Welcome to the community! As another newcomer here, I really appreciate how helpful everyone has been in this thread. I'm a current college sophomore who actually received FSEOG my freshman year but didn't get it this year, so I can share that perspective too. What I learned is that even if you get it one year, the funding really can disappear - my school told me they had about 40% less FSEOG funding allocated this year compared to last year. One thing I wish I had known earlier is to ask your financial aid office about the timeline for when they typically exhaust their FSEOG funds each academic year. My school usually runs out by mid-February, so if you're a late FAFSA filer or transfer student starting in spring, your chances are pretty slim. Also, if anyone is considering community college first then transferring, keep in mind that community colleges often have much smaller FSEOG allocations than four-year schools, so factor that into your planning. This thread has been super informative - thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm really grateful for all the detailed information shared in this thread! I'm a current college junior who just learned about FSEOG from a friend, and honestly I had no idea it even existed until now. After reading through everyone's experiences, I'm realizing I might have missed out on potential funding for the past two years just because I didn't know to ask about it. I submitted my FAFSA early each year but never followed up with my financial aid office about campus-based aid programs beyond what automatically appeared in my aid package. This is making me wonder what other programs I might not know about! I'm definitely going to reach out to my school's financial aid office this week to see if I'm eligible for FSEOG for my senior year and ask about any other campus-based aid programs they offer. Thank you all for being so generous with sharing your knowledge - it's clear this community is an amazing resource for navigating the confusing world of financial aid!

To address your follow-up questions: 1. Yes, after covering accrued interest, you can request that extra payments be applied to principal. You typically need to specify this with each extra payment (either through the servicer's website or by including instructions with manual payments). 2. @profile9 raises a good point about exploring all options. Before committing to the full PPL amount, consider: - Additional scholarship searches (many smaller local scholarships go unclaimed) - Payment plans offered directly by the school (often interest-free) - Work-study if your student qualifies - Minimal federal direct student loans (which have lower interest rates than PPL) 3. You might also want to calculate the total cost of loan repayment using different payment strategies. The loan simulator at studentaid.gov is helpful for this.

As someone who's been through this process, I'd add a few practical tips: 1) Set up automatic payments as soon as your first disbursement hits - the 0.25% interest rate reduction really adds up over time, 2) Consider making payments slightly above the interest-only amount during school years so you're chipping away at principal too, and 3) Keep detailed records of all payments for tax purposes. Also, don't forget that you can deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest on your taxes each year (income limits apply). The PPL system isn't perfect, but with careful planning it can be manageable. Good luck with your daughter's education!

As someone who just went through this process with twins last year, I want to emphasize one more thing that saved me a lot of headaches: double-check that each of your triplets' FSA IDs are fully verified BEFORE you start the main FAFSA application. The verification process can take a few days, and if you're in the middle of the application and one of their IDs isn't verified, you'll get stuck and potentially lose your progress. Also, have a backup plan for the school codes - sometimes the search function on the FAFSA site gets glitchy, so having the actual federal school codes written down ahead of time is super helpful. You're doing great by getting organized first!

I went through this exact situation with my quadruplets two years ago! The process is definitely overwhelming at first, but once you understand the system, it's actually pretty straightforward. Here's what worked for me: Create all FSA IDs first and wait for them to be fully verified (this took about 3-4 days for each of my kids). Then tackle ONE FAFSA application where you'll add all three as students. The key thing that confused me initially was that you CAN select different schools for each child within the same application - you're not limited to choosing the same schools for all of them. Also, keep a spreadsheet with each child's FSA ID login info because you'll need them to sign their portions of the application, and trust me, they WILL forget their passwords! The SAI calculation actually works in your favor with multiple kids in college - the system recognizes the financial burden of having multiple students and adjusts accordingly. You've got this!

I'm a new student dealing with this EXACT same issue! Just spent 3 hours yesterday trying to add my state university to my FAFSA and kept getting trapped in that financial review loop. It's honestly so relieving to see I'm not the only one - I was starting to think I was doing something wrong! @Evelyn Rivera I really hope one of these solutions works for you! Your August deadline is so soon. I'm going to try the methodical page-by-page approach that @Tony Brooks outlined first, then call for Tier 2 support if that doesn't work. Has anyone had success getting their school's financial aid office to expedite processing once the FAFSA correction finally goes through? I'm worried that even if I fix the glitch, there might not be enough time for everything to process before enrollment deadlines. This whole redesigned system has been such a mess for so many students! Keeping my fingers crossed for all of us dealing with this nightmare 🤞

Hey everyone! I'm new to this community but unfortunately not new to this FAFSA nightmare. I've been stuck in the exact same correction loop for over a week trying to add my transfer school. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about asking for Tier 2 support specifically or that schools could potentially pull the ISIR directly. @Evelyn Rivera I really feel for you with that August 22nd deadline looming! Have you had any luck with the solutions people suggested? I'm planning to call first thing Monday and ask for Tier 2 support like @Julia Hall recommended, and also contact my school's financial aid office to see if they can pull my ISIR directly. It's honestly both frustrating and oddly comforting to see how many of us are dealing with this. The fact that FSA is supposedly rolling out a fix "next week" while students have immediate deadlines is just unacceptable. I'm definitely going to submit feedback through their system too - maybe if enough of us document these cases they'll prioritize actually fixing it. Thanks to everyone who shared their workarounds and experiences. This thread might have just saved my enrollment!

As someone who works in college financial planning, I want to emphasize a few key points that might help with your decision: First, definitely use the Federal Student Aid loan simulator that was mentioned earlier - it's the most accurate tool for calculating payments. But also consider running scenarios where you make different payment amounts to see how extra payments affect the timeline and total interest. Second, many families don't realize that Parent PLUS loans have NO borrowing limits beyond the cost of attendance. This can be both good and dangerous - good because you won't be denied for the amount you need, but dangerous because there's no built-in check on whether you're borrowing more than you can reasonably repay. Third, consider having an honest conversation with your daughter about the financial reality. Many students are willing to consider less expensive options when they understand the true burden on their parents. Sometimes they can take on additional part-time work, apply for more scholarships, or even consider starting at a community college for general education requirements. The $68k over four years is substantial, but it's not uncommon. The key is making sure it fits within your overall financial picture and retirement planning. Don't let the stress of the decision rush you into borrowing more than makes sense for your family's long-term financial health.

I'm in a similar boat with my twins starting college next year - the Parent PLUS loan numbers are overwhelming! One thing that's helped me is creating a spreadsheet to compare the total cost of different scenarios. I found that even small changes can make a big difference over 4 years. For example, if your daughter could work 15 hours/week during the school year at $12/hour, that's about $4,500 per year she could contribute directly to costs. Combined with a summer job earning $3,000, you're looking at reducing that $17k annual need to about $9,500. That cuts your total Parent PLUS borrowing from $68k to around $38k - which would be about $460/month on the 10-year plan instead of $825. Also, don't overlook the American Opportunity Tax Credit - you can get up to $2,500 back on your taxes each year she's in school, which effectively reduces your out-of-pocket costs. Every little bit helps when you're looking at these big numbers!