I was in your shoes until last month - ready to give up after years of no results. My daughter's school financial aid office actually called and encouraged me to submit for her senior year, explaining that their endowment had created new scholarships specifically for students in the $90-115K family income range. I reluctantly did it, and she got a $3,200 scholarship that required FAFSA completion even though it wasn't technically "need-based." My advice: call your daughter's financial aid office directly and ask if there are ANY institutional aid programs that require FAFSA but might apply to your income level. Many schools have special funds that aren't advertised widely.

I just want to thank everyone for the thoughtful responses. I had no idea about the SAI formula changes or that some school-specific scholarships require FAFSA regardless of need. I called my daughter's financial aid office this morning, and they mentioned TWO scholarship programs I hadn't heard of that require FAFSA completion but are designed for families in our income range. One is even specifically for students in her major! I'm going to complete the form this weekend and see what happens. Really appreciate all the advice - sometimes it's hard to keep pushing through bureaucracy when it feels pointless.

To follow up on your question about Professional Judgment appeals: these are submitted directly to each college's financial aid office, not through FAFSA. Each school has their own form and process. You'll need to document the change in circumstances (your employment change) with evidence like pay stubs, employment letters, etc. I also want to add that many schools have their own institutional aid formulas that differ from the federal methodology. Some private colleges use the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA, which captures more detailed financial information and may result in a different aid determination. Be sure to check if any of your daughter's target schools require both forms.

I'm a newcomer here but wanted to share my experience from last year - we had a similar SAI (around 150k) and I was terrified my son wouldn't get any scholarships. Turns out I was worrying for nothing! He received merit scholarships from 6 out of 8 schools he applied to, ranging from $8k to $22k per year. The key was applying to schools where his stats put him in the top 25% of applicants. One thing that really helped was creating a spreadsheet with each school's average SAT/GPA ranges and their merit aid statistics. We focused on schools where he was a "big fish in a smaller pond" rather than just chasing rankings. Also, don't forget about honors programs - many offer additional scholarships on top of regular merit aid! Your daughter's opportunities aren't limited by your SAI for merit scholarships. Good luck with the process!

After you make the correction, I strongly recommend taking screenshots of every page showing your household size. I made the correction last month, and two weeks later it had somehow reverted AGAIN after another IRS verification. The screenshots saved me when I had to prove to the financial aid office that I had indeed corrected it previously.

This is incredibly helpful information, everyone! I'm a new parent going through this process for the first time and honestly had no idea that household size could have such a massive impact on financial aid. The fact that each person can potentially change your SAI by $4,000-$5,000 is huge! I just checked my daughter's FAFSA and sure enough, our household size went from 4 to blank after the IRS transfer. Following the instructions here, I found it under Parent Information > Household Details > Family Members like @Keisha Robinson mentioned. Had to scroll way down and click that tiny edit button. One question though - after I make this correction and resubmit, about how long is it taking for applications to get processed again? Our school's priority deadline is April 15th and I'm getting nervous about timing. Also taking @GalaxyGuardian's advice about screenshots - definitely going to document everything in case this glitch happens again!

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses! I'll go ahead and enter the family size manually. Seems like I also need to pay attention to the "number in college" field too. Really appreciate all the information - definitely cleared up my confusion!

Just wanted to add that you should double-check your family size calculation before submitting! I made the mistake of only counting people living at home full-time and missed including my older brother who's in grad school but still gets support from my parents. Had to submit a correction later which delayed my aid processing. The FAFSA definition of "household size" is different from what most people think - it's really about financial support, not just physical residence. Take your time with this section!

my daughter is transfering next year & we need the parent loan too but we also need to do a direct consolidaton loan for my previous parent plus loans from her first two years. anyone know if i can do both or do i have to wait

Just wanted to add for anyone following this thread - I called my daughter's school directly and they confirmed that for 2025-26, they're also accepting a signed statement of intent to apply for Parent PLUS loans as adequate documentation for housing and meal plan deposits. This might be worth asking about at your schools too! They said as long as you've completed the FAFSA and indicate you plan to apply for PLUS when available, they'll work with you on payment timelines. Much less stressful than trying to front thousands of dollars while waiting for loan applications to open.