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I just wanted to circle back to your original question about loans not affecting YOUR credit. To be perfectly clear:\n\n• Federal Direct Loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized) are in your SON'S name only and won't affect your credit\n• They don't require a credit check\n• They offer income-based repayment options after graduation\n• They qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness if he works in qualifying jobs\n• They can be consolidated and have fixed interest rates\n\nThese are BY FAR the best option, but unfortunately, they're limited to that $5,500 freshman year amount.\n\nFor everything beyond that, either you take Parent PLUS (in your name, affects your credit) or your son takes private loans (likely needs you as cosigner, which affects your credit).\n\nThere's no perfect solution that meets all your criteria, but I would absolutely max out the Federal Direct Loans first, then consider a combo of payment plans, work-study, and possibly Parent PLUS for the smallest amount possible.
Thank you for breaking this down so clearly! I definitely understand better now. It sounds like we should focus on maximizing all other options (scholarships, payment plans, work-study) to minimize what we need to borrow beyond the Federal Direct Loans. I appreciate everyone's help - this process is so much more complicated than I expected!
my cousin works for the dept of education and she said they're literally just putting paper forms in storage boxes right now because they cant keep up. they prioritize online applications cause of some new system they switched to. definitely do online!!!!
This is not accurate information. While paper forms are significantly delayed, they are not being stored without processing. Please be careful about spreading misinformation - it causes unnecessary panic for students. Paper forms are being processed, just with substantial delays (8-12 weeks) compared to online submissions (2-3 weeks).
Quick update based on recent Department of Education announcements: if you do submit online now, make sure you check the box indicating you previously submitted a paper form. This will flag your application for review to prevent duplicate SAI calculations. And remember that for the 2025-2026 cycle, you'll need to have your and your parents' 2023 tax information ready for the online form.
When I was filling out FAFSA for my daughter last month, I got so frustrated with the whole process!! I spent like 4 hours on their stupid website and then they had the nerve to ask for verification too. Does anyone know if all parents get selected for verification or just some? I'm wondering if I'll have to go through this again next year.
Verification is partly random and partly based on specific answers in your application. About 30% of all FAFSA applications get selected for verification. Factors that increase your chances include having used rounded numbers on your application, being self-employed, having filed tax amendments, or having discrepancies between reported information and IRS data. Being selected once doesn't necessarily mean you'll be selected again next year.
UPDATE: I submitted my verification documents yesterday (thank you all for the advice!) and got an email this morning saying my verification was complete. Just checked my son's status and you were all right - his application is now being processed! They're calculating his SAI now. I also called his top choice school and explained the situation. They were super understanding and gave him a 2-week extension on the deposit deadline since so many students are having FAFSA delays. Thank you all so much for helping me understand how this works!!
wait my fasfa says i need to fix somthing too but i cant figure out what?? where is this SAI report thing everyone is talking about?
UPDATE: I finally figured it out! For anyone with the same problem - I logged into my son's account, clicked on his FAFSA application, then found a small link that said "View Student Aid Index Report". The PDF had a section called "Items Flagged for Review" which showed we had entered conflicting information about our mortgage interest deduction. Plus I had to sign again as the parent contributor. Thank you all for your help! Now I just hope we haven't missed any important deadlines...
That's great news! And thank you for sharing the exact steps you took - that will help others in the same situation. Regarding deadlines, most schools have rolling financial aid deadlines for FAFSA corrections, so you should be fine. Just make sure you submit the corrections ASAP and maybe send a quick email to your son's school's financial aid office letting them know you've fixed the issues.
Abby Marshall
One final note: If your daughter's financial situation has remained consistent, she should still be eligible for similar Pell Grant funding. However, remember that the total Pell eligibility is limited to the equivalent of 12 semesters (or about 6 years) of funding throughout her undergraduate career. The system automatically tracks this, but it's good to be aware if she's planning to take more than 4 years to complete her degree.
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Noland Curtis
•That's helpful information! She's planning to finish in 4 years, but it's good to know there's some flexibility if needed. She's on track with her credits so far, thankfully.
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Laila Prince
does anyone know if they fixed those glitches from last years FAFSA? my parents had to retry like 6 times to get linked to the IRS data!!!!
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Diez Ellis
•Yes, most of those connection issues have been addressed in the updated system. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool should work more smoothly now. They've also extended the session timeout periods so you won't get kicked out as quickly if you need to step away from your computer while completing the application.
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