Sec. 13b.08.21.09. Verification of Eligibility

A. Verification by the Office of Initial Applicants.

(1) Annually, the Office shall verify:

(a) The eligibility of each applicant; and

(b) The accuracy of adjusted gross income levels and demonstrated need of a representative sample of applicants who are ineligible to receive federal aid and complete the separate application prescribed by the Office.

(2) An applicant selected by the Office for verification under §A(1)(b) of this regulation who is ineligible for federal aid and has filed a State or federal tax return shall verify the following:

(a) Adjusted gross income;

(b) Income tax paid;

(c) Untaxed portions of IRA distributions;

(d) IRA deductions and payments;

(e) Tax-exempt interest income;

(f) Education credits;

(g) Number of household members; and

(h) Number of household members enrolled in an institution of higher education.

(3) The Office shall verify initial applicants have earned a cumulative 2.3 high school GPA, or successfully completed the GED examination, prior to the application deadline under Regulation .04A of this chapter;

(4) The Office shall verify that initial applicants graduated from a high school, or earned a GED in Maryland, within the last 2 years; and

(5) The Office annually shall verify the accuracy of adjusted gross income and demonstrated need for a percentage of renewal recipients, randomly selected, who are not federally selected and who are not eligible to receive federal aid but are eligible for in-State tuition, as described in §A of this regulation.

B. Institutional Verification.

(1) An institution annually shall perform federal verification for any scholarship recipient federally selected for verification under the V1 and V5 verification groups, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education.

(2) The Office will identify all scholarship recipients who are federally selected for federal verification under the V1 and V5 verification groups and transmit the information on a roster to the institution.

(3) The federal verification performed by the institution for a student who has filed a federal tax return shall include verification of:

(a) Adjusted gross income;

(b) Federal income tax paid;

(c) Untaxed portions of IRA distributions;

(d) Untaxed portions of pensions;

(e) IRA deductions and payments;

(f) Tax-exempt interest income;

(g) Education credits;

(h) Number of household members;

(i) Number of household members enrolled in an institution of higher education; and

(j) Transaction number of the Institutional Student Information Report used.

(4) The federal verification performed by the institution for a student who has not filed a federal income tax return, but who has filed a FAFSA, shall include verification of:

(a) Income earned from work;

(b) Number of household members; and

(c) Number of household members enrolled in an institution of higher education.

(5) Institutions shall provide updated and verified data to the Office by the deadline established by the Office.

(6) Information verified by the institutions shall be used to update the recipients’ records.

C. Scholarship awards for recipients with corrections shall be recalculated and adjusted or canceled as specified in this chapter.

D. Institutions annually shall report on a roster in MDCAPS each recipient’s cumulative GPA.

E. Institutions shall report on a semester basis on a roster in MDCAPS the number of credits each recipient completed.

F. Institutions annually shall verify that each recipient is eligible for in-State tuition under Education Article, Title 15, Annotated Code of Maryland.