One last thing - to check if your specific program qualifies for Cal Grant C, visit the CSAC website and look for their "Priority Career Technical Programs" list. Not every vocational program qualifies - they prioritize high-demand fields like healthcare, information technology, early childhood education, and certain trades. Your financial aid office should be able to confirm if your specific program is eligible.

Great work figuring all this out! Dental assisting definitely qualifies for Cal Grant C - it's considered a high-demand healthcare program. Just a heads up that even if you missed this year's March 2nd deadline, you can still apply for next academic year. CSAC processes applications year-round, but priority funding goes to those who meet the March deadline. Also, make sure to ask your financial aid office about any state-specific deadlines or additional grants your school might offer for dental assisting students. Some community colleges have partnerships with local dental offices that provide additional funding opportunities!

Just wanted to add one more reassuring point as someone who helps families with college financial aid planning - you actually caught this mistake at a great time! Many families don't realize they can add schools until much later in the process, sometimes not until after they've already been accepted places. The fact that you're staying on top of this in March means you're well ahead of many families, and definitely ahead of most deadlines. Most schools have their priority financial aid deadlines in February/March, so you're right in the sweet spot. Also, something that might ease your mind - schools receive hundreds or thousands of FAFSA corrections and additions throughout the aid cycle. Their systems are set up to handle this seamlessly, and their aid officers are very used to families needing to make adjustments. You're definitely not causing any extra work or problems for the schools by adding them now. Your daughter is lucky to have a parent who's staying so organized and proactive about this process. You're setting her up for success!

I'm so glad I found this thread! My daughter and I are going through the exact same thing right now. We submitted her FAFSA two weeks ago and just realized we only included 4 schools when she's actually applying to 9. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly reassuring. I especially appreciate the advice about waiting for the initial processing to complete before making corrections, and the tip about taking screenshots of the confirmation page. As a first-time FAFSA parent, I had no idea this was such a common situation! One question I have - when you log back in to add schools, does the system show you which schools you've already added? I want to make sure I don't accidentally duplicate any of the original schools when I go to make the corrections. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and making this less stressful for those of us just figuring this out!

As someone new to this community and the FAFSA process, I want to thank everyone for sharing such detailed and helpful experiences! My family is in a similar boat - we submitted our FAFSA about 6 days ago and I've been checking the dashboard obsessively. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring. I had no idea that the dashboard was typically the last thing to update, or that the SAI score comes via email rather than showing up on the dashboard. The timeline insights from everyone (3-5 business days for processing, up to 2+ weeks for dashboard updates) really help set proper expectations. I'm definitely going to stop the daily checking and follow the advice about contacting our target schools' financial aid offices directly. It's such a relief to know that one week with no updates is completely normal during this busy season!

As a newcomer to both this community and the FAFSA process, I can't express how relieved I am to have found this discussion! We submitted our FAFSA exactly 8 days ago and I've been in full panic mode seeing absolutely nothing on the dashboard except "You currently don't have any federal loans or grants." I was convinced we'd done something wrong or that our application got lost in the system. Reading everyone's experiences has been like a warm hug - knowing that 1-2 weeks with no dashboard updates is completely normal, and that the dashboard is actually the LAST thing to reflect changes, has taken such a weight off my shoulders. I had no clue about the SAI coming via email instead of showing on the dashboard, or that schools often receive the data before students see any updates. The practical advice here is gold - I'm immediately setting up email notifications, switching to weekly check-ins instead of my current hourly refresh habit, and reaching out to our target schools' financial aid offices. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and normalizing this very stressful waiting period!

Don't panic - you're definitely not alone in this situation! I'm a college financial aid advisor and I see this happen several times every year. Here's my recommended action plan: 1. **File your 2023 taxes TODAY** - Use any reputable online service (TurboTax, FreeTaxUSA, etc.) or visit a local tax prep office. E-filing gets you confirmation fastest. 2. **Submit your FAFSA immediately after filing** - Use "Will File" status and input the numbers from your completed tax return, even before the IRS processes it. 3. **Contact your son's school's financial aid office** - Explain the situation proactively. Most schools have processes for handling late tax filings and can often work with you on timing. 4. **Set a reminder to update your FAFSA** - Once your tax return is processed (usually 2-3 weeks for e-filed returns), use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to update your FAFSA with the official processed information. The good news is that missing the priority deadline doesn't disqualify you from federal aid - it mainly affects the first-come-first-served institutional aid. Federal Pell Grants and loans will still be available. You're taking action now, which puts you ahead of many families who wait until the last minute. Your son's college dreams are definitely not derailed by this!

I'm also dealing with this right now and this thread has been so helpful! Just wanted to add one more resource that might help - if you're military or have been in the past, many bases offer free tax preparation through their family support centers, and they're usually really good about handling rush situations. Also, if you have a simple tax situation (just W-2s and standard deduction), you can actually file directly through the IRS Free File program on their website, which is completely free and gets processed just as fast as the paid services. I know when you're panicking it feels like you need to pay for the premium services, but sometimes the free options work just as well. The most important thing is just getting those taxes filed TODAY and then getting that FAFSA submitted. You've got great advice here from people who've been through it - your son is going to be fine! The fact that you caught this now instead of after all the deadlines shows you're on top of things.

Just to clarify some confusion in this thread - for the 2025-2026 FAFSA, both spouses in a married household need to be contributors and sign the application. This is true regardless of whether one or both spouses are involved in a family business. For self-employed applicants, the FAFSA will primarily use your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your tax return, which already includes your business income. The system is designed to capture your household's full financial picture, which is why both spouses need to be included. If you're struggling with the contributor section, I recommend using the help text within the FAFSA application itself (look for the question mark icons) or reviewing the detailed guidance on studentaid.gov before resorting to paid services.

As someone who just went through this process last month, I can confirm that both spouses definitely need to be contributors! We're also self-employed (photography business) and initially tried to just have my wife handle everything since she does our bookkeeping. The system wouldn't let us proceed without both of us being listed. The good news is that once you both have your FSA IDs set up, the actual process is pretty smooth. Most of our business income information pulled directly from our joint tax return through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. We did have to manually enter a few details about business assets, but nothing too complicated. One thing that helped us was doing a practice run on the FAFSA website before actually submitting. You can save your progress and come back to it, so there's no pressure to complete everything in one sitting. Good luck!