FAFSA Information & Verification Process

Award Year Information

The FAFSA, forms, and tax information required are YEAR SPECIFIC

Ensure that you complete the appropriate FAFSA for the award year you will be attending, and that you provide our office with the appropriate year’s information and forms.

For FAFSA and FAFSA Mobile App Information and Completion

Students can begin completing the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) January 1, 2024. The FAFSA will ask for income data from the 2022 tax year.

** For FSA ID creation/retrieval: fsaid.ed.gov

• An FSA ID is required to sign the online FAFSA.
• Both student and parent must have their own separate FSA ID

To receive maximum consideration for financial aid for 2425, the MSU Financial Aid Office must receive the FAFSA as soon as possible:

• Valid 2425 FAFSA (complete, accurate information, with all required signatures)
• AND any required supporting documentation

We guarantee that if we receive the 2425 FAFSA and all relevant documentation by this date, your student's financial aid will be processed BEFORE classes begin in August 2024.

If you indicated on your FAFSA that you are a veteran, we will verify your veteran status by asking you to provide our office with a copy of your DD214 (member 4) form.

Notification of FAFSA Process Completion

Students will receive an email message from the Department of Education (if email provided on FAFSA) notifying you that they have processed your FAFSA and send the results to your school. Go online and review the FAFSA information for accuracy and to be sure Mississippi State University is listed as a college to receive your results (002423 federal code).

Securely transfer tax data using IRS Data Retrieval Tool

The FAFSA will ask for income data from the needed tax year. When completing the FAFSA online, students and parents who have already filed their federal tax return for that required year, may be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer their tax information directly from the IRS into the FAFSA form. This allows for an easy, accurate, and secure transfer of your tax data which saves you time and ensures that your tax data is accurate. This decreases the chances of being asked to provide our office with additional IRS documents.

Complete Verification if Selected

You will be notified via email from the Department of Education and/or our MSU Financial Aid office if your FAFSA is selected for verification. Verification means that we are required to obtain documents from you and your parents (if applicable) to verify your FAFSA information before we proceed with the FAFSA review process.

You may need to turn in other documents to our office. To review what requirement/additional documentation is needed:

• Please log into your myState account
• Click the Banner tab
• Click the “Mybanner For Students”
• Click the “Eligibility Requirements”
• Select the “Award Year’ NEEDED

Providing Tax Information Options:

You will NOT be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on your FAFSA application if you filed as Married Filing Separately, Head of Household (while married), or amended your tax return.

Steps to provide tax information:

• Go to our Forms link Forms
• Scroll down to select the required year for Income Verification Requirements ONLY
• Click on the link relevant to you for the required year:
  • VSI – Dependent Student Income Verification
  • VISI – Independent Student Income Verification
  • VPI – Parent Income Verification
  • VSPI – Spouse Income Verification
• Answer “Yes” or “No” to question “Did you file an XX year tax return?” (ex. 2022)
• Tax filers select “Yes”

Amended Returns

If you amended your return, you would ALSO provide a signed copy of your XX year 1040-X Return.

• Non-Tax filers select “No”
• Click the link relevant to you, print out the form and complete it.
  • The Non-Tax Filer form may indicate that additional documentation may be needed. If so, choose the appropriate option to provide it with the form.

For other MSU Forms required – ensure that you select the appropriate year:

Scroll to bottom of Forms, click the needed School Year for a drop-down menu of undergraduate and graduate forms, and select the appropriate form to print out and complete. Other documents may be needed based on your response to certain questions on the FAFSA.

To provide MSU Financial Aid Office with Documents, Forms, and Tax Information

Go to: Forms and use one of the three ways listed (upload to Dawg Documents, mail to our office, or bring in person to our office).