Thanks everyone for the responses! I feel so much better knowing this is just how the system displays things and not an actual problem with her application. Her SAI score came through this morning and everything looks correct. I appreciate all the helpful information!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm going through the exact same thing with my son's FAFSA right now. Seeing my name in the summary instead of his had me panicking that I somehow made him ineligible or that colleges would think I was trying to apply as a student at my age! It's such a relief to know this is just how the system works and that the schools get the correct information. The FAFSA process is stressful enough without these confusing display issues making us second-guess everything.

Update: I finally got this resolved! For anyone with the same issue - it turned out my name change from marriage was indeed the problem. Had to call the FSA help line (took forever to get through) and they had to manually override the signature verification. My daughter's application is now processed and we got her SAI score. Thanks everyone for your help!

As someone who just went through the FAFSA process myself, I can relate to how frustrating this signature issue can be! Based on what I've seen in this thread, it sounds like your name change from marriage is likely the root cause. A few quick suggestions: 1) Make sure you're logging into studentaid.gov (the official site) with YOUR own FSA ID, not your daughter's, 2) Check that all your personal info (name, SSN, DOB) on your FSA ID matches exactly what's on your most recent tax return, and 3) If there's a mismatch due to your name change, you'll probably need to call FSA to get it manually corrected. The Claimyr service that Emma mentioned seems to be helping people avoid the long hold times - might be worth trying if the regular phone line isn't working. Good luck getting this sorted out!

Quick update for everyone in this thread: FSA just released guidance to financial aid offices about the Schedule C income reporting issues with the 24-25 FAFSA. They're implementing a patch this weekend that should fix the DRT data transfer problems for self-employment income. If you're still struggling with this issue, try waiting until Monday to resubmit. You can also request that your school note in your file that you were affected by the known FAFSA Schedule C bug (reference FSA Electronic Announcement #24-7.3 if they ask for documentation).

As someone who just went through this exact nightmare, I want to add that you should also check if your parents amended their tax return after the initial filing. The FAFSA system doesn't automatically update when amendments are filed, which can cause these verification mismatches. I spent weeks thinking it was a Schedule C issue, but it turned out my dad had filed an amended return in November that I didn't know about. Once I updated the FAFSA with the amended return info, everything processed smoothly. Also, save screenshots of every error message you get - my financial aid office was much more helpful when I could show them the specific error codes rather than just describing the problem.

Welcome to the FAFSA maze! 😅 As someone who just went through this with my first kiddo last year, I totally feel your pain. The whole "OFFERED" vs "ACCEPTED" terminology is so misleading! One thing I learned the hard way - even after you find all the right buttons and sign all the documents, keep screenshots of everything! My daughter's portal randomly showed her Pell Grant as "pending" for like two weeks even though we'd done everything correctly. Having those screenshots saved us when we had to call the financial aid office to sort it out. Also, pro tip: if your daughter is living on campus, make sure you understand exactly when the aid gets disbursed vs when housing/meal plan payments are due. Sometimes there's a gap that can cause headaches if you're not prepared for it. Good luck navigating this crazy system!

Oh my goodness, this thread is a lifesaver! I'm literally going through the exact same thing right now with my son's financial aid portal at his college. The "OFFERED" status had me so confused - I was clicking everywhere looking for some kind of accept button! Reading through all these responses, it sounds like each school really does handle this differently. My son's portal has tabs labeled "Financial Aid Summary" and "Award Management" but I swear the Award Management section was completely empty when I checked last week. Now I'm wondering if I need to have him grant me access permissions like someone mentioned above, or if we need to complete that entrance counseling first. This whole process feels like you need a PhD just to navigate the websites! Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences - at least now I know we're not the only ones struggling with this. Going to go back and look for that hidden "Documents" tab now! 🤞

Thanks everyone for the clarification! The FAFSA really needs to add better explanations for all these columns and numbers. I found my actual SAI in the confirmation email from Federal Student Aid - it's a single number that will be shared with all my schools. The column numbers were just the order I entered schools, which doesn't affect anything. Such a relief!

Great to hear you found your SAI! You're absolutely right that the FAFSA interface could be way clearer about what all these numbers mean. For anyone else reading this thread - your SAI (Student Aid Index) is the key number that matters for federal aid eligibility. Lower SAI = more potential aid. The college list order numbers are just cosmetic and have zero impact on your financial aid packages. Each school will use your SAI plus their own institutional aid policies to create your offer. Good luck with your applications!