Students selected for verification must submit documentation for the process of verification in order for official financial aid eligibility to be determined. When a student is selected for verification, the student will be notified as follows:
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USDE will notify the student on their Student Aid Report (SAR). Students should go back into the FAFSA and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool if it is available and they have not done so already.
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The Financial Aid Office will notify the student of required documents by mail to the student’s permanent home address or by email to the student’s SRU email account. Slippery Rock University’s Financial Aid Office may contact students via email to give updates on required documents.
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Students can view their requirements and instructions on MySRU which provides 24-hour secure access to information regarding the status of their financial aid application and awards. Required documents should be mailed or faxed to:
Slippery Rock University
Financial Aid Office
1 Morrow Way
107 Maltby Center
Slippery Rock, PA 16057
Fax: 724-738-2922
Verification documents should be submitted as soon as possible. We recommend that they are submitted within two weeks of the initial request. This will ensure the Financial Aid Office has the amount of time necessary to review the information, make corrections if needed, and award aid. Failure to submit the required documentation (or submit it in a timely manner) will delay or eliminate the disbursement of federal funds (Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, Pell Grant, Federal Supplement Educational Opportunity Grants, Perkins Loans, and Federal Work Study).
Verification must be completed prior to the last day of enrollment; therefore, your documents should be submitted in full no later than three weeks prior to the end of the term. For Pell Grant eligibility ONLY, verification can be completed up to 120 days after the last day of enrollment.
SRU’s Financial Aid Office exercises its right to seek additional information whenever there is conflicting information in a student record. Conflicting information must be resolved before financial aid funds may be processed and/or disbursed. Failure to reach resolution within the enrollment period (which requires written documentation for the student’s financial aid file) eliminates aid eligibility. Like verification, resolution of conflicting information must be completed prior to the last day of enrollment; therefore, your documents should be submitted in full no later than three weeks prior to the end of the term. Otherwise, aid eligibility could be eliminated.
The Financial Aid Office will notify the student if there is a need for further documentation to satisfy conflicting information requirements via their SRU email address and at MySRU. The student and/or parent(s) should respond within two weeks of the date of the notification.
Slippery Rock University will submit the verified corrections to USDE electronically. This will ensure that corrections are made known to all parties and that the needs analysis will be updated accurately and according to federal standards.
If corrections/updates to the FAFSA result in a change to the expected family contribution (EFC) prior to the student receiving a Financial Aid Award Letter, the student’s initial award letter will reflect eligibility based on the valid EFC. If changes are made after the student has received a Financial Aid Award Letter and those changes affect financial aid, in addition to receiving an updated SAR, Slippery Rock University will notify the student by email to visit MySRU to review revised awards.
Verification and conflicting information requirements must be completed before financial aid will be disbursed. If financial aid has already been disbursed and the student is subsequently selected for verification, further disbursements will be placed on hold until verification is complete. Failure to submit the required documentation according to published deadlines will result in the cancellation of all federal aid. The University will return financial aid to the federal programs resulting in a balance due to the University.
Students who lose previously awarded and disbursed federal aid due to verification or updates to conflicting information must resolve their account balance. For information on payment arrangements, students should contact the Office of Student Accounts at 724-738-2088.
Slippery Rock’s Financial Aid Office will report any potential fraud or falsified information (on the part of the student, the parent, preparer of financial aid applications, or related parties) to USDE and all other related parties for immediate action. Anyone who suspects fraud or abuse may make a confidential report by contacting the Office of Inspector General at 1-800-MIS-USED (1-800-647-8733) or by email at oig.hotline@ed.gov.