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Has anyone actually had this resolved yet? My son's FAFSA data FINALLY showed up at his school yesterday - almost 7 weeks after getting his SAI. No rhyme or reason to it, just suddenly appeared. The financial aid office is now scrambling to put together aid packages before the May 1 decision deadline.
My brother went thru this exact thing & ended up having to appeal directly to the college financial aid office. The FAFSA people weren't able to fix it in the system but the college could override it manually. He had to provide proof of disability & income but they fixed it pretty quick once he talked to the right person.
UPDATE: I finally got this resolved! For anyone dealing with similar issues: 1. I corrected the FAFSA by manually entering my spouse as a non-tax filer 2. I used Claimyr to reach an actual FSA agent who added notes to our application 3. I gathered documentation (benefit award letters, bank statements, IRS non-filing verification) 4. I contacted my son's school financial aid office with all documentation It took about 2 weeks, but they recalculated our SAI and my son IS eligible for a Pell Grant after all! The financial aid officer told me they're seeing this issue a lot with disability income and the new FAFSA. Thanks everyone for your help! This community saved us literally thousands in financial aid!
So happy to hear this worked out for you! Congratulations! 🎉 It's always great to hear success stories with the FAFSA process.
Has anyone actually gotten their SAI back from the new form yet? We submitted two weeks ago and still waiting...
For the CSS Profile deadlines question - yes, private schools typically have their own deadlines for the CSS Profile, often earlier than the federal FAFSA deadlines. Some are as early as November 1 for early decision applicants, while regular decision is often February 1, but it varies by school. I'd recommend checking each school's financial aid website immediately or calling their financial aid offices directly. Regarding how they calculate home equity and investments now - the federal methodology (FAFSA) is still not considering home equity in your primary residence (this hasn't changed). The FAFSA is using tax data to identify investment income, which then factors into the SAI calculation. They're essentially working backward from the income your investments generate rather than asking for the value directly. If you're concerned about accurate representation of your financial situation, remember you can always submit additional documentation directly to schools after completing the FAFSA.
You've been so helpful, thank you! I just checked all the school websites and you're right - the deadlines vary from Feb 1 to March 1 for the CSS Profile. Going to get that done this weekend. One last question - our daughter is planning to live off-campus with roommates. Does the housing arrangement affect the financial aid calculation at all? With our son, we just checked "on-campus housing" because that's what he was doing freshman year.
maybe the government designed it this way on purpose to discourage people from filing for aid lol. worked on me, i gave up after 2 weeks last year
Ryan Young
One more thing to consider: many schools require you to actively decline aid you don't want. If you simply ignore the financial aid offer, they might assume you're not attending or place a hold on registration. Always formally accept or decline each component of your package by their deadline.
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Noah Torres
•That's a really important point I hadn't considered. I'll make sure to formally respond to each part of the package after I talk to the financial aid office.
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Katherine Harris
also dont 4get some of the institutional scholarships might have DIFFERENT deadlines than the federal aid parts!!! my sons honors scholarship had an earlier acceptance deadline than his federal loans did. its all so confusing!!!
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Noah Torres
•Oh great, another layer of complexity! 😩 Thanks for pointing this out - I'll ask about ALL deadlines when I call.
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