I'm curious as to what triggers verification. I had 5 kids in college since 1996 with as many as 3 at once. I figured being down to one kid, i'd be done with verification... but no. I had to verify every yr.

How many people do they pick for verification and why do i always win this "lottery"? (Why can't i have this luck with megabucks :g:)

Hmmm....while I'm no expert, I was selected for verification this year and did a little research. It appears that if you have more than one person in college, you will almost always have to verify. They want to know where the others are attending and how many are in college at one time. The EFC is lower the more kids you have in college, so each kid gets more aid. In my case, I am returning to college to finish my BA and my son is starting college this fall as a freshman. I was selected for verification. Also, when he was born I was in college (weird, right?...it's taken me 17 years to go back!!) and I was selected for verification because I listed a large number for medical expenses. Hey....I had no insurance and had to pay 100% to have a baby!! YMMV. It's been relatively painless each time, but it is a bit unsettling to be chosen when others around you are not.

I used to think it was multiple dependents - i had to verify the yr my son started (only one in college then) and I've had to verify every yr since. But now i only have 1 dependent and they are still doing it.

The point isn't that it's relatively painless - so is a full body search at the airport - but that i've gotten "lucky" 13 yrs in a row (5 different schools). Certainly the colleges don't verify every single app - so why me, yr in and yr out? Why do they need to see my tax return when the IRS or fafsa verify the tax info when the IRS gets the return? (I know they do this because one yr i made a last minute change in an IRA contribution - I made the decision after i did the return and filled out fafsa but before i mailed the return. They updated my 2 kids fafsa within days of filing the tax form - i had planned on correcting fafsa the upcoming weekend.)

ETA: do you know how many families have 2 in college? That's a heck of a lot of manpower to verify every single fafsa for every student. If they go to two different schools, both schools will request tax forms.

Do you perhaps have a business with schedule C papers to file? That's what triggers our verification for our daughter. Twice so far and she's a sophomore.

You do have a point. Being selected for verification 13 time in a row is a bit of overkill. Have they ever changed the FAFSA because of the verification? While I was selected for verification this year, my son was not. I had to send the paperwork to my school, but his school has not requested it. I looked on his SAR, and he's not been flagged for verification at all. If there is as asterick beside your EFC at the top of the SAR, you've been flagged. My SAR has the asterick, his does not. Also, we file a schedule C every year because my husband is self-employed, and we itemize every year. I wonder if any of those things have any bearing.

I dunno Ive been selected for verification myself...

I have 1 dependent. and I think they wanna see that I can prove it lol..

I think its the IRS Gig,, if your filing single no dependents and a 1040 EZ chances are they are just gonna say yep send him his 100 dollars

But if you file HOH a dependent or 2 they are always gonna raise an eyebrow