As someone who just went through this exact same situation last year, I completely understand your frustration! Our SAI was 17,800 and we also fell into that terrible middle-income gap. A few things that helped us: First, definitely appeal to the school directly - many have emergency or hardship funds that aren't widely advertised. Second, look into your state's 529 college savings plan tax benefits if you haven't already - even starting one now can provide some tax relief. Third, check if your son qualifies for any teacher-family scholarships specifically - the NEA Foundation and some state teacher unions offer grants for educators' children. Also, consider having your son take a gap year to work and save if his dream school is really unaffordable this year. Sometimes deferring enrollment for a year gives you more time to find funding sources and can actually strengthen scholarship applications. The financial stress is real, but there are more options than just federal aid. Don't give up!

I'm facing a very similar situation with my daughter! We're also educators (I'm a high school math teacher, my husband teaches elementary) with a combined income around $88,000 and our SAI came back at 16,890. Like you, we were shocked to not qualify for any Pell Grant money. What's particularly frustrating is that the FAFSA doesn't seem to account for the reality that teacher salaries, while steady, don't leave much room for college savings after supporting a family. I've been doing a lot of research since getting our results, and one thing I discovered is that many colleges have specific scholarships or grants for children of educators that aren't automatically applied - you have to seek them out separately. Also, some schools offer payment plans that spread the costs over 10-12 months instead of requiring large lump sum payments, which might help with cash flow even if it doesn't reduce the total amount. Have you looked into whether your son's school participates in any tuition exchange programs for educator families? Some state universities have reciprocity agreements that can significantly reduce out-of-state tuition if he's considering schools in neighboring states. It's not ideal that we have to jump through so many hoops, but every little bit helps when you're trying to avoid crushing debt for your kids' education.

After you update your school list on FAFSA, I strongly recommend following up with each financial aid office individually. Email them about 7-10 days after updating your FAFSA to confirm they've received your information. This is especially important for schools with scholarships tied to FAFSA submission deadlines. Also, take screenshots of your confirmation pages each time you update your FAFSA. If there's ever a dispute about whether you submitted on time, having documentation will be invaluable.

I went through this exact same process last year when I applied to 25 schools! The swap method definitely works, but here's a pro tip that saved me a lot of stress: create a spreadsheet tracking each school's FAFSA deadline, your batch assignments (which 20 schools go first vs. second batch), and confirmation dates. Also, some schools have their own financial aid portals where you can check if they've received your FAFSA - this is way faster than emailing each office individually. State schools especially tend to have good tracking systems. Good luck with all 28 applications, that's dedication!

To summarize for the OP and anyone else with this question: 1. For married parents filing jointly: Only ONE parent needs an FSA ID and completes the contributor section 2. Either parent can be the contributor regardless of who's listed first on tax returns 3. The parent who creates the FSA ID must be the one to complete the contributor section 4. The system will use your joint tax information regardless of which parent completes it 5. Basic information about the non-contributing parent is still required Hope this helps!

Just wanted to add one more tip that helped us - make sure whoever becomes the contributor keeps their FSA ID login info somewhere safe! You'll need it again next year when you renew the FAFSA, and also if the school requests any additional documentation or if there are any issues with verification. I made the mistake of forgetting mine and had to go through the whole password reset process during a time-sensitive deadline. Also, if you're using the mobile app, the desktop version sometimes works better for complex forms like this. Good luck with your daughter's application!

Just saw your comment about trouble reaching financial aid offices. Yes, they're absolutely swamped right now. This is where being strategic helps. Try calling right when they open in the morning, or in the last hour before they close when call volume sometimes decreases. Also, check if they have virtual appointment scheduling - many schools now offer 15-minute Zoom appointments you can book online, which can be easier than getting through by phone. Don't give up - this is too important for your daughter's future. The financial aid offices want to help; they're just dealing with unprecedented volume this year.

I'm in a very similar situation! My son's FAFSA was processed March 20th and we've only heard from 2 out of 6 schools so far. What's really stressing me out is that the two packages we did receive were SO different - one school offered $18K in grants, the other only $7K with basically the same SAI. It's making me realize how much the aid can vary between schools even when your financial situation is identical. Has anyone else seen huge differences between their aid packages this year? I'm wondering if some schools are being more conservative with their offers because of all the FAFSA chaos, or if this level of variation is normal. Really hoping the remaining schools come through with something reasonable!

I'm having this exact same signature loop issue right now! Been stuck for the past day and getting really stressed about my deadline. Reading through all these solutions is giving me hope though. I'm going to try the combination approach - private browsing mode with ad blockers disabled at around 5-6am tomorrow morning. If that doesn't work, I'll try the mobile app and the full logout/wait/login method that Maggie mentioned. It's honestly ridiculous that we need to jump through all these technical hoops just to submit financial aid applications, but I'm grateful this community exists to share workarounds. The fact that Federal Student Aid acknowledged this as a widespread issue makes me feel less crazy for struggling with it. Will update if I manage to break through!

I just wanted to add another solution that worked for me when I had this signature loop issue a few weeks ago! After trying all the browser-based solutions without success, what finally broke the loop for me was switching to a completely different device. I had been trying on my laptop for days, but when I borrowed my roommate's computer and logged into my FSA ID there, the signature page worked perfectly on the first try. I think sometimes the issue might be related to cached data or settings that are tied to your specific device/browser combination that even private browsing doesn't fully clear. So if you have access to another computer, tablet, or even a different phone, it might be worth giving that a shot! It's frustrating that we have to troubleshoot like this, but at least there are multiple paths to success. Hope this helps someone who's still stuck in the loop!