THE FINANCIAL AID SYSTEM IS RIGGED!!! Even with a so-called "good" SAI score, they STILL make middle-class families take out MASSIVE LOANS!!! My nephew had -1200 SAI and is still drowning in debt!!! The whole system is designed to trap students in debt!!

Just to provide some balance here - while a negative SAI doesn't guarantee a free education, it does put your daughter in the strongest possible position for financial aid. Many selective private colleges actually provide better aid packages than state schools for low-income families. I'd recommend: 1. Apply to a mix of schools, including some known for generous aid 2. Use each school's specific net price calculator 3. Appeal your financial aid offers if they don't seem adequate 4. Consider schools with "no-loan" policies for lower-income students With your SAI, your daughter has excellent potential for significant grant aid at many institutions.

just wanted to add that my twins both had negative SAIs too and some schools treated them differently!! one private school gave AMAZING aid but another calculated something different. so definately check with each school. also CONGRATS!!! the new FAFSA was a nightmare for us but worth it when we saw that negative number lol

did u have to do verification? we got flagged for that and its a MESS trying to upload all the docs they want

I work in our university's financial aid office, and we're seeing this issue frequently this cycle. While waiting for the correction period to open, here's what you should do: 1) Have your student contact her school's financial aid office ASAP 2) Ask specifically for a "Dependency Status Correction Form" or "Special Circumstances Form" 3) The school can make manual adjustments on their end for aid packaging purposes Most institutions are making accommodations for these known FAFSA glitches. The good news is that while this is frustrating, it won't ultimately impact her aid eligibility as long as you're proactive about documenting the error now. Also important: Once the correction period opens (early April according to our latest guidance), make that correction immediately as it will need to be processed before the final aid package is created.

update!!!!! just saw on reddit that corrections should be available starting april 3rd according to someone who got thru to fafsa yesterday!!!

awesome! glad it worked out for you!

That's a significant improvement! Be sure to notify all the schools she applied to that there was a meaningful correction to her FAFSA. Some schools might have already downloaded her initial data, and they won't automatically get the updated information unless they pull her FAFSA again.

UPDATE: I took everyone's advice here and did two things: 1) Used Claimyr to actually get through to FSA after waiting 3 days on their callback list with no response, and 2) Contacted my school's financial aid office. Turns out there was an issue with how my parent's tax info transferred from the IRS! The agent said there was a data mismatch that wasn't visible on my end. They fixed it right away and said I should get my official SAI within 3-5 business days. The financial aid office also told me they'd make a note in my file that I submitted before the priority deadline despite the processing delay. Thanks everyone for your help! I'll update when I finally get my SAI!

Pro tip for next year: submit your FAFSA at least 4-6 weeks before your school's priority deadline. Even in normal years there can be processing delays or verification requirements that take time to resolve. I've worked with hundreds of students and the ones who submit early almost never have deadline issues.