As someone new to the FAFSA process, I'm so glad I found this thread! I was having the exact same worry about my spouse's 401k. It's such a relief to learn that retirement accounts are completely excluded - I was genuinely concerned that being responsible savers would hurt our daughter's chances for financial aid. The clarification about CSS Profile being different is also super helpful since we're looking at some private schools too. I'll definitely need to research each school's specific policies. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it makes this whole process feel less overwhelming when you know others have navigated it successfully!

I'm brand new to the FAFSA process and this discussion has been incredibly enlightening! Like so many others here, I was worried that our retirement savings would negatively impact my child's financial aid eligibility. It's such a relief to learn that 401(k) accounts are completely excluded from asset reporting - I had no idea this was the case. The distinction between FAFSA and CSS Profile rules is also really valuable information that I wouldn't have known to look for otherwise. As a newcomer to this community, I'm amazed by how helpful and knowledgeable everyone is. The detailed explanations and real experiences shared here have given me so much more confidence about tackling our FAFSA application. Thank you all for creating such a supportive environment for those of us navigating this process for the first time!

UPDATE: Thank you all for your helpful advice! I called three of my schools this morning and it turns out two of them actually DID have my information despite my FAFSA account still showing 'pending'! The third school confirmed they don't have it yet. I'm going to try calling Federal Student Aid tomorrow to see if there's any issue with my application being sent to the remaining schools. For anyone else dealing with this - definitely call your schools directly as several people suggested here!

That's awesome that you got it sorted out with most of your schools! This is exactly why calling directly is so important - the FAFSA portal status doesn't always reflect what schools actually have. For future students reading this thread, this is a perfect example of why you shouldn't panic if your status shows "pending" for weeks. The system has some serious communication issues between different databases this year. Hope your remaining school gets the info soon!

Update: I got it working! Turns out I needed to log in with my FSA ID (not my son's) AND my son had entered a slightly different email for me than the one I used for my FSA ID. Once he corrected that and re-sent the invitation, I could see the contributor form in my "Help My Student" section. Thanks everyone for your help! For anyone else having this problem, double check ALL your info matches exactly.

I'm so glad you got it figured out! I went through the exact same frustration with my daughter's FAFSA earlier this year. The email matching issue seems to trip up a lot of parents - I wish they made that clearer in their instructions. It's such a relief when you finally see that "Help My Student" section populate with the actual forms you need to fill out. The whole process is stressful enough without having to troubleshoot technical issues on top of everything else!

I'm a newcomer here but going through something similar with my two kids (not triplets, but still multiple students). One thing I learned that might help is to also check if your state has any special programs for families with multiple college students. Some states offer additional grants or tax credits specifically for this situation that work independently of federal aid. Also, when you do start getting aid packages, create a spreadsheet to compare the TOTAL four-year costs for each child at each school, not just the first-year numbers. Sometimes a school might front-load aid in year one but reduce it in subsequent years, or vice versa. With triplets, you'll want to see the full picture of what you're committing to over the next four years. One more tip - if any of your triplets are considering different majors, look into whether certain programs at schools offer additional departmental scholarships. Sometimes the engineering department or business school will have separate funding that can stack on top of general institutional aid. The whole process is definitely overwhelming but it sounds like you're asking all the right questions and getting great advice from this community!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm finding this thread incredibly helpful! I'm in a somewhat similar situation with twins starting college next year and an SAI that initially made me panic. Reading through everyone's experiences and advice has been so reassuring. One thing I wanted to add that I learned from a college counselor - when your triplets are filling out their individual college applications, make sure they mention having siblings also starting college in their essays or additional information sections. Some admissions officers factor this into their holistic review process, and it can sometimes influence merit aid decisions even beyond need-based calculations. Also, I noticed someone mentioned Claimyr for getting through to FSA - I actually used them last month when I had questions about my SAI calculation and it was a lifesaver! Much better than sitting on hold for hours. It's amazing how much more complex this process is than I ever imagined, but seeing families successfully navigate multiple kids in college gives me hope. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and creating such a supportive community for those of us figuring this out!

I'm new here but had to jump in because I just went through this exact same situation! My wife and I had a 401k rollover last year ($28,500) that got automatically counted as income on our FAFSA. Like everyone else mentioned, the system just pulls everything from your tax return without understanding what's actually income versus account transfers. Here's what worked for us: I contacted our son's school's financial aid office directly (skipped trying to call FSA after reading horror stories about hold times) and they had a "Professional Judgment Appeal" form specifically for situations like this. The key document you need is your 1099-R form - make sure it shows code "G" in box 7, which indicates it was a direct trustee-to-trustee rollover. The whole process took about 2 weeks once I submitted everything, and they were able to adjust his aid package. Our EFC went down by almost $8,000! Don't panic - this is definitely fixable, you just need to work directly with each school's financial aid office rather than trying to fix it through FAFSA itself.

I'm new to this community but going through the exact same situation! Just discovered that my 401k rollover from last year ($41,200) got pulled in as income on my FAFSA and my daughter's SAI is completely wrong as a result. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea that schools could make professional judgment adjustments or that this was such a common issue with the new FAFSA system. I'm definitely going to skip trying to call Federal Student Aid (sounds like a nightmare) and go straight to contacting my daughter's school's financial aid office with my 1099-R form. It's such a relief to know this is fixable and that other families have successfully gotten it corrected. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences, especially those who provided the step-by-step process and specific terminology to use when contacting the schools. This community is a lifesaver during such a stressful time!