There are currently three options for verification of a student's financial aid application:
- Not selected for verification
- Selected by the government
- Selected by your institution
There is a situation not included by these three options. When a student is selected for verification but meets one of the exclusions for verification, a school is not required to verify the student's application.
For example, if a student is only eligible for unsubsidized federal aid, the school does not have to submit verification. (See "Verification Exclusions" in Chapter 4 of the Application and Verification Guide of the Federal Student Aid Handbook, https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2021-2022/application-and-verification-guide/ch4-verification-updates-and-corrections)
Currently, Populi blocks a student from being synced to COD if they have been selected for verification. The only way to clear this requirement in Populi is to either complete verification (a time-consuming and sometimes needless process) or to set the status to "Not Selected for Verification" (which is an inaccurate status). It would be very helpful if there was a fourth option: something like "Selected by the government but not required."
Even though verification may not be required for a student, the school still needs to track students who were selected by the government but were not required to submit verification. A fourth status would help us keep track of these students.
