Since you mentioned being short $30K for freshman year, I'd strongly encourage you to talk to the financial aid office about whether this amount will be consistent for all four years. Many families don't realize that $30K per year means $120K+ in loans by graduation. With current interest rates, that could mean payments of over $1,400/month for 10 years after graduation. Financial aid officers can sometimes find additional institutional aid or work-study opportunities to reduce that borrowing need.

I just went through this process last year with my son! A few things that might help: 1) Definitely explore if your daughter can take out additional federal loans first - dependent undergrads can sometimes get more than the standard $5,500 if the parent is denied for PLUS. 2) Some schools have emergency aid funds or late-breaking scholarships that aren't widely advertised - worth asking about. 3) Consider if she could start at a community college for gen eds and transfer to save money, though I know that's not ideal if it's her dream school. 4) Payment plans through the school can sometimes help spread costs without interest if you can swing monthly payments instead of borrowing. The Parent PLUS route is definitely doable but as others mentioned, that interest really adds up over time. Good luck!

Thank you all for the helpful responses! We're going to contact the financial aid office at her community college next week to discuss how they handle Pell Grant disbursements specifically. I feel much more confident now knowing that she should receive the full amount she's eligible for, even with free tuition. I'll make sure to ask about state grants and other aid opportunities too!

Congratulations on the negative SAI! That's fantastic news for your daughter's financial aid eligibility. Just wanted to add one more tip - have your daughter check if her community college has any emergency aid funds or completion grants available. Many schools have additional small grants (sometimes $200-500) that students don't even know about. Also, if she's planning to transfer to a 4-year school later, maintaining good grades at community college can help her qualify for transfer scholarships. The combination of Pell Grant plus free tuition is going to give her such a great head start financially!

UPDATE: I FIXED IT!!! It was exactly what @user7 suggested - the contributor section! Even though my ex-husband isn't financially involved in my daughter's education, I had to specifically add him as a parent and then mark him as "not contributing" rather than just leaving him off entirely. What's infuriating is that there was ZERO indication this was the problem. No error message, no highlighted section, nothing. Just a vague "incomplete" status. For anyone facing this same issue - check your contributor section and make sure ALL parents/guardians (even uninvolved ones) are specifically accounted for one way or another. Thank you all so much for your help!!

Congratulations on getting it resolved! This is such valuable information for other parents dealing with the same nightmare. The contributor section issue seems to be a really common trap that catches people off guard. I'm bookmarking this thread because I have a feeling I'll be helping other parents in my community who run into this exact same problem. The new FAFSA system really needs better error messaging - it's ridiculous that families have to play detective to figure out what's missing when their child's financial aid is on the line. Thanks for updating us with the solution!

Update: I waited until this morning and started a fresh application! Made sure my mom used her own FSA ID for the parent signature this time. It went through perfectly and I got my confirmation email already. For anyone else with this problem - yes, you can absolutely start over with a new application if you mess up! Thank you all for the help!

Congratulations on getting it sorted out! This is such a common issue and your experience will definitely help other students who run into the same problem. The FSA ID mix-up between student and parent is probably the #1 signature error we see. It's great that you waited a day before starting over too - sometimes the system needs a little time to clear out the incomplete submission. Best of luck with your financial aid process!

Thanks everyone for the insights! It sounds like the consensus is that while minor adjustments happen regularly, major overhauls like the one that changed the grandparent 529 rules are less frequent, especially right after implementing such significant changes. I feel more confident continuing with our current plan of having my parents contribute to their 529 for my daughter. I'll also make sure to look into how CSS Profile schools might treat these assets differently since some of her target schools might use that. It's really helpful to hear from people who've navigated this system longer than I have. The 80/20 approach of planning based on current rules while maintaining some flexibility makes a lot of sense for us.

Great summary of the discussion! I'm glad you found the perspectives helpful. One additional tip as you move forward - consider setting up a simple spreadsheet to track any FAFSA rule changes that might affect your situation over the next few years. Even minor tweaks to income protection allowances or asset assessment rates can add up. Also, since your daughter is a freshman in high school, you have time to potentially test different strategies. For example, you could see how a small distribution from the grandparent 529 affects your practice FAFSA calculation in her junior year, giving you real data before making bigger decisions for her senior year applications. The fact that you're thinking about this now puts you way ahead of most families who don't start financial aid planning until the last minute. Keep staying informed, but don't let the uncertainty paralyze your planning efforts!