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Verification/Unusual Circumstances/Special Circumstances

The U.S. Department of Education mandates schools to use the verification process to check the accuracy and completeness of data provided on the selected applicant's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The verification process is meant to ensure that federal student financial aid is disbursed equitably and according to Federal law and program regulation. The U.S. Department of Education or the school selects applications for verification.

It is the student's responsibility to provide requested information so that the verification process can be completed by the school's published deadline. The school is unable to disburse federal student financial aid until the verification process is complete.

Failure to complete the verification process may result in a student not being eligible for federal aid and will need other means to resolve institutional charges incurred. Failure to demonstrate the ability to pay by published deadlines may result in the student being dropped from registered classes and/or a late penalty fee assessed.

Verification may include (but is not limited to) a review of the following data for a student, a student's spouse, or parents of a dependent student:

Important Note: If an applicant uses the FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer federal income tax return data to the FAFSA without changing the transferred data, the applicant is generally not required to verify that information.

In most instances, the Office of Financial Aid submits FAFSA corrections that it has determined to be inaccurate or incomplete, to the Central Processor (CPS). Occasionally the student will be asked to correct the FAFSA data by going to the FAFSA on the Web. If changes made to the FAFSA impact the student's Estimated Family Contribution (EFC), the new Student Aid Report sent by the CPS as a result of those changes will reflect the new EFC.

The Office of Financial Aid is responsible for checking all other eligibility criteria before packaging financial aid for the student. The Office of Financial Aid is also responsible for notifying the student of any changes made to an existing financial aid award package as a result of verification.

Savannah State University is required to notify the U.S. Office of Inspector General if it suspects that a student, employee or another individual has misreported information or altered documentation submitted in order for a student to fraudulently obtain federal funds.

The verification process takes 5 days during non-peak time, 15 days during peak time, to process once all documents are received. In cases where a correction had to be made, the timing of the process starts over when the correction results return. Therefore it is important that all documents are received early.

To submit documents for Verification, please visit the FAFSA Verification Portal.  Note: First time users will need to create an account.

Unusual Circumstances

An Unusual Circumstances Appeal allows you to request a dependency status change from dependent to independent due to unusual circumstances. The Office of Financial Aid shall review your case upon successful completion and submission of the Appeal F. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid for additional information or if you have questions.

Please review the following information BEFORE submitting an Unusual Circumstances appeal form to our office.

MYTH: I am independent because at least one of the following is true:

FACT: Dependency, according to federal financial aid law, is NOT determined by any of the above situations. For example, a student who is classified as independent for federal tax filing purposes may or may not also be classified as independent for financial aid filing purposes. In general, your answers to “Step Three” of the FAFSA determine whether or not you can file the FAFSA as an independent student (which means you do not include parent information on your FAFSA). If you answer “Yes” to any of the items in “Step Three,” then you are considered independent for financial aid purposes and can complete the FAFSA without parent information.

We do offer the option of a dependency override by appeal for students with extreme extenuating circumstances. A dependency override, IF APPROVED, will re-classify the student as independent due to extenuating circumstances, as validated by required documentation. There is no guarantee that an appeal will be approved, and this independent status does NOT automatically carry over from one academic year to the next. Please review the following appeal form for information required to receive a dependency override.

In rare instances, a student may have extenuating circumstances that are not identified when completing the FAFSA. The following form gives a student the ability to appeal dependency status for reasons other than being financially self-supporting. The federal government does not recognize the amount of a student’s income as a reason to consider the student independent. A PARENT’S CHOICE TO NOT PAY FOR A STUDENT’S EDUCATION IS NOT RECOGNIZED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS AN ALLOWABLE APPEAL. This appeal process gives the student the ability to state difficult circumstances that may permit a change of dependency status.  The student’s balance must be paid by the Fee Payment Deadline even if this request has not yet been completed/reviewed.

Please see additional information about dependency status at https://studentaid.gov/

The 2023-2024 Academic Year consists of Fall 2023, Spring 2024, and Summer 2024 semesters. 

To submit an appeal for Unusual Circumstances, please log onto your Student Forms portal.  Note: First time users will need to create an account.

Special Circumstances/EFC Appeal

Because certain situations and events can affect a family’s ability to pay for college, it is important that you make us aware of unusual financial circumstances that you believe are not reflected accurately on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Please understand that we have limits on what we can do, and submission of this form does not guarantee changes in aid eligibility, but we will look at your individual situation carefully.

This Professional Judgment Special Circumstances Appeal allows you to request a change in the input data in the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) calculation due to unusual circumstances. The Office of Financial Aid shall review your case upon successful completion and submission of the Web Form.

The results of this request for special financial circumstances consideration will be based on the individual circumstances outlined in the completion of this form. Please remember that submission of this form does not guarantee an adjustment to the student’s award. The student’s balance must be paid by the Fee Payment Deadline even if this request has not yet been completed/reviewed.

Please contact the Office of Financial Aid for additional information or if you have questions.

THE FOLLOWING MAY BE CONSIDERED SPECIAL FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES:

THE FOLLOWING ARE NOT CONSIDERED SPECIAL FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES:

Note: If you already have an EFC of zero (0) there is no need to complete this form.

Please be sure the student’s FAFSA has been completed and all required documentation submitted before completing a Special Circumstances Form.

The 2023-2024 Academic Year consists of Fall 2023, Spring 2024, and Summer 2024 semesters.

To submit an appeal for Special Circumstances/EFC Appeal, please log onto your Student Forms portal.  Note: First time users will need to create an account.