Financial Aid Verification Solution

The Vendor is required to provide a comprehensive Financial Aid Verification solution for the University.
- Financial Aid Solutions
• Provide workflow and management of FAFSA applications selected for federal verification
• Provide workflow and management of FAFSA applications selected by institution for verification
• Provide automated FAFSA comparison functionality that enables staff to identify changes and discrepancies in application data.
• Provide a secure platform that enables students and parents to upload, download, and review requested documents.
• Support secure upload of documents in common file formats, including documents, images/photos, and pdf files.
• Provide integrated document sharing functionality, including the ability for staff to upload and associate verification forms received in‑office with the appropriate student record.
• Provide online electronic forms (e-forms) for collection of verification details from dependent and independent students, including automated, rules-based logic to request required federal documentation.
• Provide automated email communication related to verification workflows and document requests.
• Provide secure electronic signature (e‑signature) capabilities for both students and parents.
• Provide administrative reporting that enables the financial aid office to monitor the status of the verification process and identify students missing required information, documentation, or signatures.
• Provide reporting capabilities to support institutional compliance, auditing, and regulatory review related to verification activities.
• Support data encryption and maintain IP address logging to support security monitoring and audit requirements.
- Financial Aid Compliance & Record Management
• The solution must support retention and retrieval of financial aid verification documents in compliance with applicable federal student aid (title IV), agency, and institutional records retention requirements.
• The solution must provide functionality to identify, manage, and resolve conflicting information as defined by the department, including the ability to track conflicts, request additional documentation, and document resolution in compliance with federal financial aid regulations.
• The solution must support automated compliance updates to address federal regulatory changes and institutional requirements. The vendor must demonstrate the ability to implement federal changes in a timely manner consistent with department mandates (e.g., within two (2) weeks where required), without requiring custom development or additional cost to the university.
- General System and Platform Environment
• The solution must be a cloud-based, vendor-hosted solution.
• The solution must be scalable and flexible, accommodating growth in users, data volume, and functionality without requiring major re-platforming or architectural changes, and the vendor must document supported scaling approaches and constraints.
• The solution must provide high availability with an uptime of >= 99.9%.
• The vendor must provide documented backup procedures, disaster recovery plans, and business continuity strategies.
• The solution must support role based access control (RBAC) consistent with the university’s identity and access management (IAM) standards, including granular permissions for different user groups (e.g., students, departmental users, administrators). The solution must allow roles and permissions to be defined, managed, and administered in a manner that meets the university security and oversight requirements.
- Reporting & Analytics
• The solution must provide standard reports with the ability to filter, sort, and export data.
• The solution must provide export options in standard formats (e.g., excel, pdf, csv) to support data analysis and reporting.