# Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid

**Source**: https://finaid.gatech.edu/award-process/verification
**Parent**: https://finaid.gatech.edu/

## Verification Process

Verification is the process established by the U.S. [Department of Education](https://www.ed.gov/) (ED) to check the accuracy of a student’s financial aid application. This process requires applicants to provide documentation such as federal tax forms to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA). Our office then compares the data provided on the original application with the documentation and makes any necessary changes.

Our office is required to submit all changes resulting from verification to the Federal Student Aid Processor. These changes are a result of the documentation submitted for the verification process. The corrections may change your Student Aid Index (SAI), which could affect the amount of aid for which you are eligible. When corrections are made, you, the student, will receive a new electronic FAFSA Submissions Summary from the Department of Education. The revised FAFSA Submissions Summary will highlight the data that was changed and state that the changes were made by your school.

**Students only need to provide verification and tax documents upon request. You will be initially notified via email if you're selected for verification review.**

## 2026-2027 Verification Process

To simplify and streamline the verification process, the Department of Education has implemented a “Prior-Prior Year” (PPY) policy. With PPY, the income reported on the FAFSA will be from “two years prior” to the application year for the 2026-27 award year. That will be tax data from your 2024 Tax Return.

When filling out the FAFSA, applicants are required to approve the use of the online Future Act Direct Data Exchange ([FA-DDX](https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/future-act-fact-sheet.pdf)) to be considered eligible for federal aid. Parents, students (and spouses) must provide this consent even if they did not file a federal tax return. This greatly reduces the amount of manual data entry for applicants. Under certain conditions, however, data will not be transferred via [FA-DDX](https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/future-act-fact-sheet.pdf). In addition to non-tax filers, applicants with foreign tax returns or foreign earned income exclusion amounts, and those who are no longer married to the spouse listed on the given year’s tax return, will need to enter income and tax data manually to submit the FAFSA.

By using earlier income data, families will have their completed tax information available by the time they are ready to apply for financial aid. This will make it easier to fill in application forms and increase the likelihood that families will be able to import their 2024 income directly from the IRS using the [FA-DDX](https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/future-act-fact-sheet.pdf).

## 2025-2026 Verification Process

To simplify and streamline the verification process, the Department of Education has implemented a “Prior-Prior Year” (PPY) policy. With PPY, the income reported on the FAFSA will be from “two years prior” to the application year for the 2025-26 award year. That will be tax data from your 2023 Tax Return.

When filling out the FAFSA, applicants are required to approve the use of the online Future Act Direct Data Exchange ([FA-DDX](https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/future-act-fact-sheet.pdf)) to be considered eligible for federal aid. Parents, students (and spouses) must provide this consent even if they did not file a federal tax return. This greatly reduces the amount of manual data entry for applicants. Under certain conditions, however, data will not be transferred via [FA-DDX](https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/future-act-fact-sheet.pdf). In addition to non-tax filers, applicants with foreign tax returns or foreign earned income exclusion amounts, and those who are no longer married to the spouse listed on the given year’s tax return, will need to enter income and tax data manually to submit the FAFSA.

By using earlier income data, families will have their completed tax information available by the time they are ready to apply for financial aid. This will make it easier to fill in application forms and increase the likelihood that families will be able to import their 2023 income directly from the IRS using the [FA-DDX](https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/future-act-fact-sheet.pdf).

## Selected for Verification?

If you are selected for verification, you will need to provide the specific documentation requested based on academic year and your dependency status. Financial aid offers are not final and will not be disbursed until the verification process is complete.

## Step 1: View Your Required Verification Documents

1. Log in to [OSCAR](https://oscar.gatech.edu/)
2. Select Secured Access Login
3. Select Student Services & Financial Aid
4. Select Financial Aid
5. Select Financial Aid Dashboard
6. Select "Aid Year" relative to requirements for submission

[Log into OSCAR](https://oscar.gatech.edu/)

## Step 2: Submit Required Documents

##### Option 1: Submit documents via portal

OSFA has implemented a secure portal for students and parents to upload required documentation (such as tax forms) to complete the federal aid process for the relative academic year. Find additional instructions on accessing the portal in [OSCAR](https://oscar.gatech.edu/) under **My Requirements and Eligibility**.

1. You must authenticate your account before you can login.
2. Once you have an account, login to upload required documents.

[Go to Portal](https://oscar.gatech.edu/)

##### Option 2: Submit documents via mail or fax

Georgia Institute of Technology\
Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid\
225 North Avenue\
Atlanta, GA 30332-0460\
Fax: 404.894.7412

## Step 3: Finish the Verification Process

Once all requested documents are received, we will review them accordingly. If discrepant information is found, corrections will be made and additional time will be needed for processing.

## Important Priority Deadlines

There are priority deadlines in place to assure that your verification is processed in time to be considered for limited institutional funds.

- **October 1** Free Application for Federal Student Aid
- **January 31** Verification deadline for Incoming First-Year Students
- **January 31** Verification deadline for all other Returning/Transfer students

### Consequences for Failing to Meet Verification Deadlines

If the priority deadline is missed, we will continue to perform verification of your financial aid application. However, there are consequences, which include:

- Institutional funds offered on an initial offer notification may be canceled.
- Federal funds (Pell Grant, Federal Work Study, Loans) offered on an initial offer letter will be canceled until all requested verification documentation is received, reviewed and the FAFSA determined to be valid.
- Students completing verification after the deadline may be able to receive the Federal funds listed above on a reimbursement basis, contingent on meeting all other eligibility requirements.

## Required Verification Documents

Review detailed information on how to find, complete, and submit requested verification documents.

[Document Requirements](https://finaid.gatech.edu/award-process/verification-documents)