[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 34, Volume 3]

[Revised as of July 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 34CFR668.54]



[Page 463-464]

 

                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION

 

 CHAPTER VI--OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 

PART 668_STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS--Table of Contents

 

      Subpart E_Verification of Student Aid Application Information

 

Sec. 668.54  Selection of applications for verification.



    (a) General requirements. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of 

this section, an institution shall require an applicant to verify 

application information as specified in this paragraph.

    (2)(i) An institution shall require each applicant whose application 

is selected for verification on the basis of edits specified by the 

Secretary, to verify all of the applicable items specified in Sec. 

668.56, except that no institution is required to verify the 

applications of more than 30 percent of its total number of applicants 

for assistance under the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Direct Stafford/

Ford Loan, campus-based, and Federal Stafford Loan programs in an award 

year.

    (ii) An institution may only include those applicants selected for 

verification by the Secretary in its calculation of 30 percent of total 

applicants.

    (3) If an institution has reason to believe that any information on 

an application used to calculate an EFC is inaccurate, it shall require 

the applicant to verify the information that it has reason to believe is 

inaccurate.

    (4) If an applicant is selected to verify the information on his or 

her application under paragraph (a)(2) of this section, the institution 

shall require the applicant to verify the information as specified in 

Sec. 668.56 on each additional application he or she submits for that 

award year, except for information already verified under a previous 

application submitted for the applicable award year.

    (5) An institution or the Secretary may require an applicant to 

verify any data elements that the institution or the Secretary 

specifies.

    (b) Exclusions from verification. (1) An institution need not verify 

an application submitted for an award year if the applicant dies during 

the award year.

    (2) Unless the institution has reason to believe that the 

information reported by the applicant is incorrect, it need not verify 

applications of the following applicants:

    (i) An applicant who is--

    (A) A legal resident of and, in the case of a dependent student, 

whose parents are also legal residents of, the Commonwealth of the 

Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, or American Samoa; or

    (B) A citizen of and, in the case of a dependent student, whose 

parents are also citizens of, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the 

Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau.

    (ii) An applicant who is incarcerated at the time at which 

verification would occur.

    (iii) An applicant who is a dependent student, whose parents are 

residing in a country other than the United States and cannot be 

contacted by normal means of communication.

    (iv) An applicant who is an immigrant and who arrived in the United 

States during either calendar year of the award year.

    (v) An applicant whose parents' address is unknown and cannot be 

obtained by the applicant.

    (vi) An applicant who is a dependent student, both of whose parents 

are deceased or are physically or mentally incapacitated.

    (vii) An applicant who does not receive assistance for reasons other 

than his or her failure to verify the information on the application.

    (viii) An applicant who transfers to the institution, had previously 

completed the verification process at the institution from which he or 

she transferred, and applies for assistance on the same application used 

at the previous institution, if the current institution obtains a letter 

from the previous institution stating that it has verified the 

applicant's information, the transaction number of the verified 

application, and, if relevant, the provision



[[Page 464]]



used in Sec. 668.59 for not recalculating the applicant's EFC.

    (3) An institution need not require an applicant to document a 

spouse's information or provide a spouse's signature if--

    (i) The spouse is deceased;

    (ii) The spouse is mentally or physically incapacitated;

    (iii) The spouse is residing in a country other than the United 

States and cannot be contacted by normal means of communication; or

    (iv) The spouse cannot be located because his or her address is 

unknown and cannot be obtained by the applicant.



(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under Control Number 

1840-0570)



(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1091, 1094)



[56 FR 61337, Dec. 2, 1991, as amended at 59 FR 22067, Apr. 28, 1994; 59 

FR 61206, Nov. 29, 1994; 63 FR 40625, July 29, 1998]