One more thing to consider - if your FAFSA SAI came back higher than expected, you might want to submit an appeal for special circumstances to NC State's financial aid office. If your financial situation has changed since the tax year used for FAFSA (which is 2023 taxes for the 2025-26 academic year), you can request a professional judgment review. Common reasons for successful appeals include: - Job loss or reduction in income - Extraordinary medical expenses not covered by insurance - Support of extended family members - One-time income that inflated your tax return (like a property sale) The financial aid office has discretion to adjust your aid package based on current circumstances rather than just the FAFSA formula.

Hey Ruby! Congratulations on your son's acceptance to NC State! I'm a current NC State parent and wanted to share a few more resources that really helped us close the funding gap: 1. Check if your county has a Community Foundation - many have scholarships specifically for students attending NC universities. We found three through our county that totaled $4,500. 2. Look into professional associations related to computer science - organizations like the NC Technology Association often have student scholarships that aren't widely known. 3. Don't overlook the smaller "random" scholarships - we found one through a local Rotary Club for $1,000 that only had 8 applicants because it was so specific (had to write about community service AND be going into STEM). 4. NC State's Computer Science department specifically has industry partnerships with companies like Red Hat and SAS that offer scholarships directly to incoming CS students. Email the department chair directly - sometimes these opportunities don't make it to the main scholarship portals. The lack of communication from scholarship organizations is SO frustrating, but keep applying! We ended up piecing together about $8,000 from 5 different small scholarships. It's totally doable, just takes persistence!

If you don't hear back within a week, I recommend escalating to the Director of Financial Aid. You can usually find their contact information on the school's directory. Also, be sure to document all communications (dates, names of who you spoke with, what was promised). If multiple follow-ups don't resolve it, contacting your state's higher education agency can sometimes help put pressure on the institution to address the issue promptly.

I'm dealing with something similar at my daughter's school! While you're waiting for CSU Fullerton to fix their system issue, you might want to also reach out to your federal congressperson's office. They often have staff who specialize in helping constituents navigate federal aid issues, and they can sometimes get faster responses from Department of Education offices than individual families can. My friend had success with this approach when her son's school was taking too long to resolve a FAFSA verification issue. It's worth a shot while you're waiting on the school's timeline!

Update: I just got off the phone with my school's financial aid office. They were actually really understanding and said they've been seeing this problem a lot. They're setting up a special appeal process for students affected by the multiple-in-college change. I have to submit last year's award letter, this year's SAI calculation, and a statement about how this affects our ability to pay. They said they can't promise anything, but they're trying to find institutional funds to help bridge some of the gap. Fingers crossed! Thanks everyone for your help.

I'm so sorry you're going through this - the new FAFSA changes have really blindsided a lot of families. It sounds like you're doing all the right things by reaching out to your school's financial aid office. Just wanted to add a few more suggestions that might help: 1. Ask your financial aid counselor about work-study opportunities if you haven't already - sometimes there are positions that weren't advertised widely 2. Check if your state has any emergency financial aid programs for students affected by the FAFSA changes - several states have created these specifically for situations like yours 3. Look into whether your school has any department-specific scholarships in your major that you might not have applied for yet Also, don't feel bad about considering community college for some courses if needed - I know it's not what you planned, but taking a few summer courses at CC to lighten your course load (and costs) during the regular semester can be a good strategy. You're being smart by exploring all your options instead of just taking on massive debt. Keep us posted on how your appeal goes!

One thing nobody mentioned: check if your state has any grants or scholarships that might be available regardless of your FAFSA SAI. Our state has a program for students with over 3.5 GPA that offers partial tuition coverage at in-state public universities, and it doesn't use the federal methodology at all.

Don't give up hope! I was in a very similar situation last year - SAI of 36,500 with a household income around $120k. While we didn't qualify for Pell Grants, my son still received a decent aid package from his school. Here's what helped us: 1) Applied to schools known for generous merit aid, 2) Had him apply for every local scholarship we could find (even small $500 ones add up!), 3) Contacted financial aid offices directly to explain our situation. The key is casting a wide net - some schools surprised us with institutional grants we weren't expecting. Also, don't forget about work-study opportunities and look into your state's aid programs. The sticker price isn't always what you'll end up paying!

does anyone know if we will get more money with negative sai than we would have with the old efc system??? my brothers sai was like -1200 and mine is -3400 but we have same parents lol

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Reading through all these responses has been so reassuring. I was panicking thinking I somehow skipped entering our tax information, but it sounds like the automatic IRS data retrieval is supposed to handle that. My daughter's SAI came back as -$2,100 and I was worried something was wrong with the calculation. It's frustrating how different this new system is from the old FAFSA - I wish they had better explanations or tutorials walking parents through what to expect. At least now I know our negative SAI is actually good news for financial aid eligibility! Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.