Verification is the process used to check the accuracy of the information reported on the FAFSA. Typically about 20% of our applicants are selected by the US Department of Education to be verified.

For continuing students, verification must be completed before your financial aid can be applied to your student account. If verification is not completed by June 1, 2024 when we publish aid for the following academic year, you will only receive your merit scholarship. Once verification is complete, you will receive your full aid package based on the results of us verifying your FAFSA data. If verification is not complete by the end of the first semester of enrollment for the academic school year, all federal, state, and need-based Puget Sound aid will be canceled.

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. Your FAFSA Submission Summary will indicate if you have been selected.
  2. You will be prompted to complete a Verification Worksheet from Student Financial Services. The worksheet will tell you what documents you are required to submit.

Complete all pages of the Verification Worksheet closely following each section's instructions. If you filed a 2022 Tax Return, you must provide your 2022 IRS tax data using one of the following 3 options: the IRS Data Retrieval Tool through the FAFSA, a copy of your 2022 Income Tax Return and Schedules 1-3 signed and dated, or an IRS issued 2022 Tax Return Transcript obtained through the IRS "Get Transcript" website. Make sure you hand sign and date the last page and return the completed worksheet to Student Financial Services (sfs@pugetsound.edu). Please contact Student Financial Services (sfs@pugetsound.edu) for the correct form if you have not yet received it.

If the information on your FAFSA is different than the information on your 2022 Income Tax Return and Verification Worksheet, your financial aid award could be affected. You will be notified by email if a change in eligibility occurred as the result of the verification process.

For continuing students, verification must be completed before your financial aid can be applied to your student account. If verification is not completed by June 1, 2024 when we publish aid for the following academic year, you will only receive your merit scholarship. Once verification is complete, you will receive your full aid package based on the results of us verifying your FAFSA data. We recommend completing verification as soon as possible as many sources of financial aid have limited funding and you may not be able to receive aid you would otherwise be eligible for (such as work study.)

If verification is not completed by the end of the first semester of enrollment for the academic school year, all federal, state, and need-based Puget Sound aid will be canceled.