sorry but all u parents telling kids to hide money or move it around are teaching terrible lessons!! just be honest on the dang form

I completely understand your panic - I went through the same thing last year! The good news is that while student assets are counted at 20%, the impact on your daughter's aid might be less dramatic than you think. For her $3,500 in savings, you're looking at roughly $700 added to your SAI (Student Aid Index), which doesn't translate to a dollar-for-dollar reduction in aid. As for not reporting the $1,200 last year, try not to stress too much. The Department of Education doesn't automatically cross-reference every detail from year to year unless there are major red flags. Just report everything accurately going forward. One thing to consider: if your daughter needs any educational supplies or equipment for the upcoming school year (laptop, textbooks, etc.), using some of her savings for these legitimate expenses before filing could reduce the reportable amount while still supporting her education. Just don't make any sudden large transfers - timing and documentation matter if you're selected for verification.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Got my -1500 SAI a few days ago and was initially panicking thinking I messed up my FAFSA somehow. Reading through all these responses has been such a relief - sounds like we're both in for some good news when our aid packages come through! I'm especially glad to learn about the subsidized loan priority and potential institutional grants. Has anyone here had experience with work-study programs? I'm wondering if having a negative SAI affects eligibility for those positions too, since I'd like to earn some spending money while in school.

This thread has been so helpful! I'm a senior in high school and just got my SAI of -1400, so seeing everyone's positive experiences with negative SAIs is really reassuring. One thing I'm curious about - does anyone know if the negative SAI affects merit scholarship eligibility at all? I have decent grades and test scores, and I'm wondering if schools will still consider me for academic scholarships even though I clearly have high financial need. I don't want to miss out on any opportunities by not applying for merit-based aid because I assume my need-based aid will cover everything.

Update: I called my daughter's financial aid office this morning. They were super helpful! The counselor checked her file and confirmed that the system correction didn't change our SAI at all. Apparently they're seeing these on lots of applications this year - mostly just the Department of Education double-checking information or standardizing how certain fields are stored in their system. She said unless we receive a specific notification that our SAI has changed, we don't need to worry about it affecting the award package. Such a relief!

Thanks for posting this - I was wondering about the same thing! I noticed a system correction on my daughter's FAFSA from April 25th and had no idea what it meant. After reading through all these responses, I feel much better about it. I'm going to check our SAI like you did and probably give the school a quick call just to be safe. It's reassuring to hear that these corrections are happening to lots of people this year and most don't seem to be affecting the actual aid packages. The new FAFSA system definitely has some growing pains, but at least the schools seem to understand what's going on!

As a newcomer to the FAFSA process, this thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I had no idea that something as simple as an incorrect date of birth could cause such major delays. It's really helpful to see real experiences from people who've dealt with this exact issue. @StarSeeker, glad you got it sorted out! For anyone else reading this who might be in a similar situation, it sounds like the key takeaway is don't wait - call FSA immediately if you notice any discrepancies in personal information, even if the system seems to accept it initially. Better to spend an hour on hold now than deal with weeks of delays later when you need your aid package!

This is such valuable information for anyone navigating the FAFSA process! I'm a newcomer here and this thread really highlights how important it is to double-check all the personal information before submitting. It's reassuring to see that FSA can actually fix these issues relatively quickly once you get through to them. @StarSeeker, thanks for sharing your successful resolution - it gives me hope that these bureaucratic hurdles are manageable with persistence. For other newcomers like me, it seems like the main lesson is: if something looks wrong, don't assume the system knows best just because it accepted the information. Trust your instincts and get it corrected early!

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I called the Federal Student Aid helpline (took forever to get through) and found out there was actually an error in how they calculated our assets. We have some retirement savings they counted as available funds when they shouldn't have. They're recalculating our SAI now. I also reached out to the nursing association and found two scholarship opportunities specifically for technical college nursing students. And we've scheduled a meeting with the financial aid office to specifically discuss a professional judgment review based on our changed financial circumstances. This forum has been so helpful - I had no idea there were so many options that weren't initially presented to us. Will update when we hear back about the recalculation!

What a rollercoaster of emotions reading through this thread! I'm so glad you found errors in your SAI calculation - that's exactly why it's worth questioning these numbers instead of just accepting them. For other families dealing with similar issues, I wanted to add that community colleges and technical schools sometimes have emergency grant funds that aren't well-publicized. These are small grants (usually $500-2000) for students facing unexpected financial hardships. They're typically managed by the student services office rather than financial aid, so you have to specifically ask about "emergency assistance" or "completion grants." Also, don't overlook your state's workforce development programs. Many states are desperately trying to fill healthcare positions and have special funding streams for nursing students that bypass the whole FAFSA mess entirely. Your state's Department of Labor website usually has information about these programs. Really hoping your recalculation comes through with better numbers! Keep us posted on how the professional judgment meeting goes.