MOCAN in Partnership with NCAN: FCAN Webinar: FAFSA Verification Update – Reducing “Melt” with a More Targeted Approach

Too many low-income students experience “verification melt”, according to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN).  Roughly half of Pell-eligible FAFSA applicants are flagged for verification, with 25% of them failing to complete the process.  For many of these students, it will stymy their college plans all together.

NCAN conducted a comprehensive review looking at the impact of FAFSA verification on Pell Grant awards.  Given the burdensome process for students and financial aid departments, is verification achieving its intended purpose of ensuring the integrity of expended funds while delivering aid to Pell-eligible students? NCAN will share important findings that can guide more effective approaches.  They will also share updates to the FSA verification targets as well as approaches to use when working with students who have been selected for FAFSA verification.

In this session you will learn:

• How the vast majority of students selected for verification see no change to their Pell award.
• How differentiating between auto-zero and non-auto-zero EFC applicants can improve approaches while reducing the burden of the verification process.
• Recent changes to the FSA verification target.
• Best practices to use when working with students selected for FAFSA verification.