statement of educational purpose

Cornell Financial Aid

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As part of Federal Student Aid, some students are selected for verification. This isn't an indication that anything is wrong with your application, it is just a requirement that selected students have for Federal Student Aid. The federal verification process can include verification of your identity and a requirement that you attest to your educational purpose. If you see this requirement on your  Cornell financial aid to do list  you must provide information to our office to confirm your eligibility for Federal Student Aid. This can be completed in person or through mailing a notarized form with a copy of the identification you presented to the notary to our office.

How to Complete the Requirement in Person:

Please visit the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment and bring an unexpired valid government-issued photo ID. We will provide you with a form to fill out at our front desk. A list of valid government-issued IDs can be found at the bottom of this page.

How to Complete the Requirement with a Notary:

If you are unable to come to our office in person, you may complete the Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose in the presence of a notary public and mail the original document to our office with a copy of your unexpired valid government-issued photo ID. Please use the address listed on the form below, and be sure to include a copy of the ID you presented to the notary. You may also drop off the document and ID copy at our office.

Select the proper form for your aid year:

• 2023-2024  Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose (with notary)
• 2022-2023  Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose (with notary)

If the notary statement appears on a separate page than the Statement of Educational Purpose, there must be a clear indication that the Statement of Educational Purpose was the document notarized.

If choosing to complete the document with a notary public, the notary public must be an approved U.S. Notary Public. We are unable to accept documents that are completed with the use of a foreign equivalent of a notary public. In these instances, students may be able to visit a U.S. embassy or consulate that is close to the student's or study abroad location to see if a U.S. notary service is available.

Information on Acceptable Identification:

A valid unexpired government-issued photo identification (photo ID) can include, but is not limited to, the following:

• U.S. Passport;
• Driver’s license;
• Non-driver’s identification card;
• Other state-issued ID;
• Permanent Resident Card or Resident Alien Card (I-551, can be photocopied for Title IV purposes);
• Certificate of Naturalization if it contains a recognizable photo (even though it does not have an expiration date);
• Inmate ID from a government facility (even if it does not have an expiration date); or
• State-issued voter ID (even if it does not have an expiration date).

If you have any questions about acceptable identification, or anything else about this requirement please contact our office and we will assist you.

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Identity verification and statement of educational purpose requirement.

Students may be required to verify their identity and confirm the Statement of Educational Purpose if:

• The Federal Department of Education FAFSA Processor has selected you, the student, to submit this documentation.

To obtain the necessary form, click here to download the  Identity and Statement of Educational Purpose   form.

You may complete this requirement in one of two ways. You may:

• Complete Section A :  Appear in person at the UM Office of Financial Aid or any other local college or university Office of Financial Aid and present your original, government-issued photo identification for verification and completion. DO NOT sign this form until you appear in person. If you opt to meet this requirement by completing Section A at another financial aid office, the completed questionnaire  and a copy of your government issued identification  should be mailed to our office at the address listed on the form, directly from that college or university.   OR
• Complete Section B:   You may appear in person to a  Notary Public  who will complete the Notary Certificate of Acknowledgement on your behalf witnessing your signature in Section B of the form. DO NOT complete Section B before visiting the Notary Public.  You should then  mail or drop off in person both the completed and notarized document and a copy of your government issued identification used to verify your identity  to the University of Michigan Office Of Financial Aid. A Notary can typically be found at a local bank, credit union, insurance agency, shipping store, or law office.

Remember:  You must provide both a copy of the government issued identification document and the completed form. Forms submitted without copies of the ID used to verify your identity will be returned as incomplete.

FAFSA Verification: What to Do if You're Selected

About 17% of FAFSA forms were selected for verification during the first three quarters of the 2021-2022 cycle.

FAFSA Verification: What to Do

Submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid isn't the final step families take to receive federal financial aid . In addition to providing information requested by their chosen school, some filers are asked to provide documentation through a verification process to confirm the accuracy of their FAFSA form.

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"It feels like a burden for people, which has probably been heightened with the coronavirus pandemic," says MorraLee Keller, senior director of strategic programming at the National College Attainment Network.

About 17% of FAFSA forms were selected for verification during the first three quarters of the 2021-2022 cycle, according to a 2021 NCAN/National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators report . The U.S. Department of Education set goals to decrease overall verification rates in recent years. From 2018-2019 to 2021-2022, for example, overall selection rates decreased by 10 percentage points.

Additionally, given the effects of COVID-19, the Education Department waived some verification requirements for schools – except verifications that focus on identity and fraud – for some of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 cycles. As of now, that waiver has not been extended to the 2023-2024 cycle.

Although the verification process is not complicated, it requires students or families to submit extra paperwork. Here are five tips that filers should keep in mind if they're selected for FAFSA verification, experts say.

1. Check Email Regularly After Filing

Verification is indicated by an asterisk next to a filer's expected family contribution on their Student Aid Report , or SAR, which is sent out after the FAFSA is submitted.

Colleges then notify students – either through their online portals, personal email addresses, university email or by mail – about additional documentation needed.

FAFSA filers are sometimes unaware they've been selected for verification, so it's important to regularly check those accounts, experts say.

If colleges find discrepancies between the actual tax documents that came in and what was on the FAFSA, they can make the corrections and update it, Keller says. "Then they can move on with processing the student's financial aid."

2. Don't Panic

If you're selected for verification, don't be alarmed.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Keller says. "The federal government has certain formulas that decide who they select and one of the formulas is random."

A higher percentage of low-income students are typically selected for verification. Pell-eligible, first-time filers made up about 46.5% of all FAFSA filers in the 2021-2022 award year, but were about 88.7% of those selected for verification, according to the NCAN/NASFAA report.

"The Department of Education focuses their verification efforts on grant recipients rather than loan-only or work-study recipients," says Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations at NASFAA. "Since the largest grant program is the federal Pell Grant program, which is generally awarded to families in lower income ranges, those students are more likely to be selected for verification."

3. Respond in a Timely Manner

Verification can delay a student's receipt of financial aid. That's why Elina Bascom, director of student financial services at La Sierra University in California, recommends filers respond to the verification notice within two weeks of receiving it.

"Some of the financial aid that may be available to them could be first-come, first-served," she says. "There is money that some schools receive that are limited. Once they are awarded, they are gone. And if you sit on this type of requirement, until your FAFSA is verified, you won't have an official financial aid offer."

4. Provide the Required Documentation

A FAFSA filer can be selected for different types of verification, including related to finances, identity or statement of educational purposes. Colleges may ask for tax return transcripts, among other documents. Some schools have their own form for students to fill out.

"If you have any questions or you are not sure what documents they are asking for, you definitely want to reach out to your school to get those details," McCarthy says.

5. Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool

The decrease in the number of students being selected for verification may be associated with increased use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool , which allows families to electronically transfer their federal tax information from the Internal Revenue Service directly onto the FAFSA form, Keller says.

"That information is going to be accurate. Nothing changed it," she says. "We always encourage families to use the data retrieval tool if they can, because that can help reduce their chances that they are selected for verification."

Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News  Paying for College center.

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