To verify your FAFSA, the financial aid office will take a look at the information you provided on the FAFSA with a copy of your and your parent(s) IRS tax return transcript from two years prior. Meaning if you filled out the FAFSA for the 2023-24 school year, the financial aid office will look at the information on the FAFSA using the 2021 tax return transcript.

If there are any discrepancies from the FAFSA and the transcript the financial aid office will make the corrections to be sure that your earn the correct amount of federal aid. If additional information is needed, the financial aid office will reach out to you via email.

The financial aid office will email you requesting, at minimum, these documents:

• A copy of your and your parent(s) prior prior year federal tax return transcript.
• If you are an independent student we will only need your tax return transcript.
• A completed copy of either the Dependent or Independent verification form located in the Financial Aid Office.

You and your parent(s) have 30 days upon receiving notification by email that you were selected for verification to turn in all the documents to insure earning financial aid at Mission U.  Verifications will be completed in date order of which they were received. This process can take up to two weeks. Once the verification process is complete you will then earn your financial aid from the college.

You will not be eligible to receive any financial aid offered to you until the verification process has been conducted. Contact the office of student financial aid at 417-268-6045 if you have any questions about completing the verification worksheet or about what documents are needed from you and/or your parent(s).

Using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool

Every FAFSA is subject to be randomly selected for verification, you can reduce the chances of being selected by transferring your tax information directly to the FAFSA by using the Data Retrieval Tool either during the time you are filling out the FAFSA or logging back in and making corrections. Doing so will make the process of filling out the FAFSA faster and could reduce the amount of additional paperwork requested from you and/or your parents.