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just saw on twitter that the Department of Education announced they're implementing a massive fix for this exact issue this weekend. Supposedly all affected applications will be reprocessed automatically by next Wednesday. Not sure if I believe it but thought I'd share!
I saw that too! Fingers crossed it actually happens on schedule. I'll believe it when I see it tho lol. This whole FAFSA season has been one disappointment after another.
UPDATE: After reading all your advice, I was able to connect with a very helpful FSA agent (the Claimyr service worked great, btw - got a callback in about 2 hours instead of waiting on hold forever). Turns out the issue was with how my daughter's birthdate was formatted. In the FAFSA we had entered 09/04/2007 but the IRS had it as 9/4/2007 without the leading zeros. Such a tiny thing! The agent submitted a correction request yesterday, and we just received notification that her SAI has been calculated correctly. Her school's financial aid office can now access it and start putting together her aid package. Thank you all for your help and suggestions! For anyone else dealing with this issue, definitely try to reach a live agent who can see the detailed error codes - they can identify exactly what needs to be fixed.
That's awesome! So happy you got it resolved. I'm calling again tomorrow using that service. Fingers crossed we get similar results!
So glad to hear you got this resolved! This is exactly the kind of minor data discrepancy that's causing issues for thousands of students. For anyone else reading this thread with similar problems, I recommend keeping detailed notes of any corrections made and following up within 5 business days if you don't see a resolution.
Update: I finally got my dad to create his FSA ID and complete his section. It took about 20 minutes total. The system accepted his submission and now shows our FAFSA as "Processing" instead of "Action Required." Thank you all for the help and clarification! I had no idea the new system required both parents regardless of filing status. Hopefully this thread helps others in the same situation.
Your SAI will automatically be sent to all the schools you listed on your FAFSA. Each school will then use that information to create your financial aid package based on their own funding formulas and available resources. Some schools might request additional information or have their own supplemental forms (like the CSS Profile for private colleges). Keep an eye on your student portal for each school and your email for any follow-up requests. Glad you got this resolved! This year's FAFSA changes have confused nearly everyone.
my daughters counselor said like 30% of all fafsas r getting flagged for review this year bcuz of the new system. its normal but super annoying!!!
That makes me feel better that it's not just us! Thanks for sharing what the counselor said.
Update on your situation: I've just learned from a financial aid conference call that the Department of Education is specifically reviewing applications with multiple students from the same household at a higher rate this year. This is because the new simplified FAFSA doesn't have as many cross-verification questions as previous versions. For families with students in different grade levels (like your junior and senior), they're looking to verify that household information is consistent across applications. Your daughter's application going into review after initially being processed is actually a normal part of this new protocol. As long as you reported consistent information for both students, everything should resolve itself within 2-3 weeks. Just make sure to respond to any document requests within the timeframe specified.
This is incredibly helpful information! I had no idea they were specifically targeting multi-student households for review. Both applications should have identical household information since I helped both kids complete them, so hopefully we'll be okay. Thank you for sharing this insight from the conference call!
Income verification can take longer than simple corrections. If you've been waiting 3+ weeks, I'd definitely recommend calling FSA directly to check on the status. Sometimes applications get stuck in the system and a phone call can move things along.
FINAL UPDATE: Got the new SAI number today - only took 3 business days! And good news - updating our family size from 3 to 4 people lowered his SAI by about $2,500. Already notified his schools about the change. Thanks again to everyone who helped!
Sophie Duck
This new 2024-2025 FAFSA system is GARBAGE. I work in a college financial aid office and we're seeing hundreds of these issues. The auto-submit feature is causing massive problems. Here's what you need to know: 1. Yes, the system auto-submits after 48 hours of inactivity 2. Yes, this WILL likely cause problems with your daughter's application 3. Yes, it will probably get flagged for verification 4. NO, submitting another correction right now isn't recommended You NEED to speak with an FSA agent directly. They can add a note to your daughter's application explaining the auto-submission issue and guide you on next steps. Without both parents' signatures (assuming you're both required contributors), the SAI calculation will be incorrect, which affects all aid determinations.
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Liam Cortez
•Thank you so much for this insider perspective. It's reassuring to hear from someone who understands the system, even if the news isn't great. I'll definitely prioritize speaking with an FSA agent directly.
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Sophie Duck
•No problem! One more thing - make sure you check your daughter's SAI once it's calculated. If it seems unusually high or low, that's another sign that your information wasn't properly included. The schools can help with corrections too, but it's faster if you resolve it directly with FSA first.
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Liam Cortez
UPDATE: I finally got through to an FSA agent! They confirmed that the system does auto-submit after 48 hours, but said the good news is that they can see my information was included in the correction, even though my signature wasn't. They're adding a note to our application and sending instructions for me to provide my signature through a special process. The agent said this happens frequently and schools are aware of the issue. Thanks everyone for your help!
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Christian Bierman
•That's great news! Make sure you follow their instructions for adding your signature exactly as directed, and I'd recommend keeping a record of your conversation with the agent (date, time, reference number if provided). This can be helpful if questions come up later during the aid process.
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Liam Cortez
•That's a great suggestion - I did write down the agent's name and the case number they provided. Hopefully this gets resolved soon. My daughter's school has a May 1 deadline for financial aid documents.
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