As a newcomer to this community, I want to echo what others have said - your SAI won't prevent your daughter from getting merit scholarships! I'm currently going through this process with my twin sons, and despite our SAI being over 120k, they've already received merit offers from several schools. One tip I haven't seen mentioned yet: look into automatic merit scholarships. Many state universities have published grids showing exactly what GPA/test score combinations guarantee specific scholarship amounts. These are completely separate from need-based aid and your FAFSA results don't matter at all. Also, regarding your employment change - I'd suggest keeping detailed records of your caregiving situation with your mom, including any medical documentation if available. Financial aid officers are often more sympathetic to family caregiving situations than people realize. Some schools even have specific provisions for families who've had employment gaps due to eldercare responsibilities. Don't give up hope! The merit aid landscape is much more favorable than the doom and gloom around high SAI scores would suggest.

Hi everyone! I'm new to this community but going through the exact same situation. Our SAI came back at 138k and I've been losing sleep over it! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring though. I wanted to add something that helped us - I found that calling the admissions offices (not financial aid) at schools my daughter was interested in was really helpful. The admissions counselors were much more accessible than financial aid staff and could give me specific information about their merit scholarship programs and what stats typically receive awards. Also, for anyone dealing with the frustration of contacting Federal Student Aid - I had success using their live chat feature during off-peak hours (early morning worked best for me). It took a few tries but I eventually got connected to someone who could explain our specific SAI calculation. One last tip - don't forget about departmental scholarships! Many academic departments have their own scholarship funds that are completely separate from general merit aid. These often have later deadlines and fewer applicants. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences - it's given me so much more confidence about our options!

Just want to echo what others have said about contacting the financial aid office directly - that was a game changer for me too! I was in almost the exact same boat (household income around $95K) and had given up after three years of basically nothing. But when I called about my daughter's final year, they told me about an emergency fund for families affected by the pandemic that I never would have known about otherwise. Got $2,800 that literally saved us from taking out another loan. The new FAFSA really is easier too - I was shocked when I finished it in under 30 minutes this year compared to the multi-hour ordeal it used to be. And with those SAI changes everyone's mentioning, it seems like they're finally recognizing that middle-class families need help too. Definitely worth one more try, especially since you've already identified specific programs at your daughter's school!

I'm new to this community but reading through everyone's experiences has been so eye-opening! I'm in a very similar situation - household income around $102K and I've been putting off the FAFSA for my daughter's sophomore year because I assumed we'd get nothing again. But hearing about these SAI formula changes and the hidden scholarship opportunities that require FAFSA completion has completely changed my perspective. The fact that so many of you found success by directly calling financial aid offices is brilliant - I never thought to be proactive like that. I just assumed they'd contact us if there were opportunities. And Layla, I'm so glad you decided to give it another shot and found those major-specific scholarships! Question for everyone: when you called your financial aid offices, did you just ask generally about programs requiring FAFSA, or did you mention your specific income range? I want to make sure I'm asking the right questions when I call my daughter's school this week.

I'm dealing with this same exact issue right now! My son's FAFSA had our household size of 5 people, but after the IRS data retrieval it went completely blank. I've been trying to fix it for weeks and getting nowhere with customer service. Thank you everyone for the detailed instructions on where to find this hidden field. It's ridiculous that such a critical piece of information that affects thousands of dollars in aid eligibility is buried so deep in the application and keeps getting wiped out by their own system! I'm also really concerned about our timeline - we have college deadlines coming up fast and I'm worried this correction will delay everything. Has anyone had success contacting their school's financial aid office directly about this widespread glitch? I'm thinking of reaching out proactively to explain the situation before our corrected FAFSA gets processed. This whole "simplified" FAFSA rollout has been an absolute disaster. Between the late launch, constant crashes, and now data getting randomly deleted, I feel like we're all beta testing their broken system while our kids' financial aid hangs in the balance.

Ugh, this is happening to us too! Just discovered our household size went from 4 to blank after the IRS transfer. I'm a single mom with three kids and this could seriously affect how much aid my oldest gets for college. Thank you everyone for the detailed instructions - I'm going to try the Parent Information > Household Details > Family Members path that @Keisha Robinson mentioned. Really hoping I can get this fixed before it delays our financial aid package. It's so frustrating that a "simplified" form is causing so many headaches. Between work and managing everything else, the last thing I need is to spend hours hunting for a missing field that their own system deleted! Taking screenshots of everything once I fix it - definitely don't want to go through this nightmare twice.

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!

This is really helpful information! I'm in a similar situation with my son starting his junior year. I had no idea about the June timeline for Parent PLUS applications - I was getting worried that I was missing something. The suggestion about getting a signed statement of intent is brilliant too. I'm definitely going to call his school's financial aid office tomorrow to see if they have similar policies. It's frustrating that the timing doesn't align better with when we need to make these financial commitments, but at least now I know what to expect. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

As someone who went through this process last year, I can confirm that the June timeline for Parent PLUS applications is accurate. One thing I'd add is to make sure you have all your documents ready ahead of time - tax returns, bank statements, etc. When June rolls around, you'll want to submit that application as quickly as possible since processing can take several weeks. Also, if you're planning to borrow the maximum amount (cost of attendance minus other aid), double-check with the school's financial aid office about exactly how they calculate that figure. Some schools include things like transportation and personal expenses in their cost of attendance, which can affect your loan eligibility.