One more important tip: The new system calculates the Student Aid Index (SAI) differently than the old EFC formula. Your son might qualify for more or less aid than in previous years, even with similar financial information. The biggest changes are: 1. More protection for low-income families 2. Different treatment of multiple students in college 3. Changes to how assets are counted Once you complete the form, your son should contact his college's financial aid office to understand how his specific aid package might change under the new system. Many schools are still figuring out how to adapt their institutional aid to work with the new federal formula.

I'm going through this exact same nightmare right now! Just wanted to add that if you're having trouble with the parent contributor invitation system, make sure your son sends the invitation from HIS account after he's already started his application. I kept trying to create my FSA ID before my daughter had sent the invite and it kept giving me errors. Also, the 2022 tax thing threw me off too - apparently they switched to "prior-prior year" a few years ago to make processing faster, but with all the delays this year it seems pointless! The whole "simplified" FAFSA is anything but simple. Hang in there - we're all figuring this mess out together!

just filled out fafsa for my kid and the question says "How many people are in your parents household" and then explains it means people your parents support between july 2025 and june 2026. so definitely current/future not past. hope that helps

I just went through this same situation with my daughter's FAFSA this year! It's definitely confusing when the tax year and household size timeframes don't match up. Just to add another perspective - make sure you also consider any other dependents you might have. For example, if you have younger children still living at home, they count in your household size even if they're not college-bound yet. Also, if you're divorced or separated, only count people in YOUR household that you support, not your ex-spouse's household. The FAFSA customer service can be hit or miss, but your son's college financial aid office is usually really helpful with these specific questions once he's admitted and enrolled.

UPDATE: Thank you all for your advice! I spoke with both the financial aid office and the enrollment management director. They've agreed to provide us with a preliminary aid estimate based on our SAI score, and they're extending our deposit deadline to June 1st. They also put in writing that if the final package is significantly different, we can request a full deposit refund. I'm still frustrated with the overall situation, but I feel much better knowing we have some flexibility. For anyone else dealing with this, definitely reach out directly to the school and ask for these accommodations - it worked for us!

This is such great news to hear! I'm a high school counselor and I've been dealing with panicked families all month about these FAFSA delays. Your success story gives me hope that I can guide other families through this same process. I'm definitely going to share your strategy with my students - specifically asking for preliminary estimates based on SAI scores and getting deposit refund policies in writing. The fact that you got an extended deadline AND a refund guarantee shows that schools really can be flexible when families advocate for themselves. Thanks for taking the time to update everyone. Stories like yours help other families know they're not powerless in this situation!

this happens way more than ppl think! my brother had same issue but with his social security number being off by 1 digit. the system is so rigid it cant catch obvious errors

So glad you got this resolved! This is exactly why I always recommend double-checking every single field on the FAFSA before submitting - even the ones that seem obvious like birthdates. The new system is incredibly sensitive to data entry errors and doesn't have the same error-checking that the old one did. Your story is going to help so many other students who run into similar issues. Thanks for sharing the update!

UPDATE: You were all right! My husband logged into his account and found he needed to re-verify his income information. There was an error flag on HIS dashboard that wasn't showing up on mine. He fixed it, signed his part again, and now we can see the application is fully complete. The SAI even updated (went down a little, which is good!). Thanks everyone for your help! For anyone else with this issue - definitely check ALL contributor accounts even if yours looks fine.

So glad to see this resolved! This is exactly why I always recommend having ALL contributors check their individual accounts when you get those "Action Required" emails. The FAFSA system does a poor job of communicating cross-contributor issues on the main applicant's dashboard. For future reference, here's a quick checklist when you get these emails: - Each contributor logs into their own StudentAid.gov account - Check for any pending signatures or verifications - Verify all tax information matches exactly - Make sure dependent/independent status is correct - Confirm all household members are properly listed The new system is definitely more thorough but requires much better communication between family members than the old FAFSA did!