Verification
What is verification?
The U.S. Department of Education selects students to be reviewed in a process called verification. For students who are selected, it is necessary for the Financial Aid Office to collect documentation in order to confirm the accuracy of the information reported on the FAFSA. Documentation can include the verification worksheets provided by Financial Aid, students' tax return transcripts and W2s, parents' tax return transcripts and W2s, and spouses' tax transcripts and W2s.
What do I send?
If you have an outstanding item listed on your MyKU Student Homepage "To-Do List," Kutztown University’s Financial Services office is now using Student Forms, an online process, to complete your financial aid verification. This new, easy-to-use process will allow you to:
- Complete financial aid forms on your phone, tablet, or computer
- Securely upload documents from any device
- E-sign documents—both you and your parents'
- Manage your financial aid tasks online
- Receive automated reminders about outstanding tasks and next steps
There is a one-time account creation process for first-time users. You’ll be asked for some basic information when creating your account. This information is used to validate your identity so that your electronic signature can be used on future forms.
Follow the steps below to set up your account from any mobile device or computer:
Go to https://kutztown.studentforms.com.
- Click the ‘Create Account’ link.
- Enter/confirm your student information.
- Click the ‘Create Account’ button.
Once your account is created, any required tasks you need to complete will become available.
**If we already have tax documentation for you, you do not need to submit this information again. This will be uploaded to your portal on your behalf once you have created your account and completed the household form.
Please note: There is a current issue using Firefox, so we recommend using a different web browser.
How do I get my tax info?
There are two ways to submit tax information to the Financial Aid Office:
The best way to verify income is by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool that is part of FAFSA on the Web. By using this tool, you can transfer your federal tax information directly into the FAFSA.
If the student and/or parent has not already used this tool, go to FAFSA.gov, log in to the student's FAFSA record, select "Make FAFSA Corrections," and navigate to the Financial Information section of the form. From there, follow the instructions to determine if the student and/or parent is eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer last year's IRS income tax information into the student's FAFSA. It takes up to two weeks for IRS income information to be available for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool for electronic IRS tax return filers.
If the student and/or parent is unable or chooses not to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, submit an IRS tax return transcript(s).
To receive a copy of a tax return transcript .pdf or have it mailed, go to https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript. For the type of transcript, select "Return Transcript." For the tax year, select the year requested by the Financial Aid Office. The tax return transcript should be received in the mail within 5-10 business days from the date of request. It takes up to two weeks for the IRS income information to be available for electronic IRS tax return filers and up to eight weeks for paper tax return filers.
If you are not able to retrieve the transcript from the website, you will need to call the IRS at 1-800-908-9946. Make sure that you are requesting the "IRS tax return transcript" and not the "IRS tax account transcript." You will need your Social Security Number, date of birth, and the address on file with the IRS. (Normally this will be the address used when the IRS tax return was filed.) It takes up to two weeks for the IRS income information to be available for electronic IRS tax return filers and up to eight weeks for paper tax return filers.
For further assistance, you may need to visit a local IRS office. Click here to find the closest one to you.
How do I get my info to KU?
Information can be mailed, faxed to (610) 683-1380, or emailed to financialaid@kutztown.edu. If you are emailing information, please make sure to block out all social security numbers.
When sending parent info, please make sure to include student's name and ID on each document.