380]and you can meet with a specialist anytime
[00:26:26.470]from 8:30 to 4:45 PM, Monday through Friday.
[00:26:30.820]We also do have times on Saturdays every once in a while,
[00:26:33.900]usually during our peak times.
[00:26:35.820]And if we do, we'll always have that on our website,
[00:26:38.760]so that way you can see like, Hey,
[00:26:40.060]they have Saturday hours today,
[00:26:41.330]get your mom on the phone and get in there right away.
[00:26:45.420]And so I'm gonna show our contact information
[00:26:47.850]and I'm gonna open it up for questions,
[00:26:49.310]cause I know that this is a lot of information, very fast.
[00:26:56.940]I see we have a couple of chats.
[00:27:06.540]So how soon as the FAFSA is completed by parents
[00:27:09.730]and student is the SAR or Student Aid Report available?
[00:27:13.231]It's usually then to students,
[00:27:16.130]it should be sent probably within 24 to 48 hours.
[00:27:20.210]It kind of depends on how quick Department of Education
[00:27:22.930]moves, but it's usually pretty quick.
[00:27:25.540]Or once they basically, they file it,
[00:27:27.870]Department of Ed says,
[00:27:28.717]"Oh, looks like, it looks pretty good,
[00:27:30.477]"we can have it go through,"
[00:27:31.900]then they should get the Student Aid Report.
[00:27:33.860]If they haven't. more than likely there's something wrong
[00:27:36.580]where either it wasn't signed or wasn't able to actually
[00:27:39.370]be processed fully.
[00:27:41.040]So they basically get the Student Aid Report
[00:27:43.640]once it is completely processed and able to be sent.
[00:27:46.970]So if you have anyone who says they didn't receive it
[00:27:49.560]and it didn't get the happy message, like "Yay, you did it,"
[00:27:52.190]then more than likely it's held up somewhere
[00:27:54.560]and we can look into that for them.
[00:27:56.860]And then for the four independent qualifiers,
[00:27:58.780]Kim, did you get those?
[00:28:00.080]Or I can list them again for you.
[00:28:02.190]So for the independent student,
[00:28:04.920]they have to be 24 years of age or older,
[00:28:07.550]be married at the time to file the FAFSA,
[00:28:10.643]have a dependent of their own
[00:28:12.640]that they do support financially at least 50%,
[00:28:15.403]and then be active duty military or military veteran.
[00:28:25.090]So what other questions do y'all have?
[00:28:35.050]Hi Kristy.
[00:28:36.050]This is Alex. Hi.
[00:28:36.939]I have one.
[00:28:37.772]Hi, thanks for all the information.
[00:28:38.990]It's great.
[00:28:39.823]Quick question for you all.
[00:28:41.748]I was just curious,
[00:28:44.830]how often does your office pull when FAFSAs are completed
[00:28:48.950]by students, how often do you pull them or update them?
[00:28:53.030]Is it on a daily occurrence? At the end of the week?
[00:28:55.240]What's that process look like?
[00:28:57.430]So it is usually daily.
[00:28:59.955]So we will get FAFSAs that come in and we will update them.
[00:29:04.560]So if just say a student files a ton of FAFSAs
[00:29:06.980]and has a bunch of updates, then we will,
[00:29:09.580]we will update them as we go.
[00:29:11.115]Not always over the weekend,
[00:29:12.700]so, but usually during the weekdays, we're good.
[00:29:15.200]So if you have someone who filed and still hasn't shown up
[00:29:18.030]after like five days, then more than likely,
[00:29:20.370]like I said before, it's probably hung up somewhere.
[00:29:23.470]We can actually see if, just say, a FAFSA is in limbo.
[00:29:26.470]Like we actually can look and see if it's held,
[00:29:29.410]we say in suspense,
[00:29:31.020]which sounds much more intense than it is,
[00:29:34.180]and we can let you know why it's not loading properly.
[00:29:37.070]So I just say,
[00:29:38.510]tell the student to call us and we can help them from there.
[00:29:42.355]Great. Thank you.
[00:29:43.691]Yeah.
[00:29:45.830]So are state wards considered independent?
[00:29:48.520]So yes, if a student is considered a ward of the state,
[00:29:51.630]then they are considered independent,
[00:29:53.460]but they will have to provide documentation that they were
[00:29:57.680]once considered a ward of the state.
[00:29:59.640]So with that in mind,
[00:30:01.771]I will say that usually we'll have, it's a pretty thick
[00:30:05.122]stack of documents, we really just need part of it,
[00:30:07.880]but they can just bring the whole thing in.
[00:30:09.750]If they don't have that, which oftentimes does happen,
[00:30:12.682]if they have access to their prior case worker,
[00:30:15.410]they should be able to get a copy of it,
[00:30:16.842]or they can also call the state and say,
[00:30:19.827]"Hey, I was considered a ward of the state.
[00:30:21.567]"I just needs some sort of documentation,"
[00:30:23.087]and they can direct them from there.
[00:30:32.380]Well, our team will stay on for a few more minutes,
[00:30:34.289]if any of you have any questions or additional questions.
[00:30:37.370]We just wanna thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:30:39.409]I wanna give you a couple of quick reminders
[00:30:41.780]about some dates that are coming up.
[00:30:43.280]Nebraska's gonna host our in-person admitted.

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