FAFSA
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Non-compliant ex won't complete FAFSA portion - will my child still get financial aid?
I'm helping my friend navigate FAFSA for her high school senior, but we're hitting a roadblock with her ex (the student's father). He's completely uncooperative and refuses to provide any financial information. She has primary custody but they share legal custody. Will her child still qualify for financial aid without the ex's information? What are the workarounds for non-compliant parents? Also, when is the final deadline for the 2025-2026 FAFSA? We're panicking a bit since her daughter has already been accepted to several schools but this financial aid issue is holding everything up. Thanks in advance for any guidance!
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FAFSA website down? Can't access student portal since yesterday
Is anyone else having trouble accessing the studentaid.gov website? My daughter has been trying to check her SAI score since yesterday afternoon but keeps getting an error page. We've tried different browsers (Chrome and Edge), cleared cookies, even used my phone's data instead of our wifi. Nothing works! The site either loads halfway then freezes or gives that unhelpful 'Sorry, something went wrong' message. The deadline for accepting her financial aid package from her top choice is coming up next week, and we need to see if her FAFSA application was fully processed. Anyone know if there's a system-wide outage or have any workarounds?
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My daughter had the same issue last week! I ended up calling her school and they extended her deadline by 10 days because so many people were having problems. definitely worth asking about! good luck!!
That's really good to know, thank you! I've already emailed her school but will follow up with a call tomorrow if we still can't get in. 10 days would give us plenty of breathing room.
Just an update - the site appears to be working normally now. I was able to log in and access everything without any delays. Might want to try again when you have a chance!
Just tried it and you're right! Finally got in and can see everything. Her SAI score is there and the application shows as processed. Thank you everyone for all your help!
When will my son get his FAFSA SAI after both parent and student sections completed?
I'm super confused about the FAFSA timeline this year! My son completed his portion of the 2025-2026 FAFSA application on Monday night, and I finished my parent contribution section Tuesday night. Now we're both wondering when we'll actually see the SAI number? The studentaid.gov site isn't clear about processing times. Does anyone know how long it usually takes once both parts are submitted? And yes, I'm assuming both the student AND parent sections need to be completed before they generate the SAI, right? This is our first time going through this process and we're hoping to compare financial aid packages from different schools ASAP.
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Maybe this is a stupid question but what exactly is the SAI and why is it so important? My daughter is filling out her FAFSA next week and I'm trying to understand this whole system. Is the SAI what determines how much aid she'll get?
The SAI (Student Aid Index) replaced the old EFC (Expected Family Contribution) in the 2024-2025 cycle. It's a number that colleges use to determine your financial need and eligibility for different types of aid. Lower SAI = more need-based aid eligibility Higher SAI = less need-based aid eligibility It's important because it's used by every college to create their financial aid packages. The SAI itself isn't the final amount you'll pay - each school uses it differently in their calculations.
Update: We just got the SAI this morning - took exactly 9 days from when I completed the parent section. For anyone wondering, we received an email notification with a link to log in and view the SAI. Now my son has to make sure all his colleges receive it. Thanks everyone for your help!
nice! faster than i thought it would be honestly
Great news! As long as the schools were listed on his FAFSA, they'll automatically receive the information. If he needs to add more schools now, he can go back into the FAFSA and update the school list. The newly added schools should receive the information within a few days.
When to start FAFSA application for Fall 2025 freshman? First-time parent confused
My son is a high school senior this year and will be starting college Fall 2025. I've never done the FAFSA process before and I'm completely lost on the timeline. When should I actually start filling out his application? Is it too early now or am I already behind? Also, does he need to be accepted to colleges first or do we do FAFSA before acceptances? Any guidance would be SO appreciated!
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wait i thought fafsa opened october 1st?? did they change it???
Yes, they permanently changed the opening date to December 1st starting with the 2024-2025 application cycle. It used to be October 1st, but that's no longer the case.
Thank you all for the helpful information! I'm going to start working on the FSA IDs today for both of us. I'm also going to make a list of all his potential schools and research their deadlines. So stressed about our income change situation, but at least now I know to contact the schools directly about that. Appreciate all the advice!
You're on the right track! One more tip: when you create the FSA IDs, write down all the information including the challenge questions and answers somewhere secure. If you forget the FSA ID password, those challenge questions will be crucial for recovery. Also, don't use the same email address for both FSA IDs - each person needs their own unique email.
FAFSA grant reduction from $22k to $600 - can't fix error message on portal
I'm having a mini meltdown over here about my daughter's financial aid package for 2025-2026. Last year she received about $22k in grants, but the new package is showing only $600?! There's an alert on her studentaid.gov account saying there's an error in her FAFSA application, but when we try to correct it, the system won't let us make ANY changes. We've triple-checked her SAI score and nothing seems out of place compared to last year. Her income actually went DOWN slightly (she worked less hours at her campus job), our family situation is identical, and we submitted everything before the priority deadline. Has anyone dealt with this kind of dramatic grant reduction? How did you get past the 'can't make corrections' issue? I'm seriously freaking out about how we'll cover the difference if this doesn't get fixed!
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UPDATE: I just checked with a colleague in our financial aid office. There's a known system-wide glitch affecting students with any form of work-study income from the previous year. The system is incorrectly counting work-study earnings twice - once as income and once as financial aid received. Since you mentioned your daughter had a campus job, this could be the exact issue. The solution is to file a specific correction form called the "Income Adjustment Request" through her school's financial aid office. Bring documentation showing her work-study income specifically labeled as such. The school can submit this directly to bypass the system lock.
THANK YOU!!! This makes so much sense because she did have work-study last year! I'll ask specifically about the Income Adjustment Request form when we go tomorrow. You've given me hope that this can actually be fixed!
Isabella Oliveira
One other important point: Even though your friend can submit FAFSA with just her information as the custodial parent, she should be prepared for the verification process. About 30% of FAFSA applications are selected for verification, and complicated family situations often trigger this. She should have ready: 1. Custody agreement documents 2. Tax returns and W-2s 3. Documentation showing where the student lived during the past year 4. Any court orders regarding financial support If selected for verification, she'll need to submit these to each college's financial aid office. Being prepared will prevent delays in her daughter's financial aid package.
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Emma Wilson
AuthorThank you! I'll help her gather all this documentation now so she's prepared if she gets selected for verification. Should she mention the non-compliant ex situation proactively on the FAFSA somewhere, or just wait to explain if asked?
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Malik Thomas
make sure she does the right fafsa too! the new fafsa is confusing AF lol and the questions about which parent to include aren't super clear. i messed mine up the first time and had to redo it
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Omar Zaki
Good point. On the new FAFSA, there's a specific section about parent household information. Your friend should indicate she's the custodial parent (where the student lived more than 50% of the time). The system will then only ask for her information. If she makes a mistake, she can go back and make corrections after submitting.
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