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the whole system is broken!! i finally got my part done for my son but now his SAI is way higher than the old EFC would have been with the EXACT SAME financial info as last year. how is that even possible????? anyone else seeing crazy high SAI numbers?
The SAI calculation is different from the old EFC formula - they changed several factors including how they assess home equity, the income protection allowance, and how they handle multiple students in college. Many middle-income families are seeing higher numbers this year. I'd suggest running the net price calculators on your son's colleges' websites as they may have adjusted their institutional aid to account for the formula changes.
UPDATE: I finally got through the system this morning! For anyone else struggling, here's what worked: 1. Used Chrome in incognito mode 2. Created separate browser profiles for each child 3. Logged in at 5:30 AM (seriously) 4. Used text message for MFA instead of email The IRS data transfer actually worked smoothly once I got past the authentication. Both applications now show completed status with confirmation numbers. Thank you all for your help and suggestions!
Congrats! Did you get to see your SAI numbers yet? I'm curious how they compare to the old EFC from previous years.
my school has this thing were u can become a RA mid year if someone quits and it covers housing right away!! maybe ur school has that? also check with ur states higher ed department becuz some states have emergency grants for college students that arent through the school
One more suggestion - consider taking one fewer class if possible. If you drop from 15 credits to 12 (still full-time for financial aid purposes), you might save enough to make your current funds stretch. Then you can make up that class in summer when you hopefully have more scholarship money lined up. I did this my sophomore year and it saved me about $1,800.
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!
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.
my friend had this problem n she went to the library n used their computer n it worked??? idk why but maybe try different browser or computer???
Aiden O'Connor
The impact of the SAI vs. EFC change depends on your specific financial situation. Generally: - Middle-income families with multiple children in college may see LESS aid (the "sibling discount" was reduced) - Lower-income families may see MORE aid due to increased income protection allowances - Families with more complex financial situations (divorce, multiple contributors) might see significant changes either way Since you mentioned being on the edge of qualifying, I'd recommend using one of the new FAFSA forecasting tools to estimate your SAI before submitting. The Federal Student Aid website has resources, or you can use tools from organizations like SwiftStudent or the College Board.
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Sofía Rodríguez
•This is really helpful, thank you! We do have another child starting college in 2025, so the reduced sibling discount is concerning. I'll look into those forecasting tools right away.
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Zoe Papadopoulos
btw i heard they changed the name from EFC to SAI cuz too many parents thought "estimated family contribution" meant that was all they had to pay for college lol. now its just a number that doesnt mean anything specific
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Fatima Al-Rashid
•That's EXACTLY what I thought when my first kid went to college!! I was like "we can afford $5000 a year" and then got hit with bills for WAY more than that. The whole system is designed to confuse parents!
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