Schools may need to update verification records soon or possibly risk having their students considered to be in an over-award situation.
A recent Electronic Announcement outlined several verification reminders for schools that should be reviewed to ensure compliance.
Beginning April 23, the Department started sending messages to schools with one or more 2024-25 student records that still have a verification status code of “W.”
As a reminder, the status code of “W” is used when a student was selected for verification by the FAFSA Processing System (FPS) or the school, the school chose to pay a first disbursement of Pell Grant funds without documentation (interim disbursement). The code must be updated once verification is complete.
The message serves as a warning that disbursements to all students with a verification status code of “W” will be considered overawards and reduced to zero, even though the disbursements were previously accepted in the COD System. On May 7, the affected disbursements will be reduced.
The warning message will be sent to the school’s SAIG mailbox. A file of 2024-25 records reported to COD with a verification status code of “W” in the Reconciliation Report will also be sent to the school. Schools need to review the report and submit applicable changes before May 7.
Questions about the warning message or reporting verification status codes to the COD System should be directed to the FSA Partner and School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978 or via email at CODSupport@ed.gov.
