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UPDATE: We figured it out! My daughter logged into studentaid.gov and found her SAI score right on her dashboard under 'Your FAFSA Status.' We also confirmed which schools received her information. Turns out she was confused about the difference between the FAFSA results and actual financial aid award letters from schools (which will come separately). For anyone else with this issue - definitely have your student check their actual account rather than waiting for emails. Thanks everyone for your help!
Great news! And yes, that's the most common confusion - the FAFSA itself doesn't award money, it just provides the SAI that schools use to create their own aid packages. Glad you got it sorted out!
thx for the update! this helped me figure out what my daughter needed to look for too!
So glad to see this got resolved! This is exactly the kind of confusion I've been seeing with families this year. The new FAFSA system really doesn't do a great job of explaining the difference between getting your SAI processed vs. receiving actual financial aid awards from schools. For future reference for anyone reading this - once you have your SAI, you can also use the Federal Student Aid estimator tools to get a rough idea of what types of aid you might qualify for while you're waiting for official award letters from colleges. The timing this year has been particularly challenging with all the FAFSA delays, so don't panic if things seem to be taking longer than expected!
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One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - have you looked into whether you qualify for any discharge programs based on your school or career? If you attended a school that has since been found to have engaged in misleading practices (like many for-profit colleges), you might be eligible for Borrower Defense to Repayment. Similarly, if you work in certain fields (teaching, healthcare in underserved areas, etc.), there are specific forgiveness programs beyond PSLF. The recent changes to income-driven repayment plans have also made forgiveness more accessible.
I went to a state university that's still operating, so I don't think Borrower Defense applies in my case. I don't work in any of the qualifying fields for specialized forgiveness either. I'm definitely going to look into the updated income-driven plans though - is SAVE the newest one that replaced REPAYE?
Yes, SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) is the newest plan that replaced REPAYE. It has several significant improvements, including better interest subsidies (meaning your balance won't grow as much if your payment doesn't cover monthly interest) and potentially lower monthly payments. For undergraduate loans, it calculates your payment as 5% of discretionary income rather than 10%. It's worth exploring even if other IDR plans haven't worked well for you in the past.
I'm so sorry you're going through this nightmare. Reading through all these responses, it's clear you're not alone but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. Based on what everyone has shared, I'd suggest tackling this on multiple fronts simultaneously: 1) Use that Claimyr service to actually get through to Mohela, 2) File complaints with both the FSA Ombudsman and CFPB about the interest rate issue, and 3) Contact your congressional representative's office for help navigating the bureaucracy. The fact that your loan doubled despite 12 years of payments is absolutely unacceptable and suggests serious errors in how your account has been managed. Don't give up - you have more options than you realize, and there are people (like the financial aid advisors in this thread) who genuinely want to help you get this resolved.
Thank you so much for summarizing all the great advice in this thread! It's really helpful to have a clear action plan. I'm feeling more hopeful after reading everyone's responses - it's good to know there are actual steps I can take and that others have successfully resolved similar issues. I'm going to start with the Claimyr service tomorrow morning and file the complaints this weekend. Really appreciate this community for having my back when I felt completely lost in the system.
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im so confused about all this FAFSA stuff... so are they changing the rules for next year or for this year or both?? and whats the difference between EFC and SAI anyway?? sorry if thats a dumb question lol
Not a dumb question at all! The EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is being renamed to SAI (Student Aid Index) as part of the FAFSA Simplification Act. For 2023-2024 aid year, they're still using the EFC formula for determining your aid, even though they might call it SAI in some communications. For the 2024-2025 aid year (which many people have already applied for), they're fully implementing the new SAI formula, which calculates financial need differently. The changes include different income protection allowances, handling of multiple students in college differently, and changes to how certain assets are counted. These emails people are getting about 2023-2024 are just them running their new system on old data, which unfortunately triggers automated notifications.
This has been happening to me too! I've gotten 4 of these emails in the past few days and was starting to panic thinking something was wrong with my financial aid. Thank you everyone for the explanations - it's so reassuring to know this is just a system-wide issue and not something I need to worry about. I did check my SAR like others suggested and nothing changed, so I'm going to stop stressing about it. Really wish the Department of Education would just send out a mass email explaining what's happening instead of leaving thousands of students confused and worried!
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Update: We found the problem! My daughter went back through the application and discovered she accidentally marked 'yes' to the question about being in legal guardianship. She was confused by the wording. We've submitted the correction and now I can see the parent portion is available for me to complete. Thank you everyone for your help!
Great news! Make sure you both electronically sign the corrected application when you're done. And if you have any issues with the parent section, come back and ask!
SO glad you got it fixed! Those questions are seriously confusing. My son almost made the same mistake.
Glad you were able to resolve this! This is such a common issue - the FAFSA dependency questions really need clearer wording. For anyone else reading this thread who might face similar issues, it's worth double-checking all the dependency questions before submitting. Even one misclick can completely change your aid eligibility. The legal guardianship question in particular seems to trip up a lot of students. Best of luck with the rest of your financial aid process!
Luis Johnson
Just wanted to add my experience for anyone still waiting - I was in the exact same boat with summer 2024 loans showing "accepted" but no disbursement. Mine finally came through yesterday (took about 10 days from accepted status). The key thing that helped was getting written confirmation from my financial aid office that my classes wouldn't be dropped due to the DoE delays. Also, my school's bookstore let me charge books against my pending aid once I showed them the email confirmation. Don't panic if you're still waiting - it seems like they're processing them in batches now. Just make sure you have that written protection from your school!
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Mia Roberts
Just checking in - has anyone who was waiting seen their summer disbursements come through in the last few days? I'm still showing "accepted" status but no actual funds yet. My tuition deadline is this Friday and I'm starting to get really anxious. The financial aid office keeps saying "any day now" but I need to know if I should start looking for backup payment options. Also wondering if anyone has had success with that Claimyr service mentioned earlier - seems like it might be worth trying at this point!
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Zainab Ahmed
•I'm in the exact same situation! Still showing "accepted" but no disbursement yet, and my deadline is Monday. I actually tried the Claimyr service that Emma mentioned earlier and it worked - I got through to FSA in about 30 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. The agent confirmed my loans are in the final processing stage and should disburse within 2-3 business days. They also gave me a reference number to share with my school's financial aid office. Definitely worth the try if you're running out of time! In the meantime, I'd still recommend getting that written confirmation about class protection just to be safe.
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Miguel Silva
•That's so helpful to know about Claimyr working! I've been hesitant to try it but sounds like it's legit. Quick question - when you got the reference number from FSA, did your financial aid office actually do anything with it or was it just for your records? I'm wondering if that might help speed things up on the school's end too. Really hoping these final processing stages move quickly for all of us!
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