I'm in a similar boat - 41 and looking at graduate programs in counseling. One thing that's helped me get realistic about the financial commitment is using the Federal Student Aid website's loan simulator tool. You can input your expected loan amounts and see projected monthly payments under different repayment plans. It's sobering but necessary. Also, have you looked into whether your state has any mental health workforce shortage programs? Some states offer loan repayment assistance for therapists who commit to working in underserved areas for a certain number of years. California actually has several programs like this - worth researching before you make your final decision. The age factor is real, but I've also heard from several career changers that their life experience actually made them better therapists and helped them build practices faster than younger graduates. Still, the math has to work. Maybe consider setting a hard limit on how much you're willing to borrow and see if you can make the program work within that budget?

I'm reading through all these responses as someone who recently went through a similar decision process, and I want to emphasize something that might help with your timeline pressure: you DON'T have to decide everything right now. Most graduate programs will allow you to defer admission for a year if you request it before the deadline, which could give you time to stabilize your housing situation and save some money to reduce your borrowing needs. I'd also suggest looking into whether your program offers any thesis/non-thesis track options, as these can sometimes affect the total cost and timeline. Some students don't realize that FAFSA dependency status for grad students means your aid is based solely on your income, not family income, which can actually work in your favor if you're currently earning less. Before you make any final decisions, I'd recommend calling the financial aid office and asking specifically about: 1) Deferral policies, 2) Any emergency aid funds available for students with housing instability, 3) Graduate assistantships or work-study opportunities that aren't widely advertised, and 4) Whether they have partnerships with local mental health agencies that offer tuition assistance. Many schools have funding they don't actively promote that could significantly reduce your debt load. Your age and life experience aren't necessarily disadvantages - many supervisors and employers actually prefer older grad students for their maturity and life perspective. But you're absolutely right to be concerned about the debt-to-income ratio in this field.

UPDATE: My niece tried several of your suggestions and FINALLY got through the loop! What worked was a combination of: using Microsoft Edge, filling ALL fields with exact dollar amounts (no cents or commas), and doing it at 1am when traffic was low. She's submitted her FAFSA and got confirmation! Now we're working with her school's financial aid office about extending that emergency loan deadline. Thank you all SO MUCH for your help - this community is amazing!

So relieved to see this success story! As someone new to navigating FAFSA issues, this thread has been incredibly educational. The combination of technical workarounds (specific browsers, timing, exact formatting) plus the institutional support options (financial aid office extensions, bursar hardship policies) really shows how complex these problems can be. It's reassuring to know there are so many different approaches when the system fails students. Bookmarking this thread for future reference - hoping it helps other families facing similar nightmares with the FAFSA system!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm a single mom going through my first FAFSA application and was getting so stressed about these household size questions. Reading everyone's experiences makes me feel less alone in finding this process confusing. It's reassuring to know that divorced parents should only count themselves and their dependents - I was second-guessing myself too because of how the questions are worded. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge and experiences!

As someone who works in financial aid, I can confirm that divorced parents should absolutely NOT include their ex-spouse in the FAFSA household size. You're correct to put 3 (you + your 2 daughters). The system shows the same questions to everyone regardless of marital status, which is why it mentions spouse - just ignore that part since it doesn't apply to your situation. Your household size should match who you claim on your tax return as dependents plus yourself. Don't stress too much about this - it's one of the most common questions we get, and you're thinking about it correctly!

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - my son's FAFSA was processed but has my incorrect birthdate listed as a contributor. From what I'm reading here, it sounds like I should just make the correction through his FAFSA account rather than trying to update my FSA ID separately. Has anyone experienced any issues with schools questioning these corrections during their review process? I'm worried about triggering additional verification requirements that could delay his aid package. Also, do the corrections show up as a flag or note to the financial aid offices, or do they just see the updated information as if it was always correct?

I just went through this exact same thing last week! You definitely only need to correct it on your daughter's FAFSA - don't worry about the FSA ID at all. I made the mistake of initially trying to update both places and it just created confusion. Here's what worked: log into your daughter's studentaid.gov account, click "Make FAFSA Corrections," go to the parent information section, fix your husband's birthdate, and submit. It took 5 days to reprocess and all her schools automatically received the updated SAI. The important thing is to do it ASAP because I've heard some schools will flag applications with data mismatches for manual review, which can add weeks to the process. Don't stress too much though - this is apparently a pretty common issue and the correction process is straightforward!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar issue where my son's SAI went from 8,200 to 12,500 after reprocessing in late March. Reading through everyone's experiences, it sounds like the retirement asset miscategorization is really common this year. I'm going to download both SAR reports tonight and compare them line by line like Andre suggested. Carmen, I'm so glad you found the issue with your ex-husband's income being counted twice - that gives me hope that there's a logical explanation for our jump too. Has anyone else had success with the Claimyr service that Liam mentioned? I'm getting desperate after being on hold with FSA for hours multiple times this week.

This whole thread has been so incredibly helpful! I'm a newcomer to this community and currently dealing with my own FAFSA nightmare - my son's SAI mysteriously increased from 4,800 to 9,200 after reprocessing last month, completely eliminating his Pell Grant eligibility. Reading through everyone's experiences here has given me so much more confidence that this can be resolved. I'm especially grateful for Andre's step-by-step instructions and Carmen's detailed updates about finding the retirement asset miscategorization issue. I've already downloaded both SAR reports and I think I found a similar problem - it looks like they're counting my 401k as a regular investment asset in the reprocessed version. I'm planning to submit a correction request tonight and may try the Claimyr service if I can't get through to FSA directly. Thank you all for sharing your stories and solutions - it's such a relief to know we're not alone in dealing with these processing errors!