Just went through this exact situation with my daughter's FAFSA! The key thing to remember is that grade level affects your loan limits - sophomores get lower annual loan limits than juniors. So definitely worth fixing! When we made the correction through her student portal, it only took about 4 days to reprocess and her school received the updated info automatically. Don't stress too much about the timing - schools are used to dealing with FAFSA corrections and it shouldn't delay her aid package significantly.

I'm dealing with a similar FAFSA correction issue right now! Reading through all these responses has been super helpful. Just to confirm - if I exit out of the parent portal correction process without submitting anything, it won't create any kind of "pending correction" status that could interfere when my son tries to make his own corrections through the student portal later? I want to make sure we don't accidentally create conflicting correction requests in the system.

One clarification on Professional Judgment appeals that might help: There are actually two separate processes happening with the new FAFSA: 1. Schools receiving your FAFSA data and calculating initial aid packages 2. The ability to make PJ adjustments to your SAI in the system Many students haven't even received their initial aid packages yet due to the FAFSA rollout delays. Schools are generally processing initial aid packages first, then will handle PJ appeals. If you've already received an initial aid offer and are waiting on PJ processing, you're actually ahead of many students in the pipeline. Based on recent Department of Education communications, we expect most schools will be able to process PJ adjustments in the system starting in mid-to-late April, though this timeline could still shift.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation! Filed my PJ appeal 2 weeks ago after my dad's hours got cut at work (our income dropped about 30%). My school's financial aid office gave me the runaround too - first they said "we'll get back to you in a few days" then when I called back they switched to "the system isn't ready for PJ appeals yet." It's so frustrating because I need to know my real aid package to make my college decision! Reading through all these responses is actually really helpful though - sounds like most schools are in the same boat and it's not just mine being unhelpful. I'm definitely going to call back and ask if they're at least tracking my appeal in a spreadsheet like @Ayla Kumar mentioned. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

That's a huge relief! Thank you so much for checking on this. I'll try to be patient for another couple weeks.

I'm dealing with this exact situation too! My son's FAFSA was processed in early March but my daughter's has been sitting "In Progress" since mid-February. Reading through these comments has been so helpful - I had no idea about the batching system or that renewals might take longer. The lack of communication from FSA is definitely frustrating, but it's reassuring to know this seems to be a widespread issue rather than something specific to our applications. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

I'm going through this exact nightmare right now too! My kids are sophomores (twins) and I'm already panicking about what next year will look like. Reading through everyone's experiences here is both terrifying and helpful. @Diego Fernández - that budget breakdown idea is brilliant. I'm definitely going to start putting together something like that now so I'm prepared. And I had absolutely no clue about emergency funds through the dean of students office - that's such valuable information that I never would have thought to ask about. @Nora Bennett - thank you for all your detailed advice throughout this thread. The specific language to use when calling financial aid offices is so helpful. I've been dreading those calls because I didn't know how to even start the conversation. One thing I'm wondering - has anyone had success getting schools to match aid packages even if the schools are very different (like comparing a state school to a private college)? Or does that only work with similar types of institutions? This whole situation makes me feel like we've been financially responsible our whole lives just to get penalized for it when our kids need college funding the most. But seeing everyone's strategies and persistence gives me hope that there might be ways to make this work without destroying our financial future.

I'm a financial aid counselor and see families in this exact situation daily. The new FAFSA changes have created real hardships for middle-income families with multiple students, and you're absolutely right to feel frustrated. Here's my professional advice: Document everything before you call. Create a one-page summary showing: 1) Your actual monthly budget/expenses, 2) What you paid last year for one child vs. what you're being asked to pay for two, 3) Any special circumstances (medical expenses, job changes, eldercare costs). When you call, ask to speak with a senior counselor, not a student worker. Use these exact phrases: "I need to request a Professional Judgment review for special circumstances" and "Our family's financial situation doesn't align with our SAI calculation." Most importantly - schools have more flexibility than they initially let on. Many have created special funds specifically for families caught in the "sibling squeeze." I've seen families get an additional $5,000-$15,000 per child through persistence and proper documentation. Don't give up after the first "no." Schools want to keep students enrolled, and they often have multiple funding sources they can tap into for deserving cases.

As a parent who just went through this process successfully, I can confirm what others have said - both married parents absolutely need separate FSA IDs! I made the mistake of thinking we could share one account since we file jointly, and it delayed our son's application by almost two weeks. Here's what I learned: even though you file taxes together, the FAFSA system treats each parent as an individual contributor for security and verification purposes. The good news is that once you both have your FSA IDs set up, the actual process is pretty straightforward. Just make sure to create the accounts on different days (24-48 hours apart) to avoid any system glitches, and designate one person as the primary contributor to avoid confusion. Don't stress too much about the complexity - thousands of families are figuring this out right now, and the colleges understand there's a learning curve with the new system!

I just went through this exact same confusion two weeks ago! Yes, both parents absolutely need separate FSA IDs even when filing jointly. I initially created just one account thinking we could share it since we file taxes together, but the FAFSA system literally won't let you proceed without both parents having their own unique FSA IDs for electronic signatures. Here's what worked for us: I created my FSA ID first, then my husband created his 48 hours later (some people recommend waiting to avoid system conflicts). I was the "contributor parent" who filled out most of the application and imported our tax info via the IRS tool. Once I submitted everything, the system automatically sent my husband an email notification to log in with his FSA ID and sign the application. The whole process took about a week from start to finish once we both had our accounts set up. Don't let the complexity intimidate you - once you get both FSA IDs created, the rest flows pretty smoothly! Your daughter's aid won't be delayed as long as you get this sorted out soon.