Verification Melt Once students have enrolled, their journey to degree completion is far from a sure thing. For up to 51 percent of low-income students, they’ll face the daunting task of completing verification, the process by which their FAFSA information will be confirmed via submission and review of additional information and forms. 5 Of those selected for verification, 25 percent will give up on the financial aid process altogether, increasing their odds of dropping out due to finances. 5 To understand why verification proves to be such a formidable hurdle, one need only look at the same issues that cause summer melt to see how those without access to resources or support may fall victim to verification melt. A 2017 article from the Chronicle of Higher Education sums up the verification trap well: It’s really the story of a high school senior with no ties to his parents who waited four months for the IRS to send the tax form he requested a dozen times. It’s the teenage mother who had to dig up receipts for what she had spent on her child. It’s the father with no internet service who used a library computer to try to get an old form from a tax service, but couldn’t afford the $40 fee. It’s the football player who couldn’t enroll at a community college because his mother refused to give him a tax transcript. For the most vulnerable students, the line between enrolling and not enrolling, graduating and dropping out, is already thin. Verification difficulties push some people right over that line. 13 Because verification can take weeks to complete, it can result in a delay in awarding aid or even loss of first- come-first-serve aid. This has serious ramifications for many students who may be dependent on a timely award in order to enroll or remain enrolled for the upcoming term. If verification is not processed in time, students face the unfortunate choice to either proceed without aid and hope for the best, or leave school with the best intentions to return after their aid is sorted. It is disproportionately (90 percent) the poorest of students who are selected for verification, a process that seems destined to deter those who are the least equipped to handle the extra burden. 14 The burden is shared by colleges and universities, too, with 20 percent of financial aid administrators reporting that verification takes up more than half of their time. 15
Clearly, this is a problem in desperate need of a solution for both students and schools alike.
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