As a fellow military spouse going through the FAFSA process, I completely understand your stress! I just went through this exact situation last year with my daughter's application. A few key points that helped me navigate our veteran benefits situation: 1. Your husband's tax-free military retirement pay and SSDI both need to be reported in the "Untaxed Income" section - use the total annual amounts from your benefit statements 2. For assets, report your current bank balances as of the day you complete the FAFSA 3. You're correct that SSDI and SSI are different programs - don't report SSDI under SSI 4. Medicare and Medicaid are also different - don't report Medicare under Medicaid 5. Both parents must provide information even if one has no income One thing that really saved me stress was calling my daughter's school directly to speak with their veterans' affairs coordinator before submitting. They walked me through exactly how they wanted our benefits reported and gave me a checklist of documents to prepare for potential verification. The verification process (if selected) really isn't as scary as it sounds - we just had to provide our benefit award letters and bank statements, and it was resolved in about 2 weeks. You're being incredibly thoughtful about getting this right for your daughter, and that care will definitely pay off! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions - military families need to support each other through these complex processes.

I'm new to this community and facing a very similar situation with my husband's VA benefits and SSDI. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful and reassuring! As someone just starting this process, I wanted to thank everyone for sharing such detailed experiences. The checklist that Zane created is exactly what I needed, and the tip about contacting schools' veterans' affairs coordinators beforehand is brilliant. One question I haven't seen addressed: Has anyone dealt with reporting irregular benefit payments? My husband's VA rating was increased mid-year in 2023, so he received some back-pay that made our total benefits for that year higher than our "normal" annual amount. Should I report the actual total received in 2023 (including the back-pay) or try to calculate what our regular annual amount would be? Also, for those who went through verification - did you need to provide any documentation explaining the lump-sum payments, or were the standard benefit statements sufficient? Thank you all for creating such a supportive space for military families navigating this confusing process. It's such a relief to know we're not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the FAFSA complexities!

As someone who just went through this process with my oldest child, I can tell you that two weeks is still pretty early in the timeline! The 2025-2026 cycle has been particularly slow due to all the FAFSA changes this year. Here's what I learned: some schools send "early estimators" or preliminary offers to students they're really trying to recruit, which might explain why some of your daughter's friends heard back quickly. But the majority of schools are still processing applications and won't send final offers until March or April. My advice would be to check each school's financial aid portal (not just the admissions portal) to see if they need any additional documents. Also, don't hesitate to call their financial aid offices directly - they can tell you where your application stands in their review process. Most importantly, try not to stress about the timeline differences between students. Every application is unique and processed at different speeds depending on the school's resources and your specific financial situation. You're doing great by staying on top of this process! The waiting is definitely the hardest part.

I'm in the exact same boat with my son who's also starting Fall 2025! We submitted his FAFSA about 3 weeks ago and I've been refreshing my email constantly waiting for something from his colleges. Reading through all these responses is actually making me feel so much better - I had no idea the timelines could vary this much between schools. The thing about separate financial aid portals is news to me too. I thought everything would just come through email or the main admissions portal. Definitely going to log into each school tonight and see if there are forms we missed or additional steps we need to take. It's frustrating that there isn't more transparency about these timelines from the schools themselves. Like, just tell us "expect to hear from us by X date" instead of leaving families wondering if something went wrong! But I guess that's just part of this whole college process - lots of waiting and uncertainty. Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences. It really helps to know we're not behind or doing something wrong by not hearing back yet.

I'm in the exact same boat! Just submitted my FAFSA a few weeks ago and had no idea the schools are the ones who actually give out the aid. This thread has been a lifesaver - I was getting worried that something was wrong since I wasn't seeing any dollar amounts on the FAFSA site. Going to log into all my college portals tonight and see if there's anything waiting for me. Thanks everyone for explaining how this actually works!

Hey Mason! I went through this exact same confusion last year as a first-gen college student. Here's what I wish someone had told me: check your student portals religiously, not just once but every few days since schools update them at different times. Also, some schools send award letters through regular mail too, so don't forget to check your mailbox! If you've been accepted to schools but haven't seen financial aid info yet, it's totally normal - some schools wait until closer to May 1st deadline. One tip that saved me: create a spreadsheet with all your schools and check off when you've received their award info so you don't lose track. The waiting is the worst part, but you'll get through it!

Just checking back - did you ever figure out what you're going to do? I'm considering prepaying my son's Spring 2025 tuition before December 31st as well to boost my education credits for 2024.

Great to hear you got it sorted out! For anyone else considering this, I'd also recommend checking if your state has any additional education tax benefits that might be affected by the timing of payment. Some states have their own education credits or deductions with different rules than federal. Also worth noting that if you're using a 529 plan to pay, the withdrawal should be made in the same tax year as the payment to avoid any complications with qualified distributions.

Just want to echo what others have said and add that timing can be really important for your financial aid! Since you're graduating next spring, make sure to submit your FAFSA for the nursing program as soon as possible after October 1st (when the new FAFSA opens for the following academic year). I made the mistake of waiting too long when I did my career change, and even though I had plenty of LEU remaining, some of the better aid packages were already awarded to students who applied earlier. Also, if there's a gap between finishing your business degree and starting nursing school, keep in mind that your dependency status might change if you turn 24 during that time - which could actually work in your favor if your parents have higher income. One more tip: document everything! Keep records of your current LEU usage, any correspondence with financial aid offices, and program requirements. It makes the whole process so much smoother when you're dealing with multiple schools and comparing options. You've got this! Career changes can be stressful but nursing is such a stable field with great opportunities.

I'm in almost the exact same situation! I'm finishing up my marketing degree this year and have been seriously considering nursing school. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about some of the nuances like SULA limits or how different schools classify second-degree students. One thing I'm wondering about that I haven't seen mentioned yet: has anyone dealt with prerequisite courses that weren't part of their first degree? I'm realizing I might need to take anatomy, physiology, microbiology, etc. before I can even apply to nursing programs. Do those prerequisite courses count against your LEU if you're taking them as a non-degree seeking student, or only once you're officially enrolled in the nursing program? Also, for those who successfully made this transition - how did you handle the gap between degrees if there was one? Did you work in healthcare to get experience, or just focus on prerequisites? Thanks for sharing all your experiences - this thread is giving me so much hope that this career change is actually doable!