Thank you all SO much for these helpful responses! I feel much more confident now. To summarize what I've learned: 1. I need the 2025-26 FAFSA for Fall 2025 enrollment 2. It opens October 1, 2024 3. We'll use our 2023 tax information 4. I should create FSA IDs for myself and my daughter now 5. Check for both school AND state priority deadlines 6. Also check if any schools require the CSS Profile 7. Apply early in case of technical issues I'm going to start gathering all our documents now and will mark October 1st on my calendar. This community has been incredibly helpful - thank you again!

Welcome to the FAFSA journey! As someone who just went through this with my oldest last year, I can tell you that you're asking all the right questions early, which puts you ahead of the game. One thing I wish I had known earlier is to also check if your daughter's potential schools have any institutional financial aid forms beyond FAFSA and CSS Profile. Some schools have their own supplemental forms that can unlock additional aid opportunities. Also, if your family has any unusual financial circumstances (job loss, medical expenses, etc.), document those now as you may need to submit a "special circumstances" appeal later. The learning curve is steep but manageable - you're going to do great! And don't hesitate to reach out to the financial aid offices at your daughter's prospective schools directly. They're usually very helpful and can give you school-specific guidance.

As someone who literally just created an account to ask about this exact issue, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to find this thread! My FAFSA processed three days ago and my SAI jumped from an estimated $2,400 to $6,900. I've been spiraling thinking I somehow messed up my application catastrophically. Reading through everyone's experiences has been both comforting (I'm not alone!) and terrifying (this is happening to SO many people). The randomness of it all is what's really getting to me - some people seeing decreases, others seeing massive increases, seemingly regardless of how careful they were with their applications. @Yuki Ito, thank you for the detailed explanations about why these discrepancies happen. I had no idea the system did additional verification beyond the initial submission. I'm definitely going to pull up my SAR today to see what might have changed. @Aisha Khan, I'm really hoping your professional judgment review works out well! It gives me hope that there are solutions available even when the numbers seem completely wrong. Please keep us posted on how it goes! For anyone else in the same boat - I called my school's financial aid office yesterday and they said they're seeing this issue with tons of students this year. They're scheduling appointments specifically to help people understand their SAI changes and file appeals if needed. So don't panic (easier said than done, I know) - it sounds like the schools are aware this is a widespread problem and are trying to help!

Welcome to the club, @PixelWarrior! 😅 I just joined this community specifically because of this FAFSA nightmare too. My SAI went up by $3,200 from the estimate and I was absolutely panicking until I found this thread. It's honestly both reassuring and infuriating to see how widespread this issue is. Like you said, the randomness is the worst part - there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who gets increases vs decreases. I keep refreshing studentaid.gov hoping maybe it was just a glitch that will magically fix itself, but no such luck! That's really encouraging that your school's financial aid office is being proactive about helping students with SAI discrepancies. Mine hasn't been as responsive yet, but I'm definitely going to push harder for a meeting after seeing @Aisha Khan's success with her professional judgment review. @Yuki Ito's explanations have been a lifesaver for understanding what might actually be happening behind the scenes. I never realized the initial estimate was just that - an estimate that could change dramatically during processing. They really should make that clearer on the website! Fingers crossed we all get this sorted out before enrollment deadlines. At least we're not suffering through this chaos alone! 🤞

I just wanted to chime in as someone who made this way more complicated than it needed to be! When I was filling out my daughter's FAFSA last year, I spent hours trying to figure out how to handle my ex-husband who hasn't been involved financially. Turns out I was overthinking it completely - the FAFSA truly only cares about where your daughter actually lives and who supports her day-to-day. Since she lives with you and your current husband, that's it! One thing that really helped me was thinking of it this way: the FAFSA is trying to figure out what resources are actually available to help pay for college. Your ex isn't providing any resources, so he's not relevant to their calculation. Your current husband is part of your household and willing to help, so his income matters. It's actually pretty logical once you wrap your head around it. You've got this!

I'm also going through this process right now with my stepdaughter and had the same confusion! It's so reassuring to see everyone confirming that you only need to include yourself and your current husband. I was worried because her biological mom hasn't contributed anything in years either, but lives in another state. One thing I learned that might help - if you're using the online FAFSA form, there's actually a "Help and Hints" section that specifically addresses divorced/remarried parent situations. It clearly states that only the custodial parent and their current spouse (if any) need to provide information. Sometimes seeing it directly from the official source helps ease the worry! Also, don't forget to gather all your tax documents and your husband's before you start - having everything ready makes the process much smoother. Good luck!

I just wanted to jump in and say THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this thread! I'm a college sophomore who was helping my younger sister with her first FAFSA, and we hit this exact same wall looking for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. I was so confused because I remembered using it for my own application just two years ago. Reading through all your experiences and solutions here literally saved us hours of panic and potential mistakes. The explanation about the Direct Data Exchange being automatic once you give consent makes so much more sense now - though I agree with everyone that the Department of Education could have communicated this change WAY better. We checked and confirmed we did give consent (buried in those acknowledgments like everyone mentioned), so we're all set. This is exactly why online communities are so valuable - real people sharing real solutions when the official resources fall short!

I'm another parent dealing with this exact same nightmare! My son is applying for his junior year and I was completely lost when the familiar IRS Data Retrieval Tool wasn't there. After reading through all these helpful responses, I realize we're probably okay since we did check the consent box (though like everyone else, it was buried in those acknowledgments). What really frustrates me is how the Department of Education rolled out such a major change without clear communication - they should have had big bold notices explaining that the IRS tool was being replaced with automatic Direct Data Exchange. I've been doing FAFSA applications for years and felt completely clueless with this new system. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences here, especially the financial aid office insider perspective - this thread has been more useful than hours of searching official FSA resources!

Just wanted to add a helpful tip from my experience last year - if you have complicated investments like you mentioned, consider having your tax preparer create a summary sheet of all the schedules and forms you'll need for FAFSA. When I was filling out my son's application, I kept having to flip between different pages of our tax return to find specific line items the FAFSA was asking for. Having everything organized in advance made the process much smoother, especially since the new system can be glitchy and you don't want to spend extra time hunting for information while the application might time out on you.

Great advice about the summary sheet! Another tip I'd add is to make copies of your 2023 tax return and all schedules before you start the FAFSA application. I learned this the hard way when my computer crashed halfway through filling out my daughter's FAFSA last year and I had to start over. Having physical copies meant I could continue on a different device without having to dig through files again. Also, if you're like me and your spouse handles different parts of the finances, make sure both of you know where all the tax documents are stored - you never know who might end up being available to complete the application when it opens in October.