Help - Glossary
The following glossary listing contains definitions/descriptions of terms that are related to Federal student aid Title IV programs and/or acronyms..
The terms are listed according to alphabetical order. You can select the All link to view a listing of all of the glossary terms, or you may select the letter equal to the first letter of the term.
Glossary
Valid ISIR/SAR
Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) or Student Aid Report (SAR) having a calculated EFC, accurate and complete data, and no "C" codes. Also referred to as Valid Output Document.Variable Interest Rate
An interest rate that is recalculated on a periodic basis, usually based on the prime rate or the T-bill rate. For FSA loans, this rate changes yearly on July 1.Verification
The process a school follows to check the accuracy of the information reported by the student on the FAFSA. The information reported is compared against documents, such as signed federal tax forms and signed Verification Worksheets, the student provides to the school.Verification Status Code
A field through which a school reports to FSA the verification status of a student to whom the school disburses a Pell Grant. For 2005-2006, the Verification Status Codes are: W - Without Documentation, V - Verified, S - Selected not verified, Blank - Not selected or verified.Verification Tolerance
The acceptable dollar limit for small dollar-value errors that are detected when verifying a student's FAFSA data but that do not significantly affect the student's eligibility. The tolerance limit is $400 and applies to the net difference between the sum of applicant-reported (incorrect) AGI, plus untaxed income, less U.S. income tax paid; and the sum of the verified (correct) AGI, plus untaxed income, less the verified U.S. income tax paid. If the difference between the incorrect total and the verified total is $400 or less, and only dollarvalue errors are detected, the errors are within tolerance, and the student's EFC does not have to be recalculated.Verification Tracking Flag
A field on the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) that prioritizes applications according to their potential for significant errors. If a school limits the number of students it verifies to 30% of its total, the school can use the tracking flag to help determine the students it chooses to verify.Verification Worksheet
A form sent by a school to students who are selected for verification by the Department of Education's Central Processing System (CPS).Veteran
For FSA purposes, such as determining dependency status, a veteran is a former member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served on active duty (other than for training purposes) and was discharged other than dishonorably.Veterans Affairs (VA)
The federal agency responsible for administering and managing the education, health care and financial assistance benefits of U.S. veterans and their families. The CPS conducts a match of FAFSA data against this agency's database to confirm the student's veteran status.
