The SAI is definitely for the entire academic year! I went through the same confusion last year. What really helped me was understanding that the SAI isn't what you actually pay - it's just a number used to determine your aid eligibility. The actual aid you receive (like Pell Grants) gets split between fall and spring semesters. If you want to see exactly how your aid breaks down by semester, check your student portal or ask for a semester-by-semester breakdown from financial aid. Also, keep in mind that your total cost of attendance includes tuition, fees, room/board, books, and personal expenses - so your out-of-pocket cost will depend on how much grant/scholarship aid you receive based on that SAI number.

I'm new to the FAFSA process and this thread has been incredibly helpful! I was actually making the same mistake - I thought my SAI was what I'd need to pay each semester. Reading everyone's explanations really cleared things up. One follow-up question though: if the SAI is for the whole year and aid gets split between semesters, what happens if you need to take a semester off for medical reasons or something? Does that affect your aid for the remaining semester, or do you just lose half of what you were allocated? I'm trying to understand all the "what if" scenarios before I finalize my course planning.

Great to hear you got it sorted out with Claimyr! I'm dealing with the same issue right now for my twin daughters - both FAFSAs processed but no SAI visible anywhere. I was dreading spending hours on hold with FSA, so I'm definitely going to try that callback service. Quick question - did they give you the SAI for both kids in one call, or did you need separate calls since they have different FSA IDs?

Just wanted to add another option that worked for us - if your daughter's colleges use the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA, some schools will display the SAI in their CSS Profile institutional methodology calculations even before they fully process the FAFSA data. We found our son's SAI listed in the financial aid portal of a private college that uses CSS Profile about a week before the other schools had it available. It's worth checking if any of her schools use CSS Profile and logging into those portals first. Also, some state financial aid websites (like Cal Grant in California) will show the SAI once they receive the FAFSA data, which can be faster than waiting for individual colleges.

Just wanted to add that if your parents are truly separated (living apart with intent for permanent separation), you should also be prepared to report only one parent's income and assets going forward. Since they filed jointly in 2022, you'll use that joint return for the 2024-25 FAFSA, but you'll need to determine which parent you lived with more in the past 12 months - that's your "custodial parent" for FAFSA purposes. Their income and assets (and any new spouse's) will be what counts for future aid calculations. This can actually work in your favor financially if the custodial parent has lower income than what the joint return showed.

One thing to keep in mind is that when you report "separated" as the current marital status, the FAFSA will then ask you to identify which parent is your custodial parent (the one you lived with most during the past 12 months). This is crucial because it determines whose financial information you'll need to provide in addition to the 2022 joint tax return. Make sure you're clear on this before you start filling out that section, as it affects which parent's current assets and any new spouse information you might need to include. The custodial parent determination can be tricky if you've been splitting time between both parents since the separation.

As someone who works in financial aid administration, I can confirm everything that's been shared here is accurate. Your original $18,000 is completely safe - the system treats increases as supplemental requests. One thing I'd add: when you submit the increase request, keep a screenshot of your confirmation page with the request number. If there are any processing delays, having that reference number will help expedite things when you call FSA. Also, once approved, the additional funds typically disburse within 3-5 business days after your school certifies the amount. Given your 3-week timeline, you should be in good shape!

I went through this exact situation last year with my daughter's Parent PLUS loan! Your original $18,000 is absolutely safe - they can't take that back once it's been disbursed to the school. The increase request is processed separately, so worst case scenario is they deny the additional $5,000 but you keep what you already have. I'd recommend calling your son's school first to confirm their internal deadlines for loan increases - some schools need the paperwork submitted to them by a certain date even if FSA approves it later. Also, when you log into studentaid.gov to request the increase, make sure you're selecting "request additional loan amount" rather than "modify existing loan" - I accidentally clicked the wrong option initially and it delayed my processing by a week. You've got plenty of time with 3 weeks, but definitely get that request submitted ASAP to avoid any last-minute stress!

Thank you everyone for the advice! I'm going to start over with my daughter's application first, then have my husband join as the first contributor, followed by me. I'll make sure we have all our documents ready to go this time. One last question - approximately how long after submitting should we expect to receive the SAI calculation?

Just wanted to add one more thing that helped me when I was in a similar situation - when you restart, take screenshots of each page as you complete it. The FAFSA system can be glitchy and sometimes kicks you out, so having those screenshots saved me from having to re-enter everything multiple times. Also, if you run into any weird error messages during the process, don't panic - just close the browser completely, clear your cache, and start that section again. The system seems to have memory issues sometimes. Good luck with the restart!