The U.S. Department of Education has rules to prevent fraud and abuse in Federal Aid Programs by identifying students with "unusual enrollment histories". Unusual enrollment history is when a student enrolls at a school, receives federal student aid, fails to complete any classes and then goes to another school.

Some students with an unusual enrollment history have legitimate reasons for attending multiple schools. However, the enrollment history requires the Financial Aid Office to review your file to determine future Federal financial aid eligibility. If selected by the Department of Education, this must be resolved before you will receive financial aid.

A valid unexpired government-issued photo identification (photo ID) can include, but is not limited to, the following:

U.S. Passport;
Driver’s license;
Non-driver’s identification card;
Other state-issued ID;
Permanent Resident Card or Resident Alien Card (I-551, can be photocopied for Title IV purposes);
Certificate of Naturalization if it contains a recognizable photo, even though it does not have an expiration date;
Inmate ID from a government facility, even if it does not have an expiration date; or
State-issued voter ID, even if it does not have an expiration date.

The following documents are not acceptable for completing verification:

A government-issued photo ID from a foreign country not previously listed;
Military IDs, because there is a general prohibition on photocopying military IDs;
Student IDs, not even those issued by state schools; or
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program IDs (SNAP IDs) with or without a picture because they should not be photocopied.

The Department of Education does not require that an ID have a date. However, if there is a date, it must not be expired. If your ID is expired, you may use a different approved ID, or you will have to get your existing ID renewed.

If you cannot get to a Notary, you may make an appointment at a Herzing location to complete it with a Financial Aid advisor. If these two options can't work for you, contact your Financial Aid Advisor right away.

Notarizing the SEP means that you have completed the form in person before a Notary Public. A notary public is a person appointed by the state government to serve the public as an impartial witness in performing various official fraud-deterrent acts related to signing important documents.
By completing the document before a Notary Public, you are ensuring that your identity is confirmed.

Notaries can be found in a variety of places. The most common locations would be UPS stores, libraries, banks, AAA, or law firms. You can use this link to assist you in your search: https://www.nationalnotary.org/resources-for/public/find-a-notary

Online notaries are not allowed to be used. National leaders in financial aid administration have clarified with the Department of Education that they do not recognize online notaries as acceptable for this document.

The original needs to be mailed to the Herzing only if you use the notary option. If you can complete the SEP at a Herzing Campus, you will not need to use a notary and will not need to mail the original.

Please mail to:
Herzing University
ATTN: Financial Aid Department
275 W. Wisconsin Ave., Ste. 210
Milwaukee, WI 53203
Before mailing, we recommend scanning or taking a picture of both pages to upload to your Financial Aid Documents section. We also recommend mailing with a tracking number.

This type of verification is used for confirmation of a student's identity.

There are two ways of completing your Proof of Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose (SEP form).
The first option is to make an appointment at any Herzing location to complete the form in person.
The second option is to take the document to a notary. You will fill out the first full page in front of the Notary and they will complete the second page. If you use this option, you will need to mail the original to Herzing University at the address at the bottom of page 2.

If you have used the Data Retrieval Tool in the FAFSA, the Taxes are usually not needed. There are cases, however, where your Financial Aid Advisor may need to collect your taxes, and if they are needed, you will be notified.

Usually, you do not need your tax transcripts; we can use your 1040. If you use the 1040, please make sure that you attach Schedule 1, 2 or 3 if they were part of the return. Please keep in mind that your Financial Aid Advisor may request additional information if needed

The FAFSA uses what is called Prior/Prior year tax information. That means the taxes used for the FAFSA aren't from last year but the year before. For example, the 2023-2024 FAFSA uses the 2021 taxes, not the 2022 taxes. You will see this listed in the documents section of the portal.

The verification worksheet is a smart form located in your student financial aid portal in the documents section.

To Begin - Navigate to the document section of the student portal.
Click on "review and update" under the requested Verification Worksheet document.

Being selected for verification is very common, don't panic! Verification is a random selection by the Department of Education to spot-check information on the FAFSA and verify it for accuracy.
Not everyone is selected for verification, and not everyone has to verify the same items.

If you have been selected for verification, Herzing must obtain additional information to process your financial aid application. Please log into the Financial Aid Site using your individual Username and Password to view the required documents. The Financial Aid Site will list the status of your documents, including those needed for verification.

This document is requested when a student decides to opt out of receiving textbooks through Herzing.

You can only remove the textbooks at the beginning of the semester and before you validate your books in the bookstore.