The most important thing is: Don’t panic! This is actually super normal. About 1 in 3 FAFSAs are automatically marked for verification. Lower-income, Pell Grant-eligible families tend to be particularly tagged for verification (since you’d also likely be getting the most financial aid from the government).
At least some of these cases are also just random checks. Being selected for FAFSA® verification doesn’t mean that you did anything wrong, nor that you should be concerned.
“Verification” just means that your college will request documentation to double-check the accuracy of the information you’ve provided in your FAFSA®, before disbursing any financial aid funds. Your financial aid office (rather than the federal government) will get in touch with you directly to explain what you need to verify and how.
Usually, you will need to fill out a “verification worksheet” and send in documentation proving the specific financial elements that have been “flagged.” In most cases, you only need to “prove” five (or fewer) data points, not all your answers.