This happened to my FAFSA too. My school financial aid office told me it could change my SAI calculation by quite a bit depending on my family's specific financial situation. In my case, it actually lowered my SAI by about 2000 points which meant I qualified for more aid! So this recalculation might actually be good news for you.

Just want to update - my son's corrected FAFSA was sent to his school yesterday, and they've already updated his financial aid package. The whole process took about 10 days from when we got that email. The good news is his SAI actually went down by about $3,500, which means more grants! So definitely wait for the recalculation before making any decisions.

One additional point that no one has mentioned: When contacting the financial aid director, specifically state that your circumstances affect your "Expected Family Contribution" (now called the Student Aid Index or SAI). The $26,000 SAI was calculated using outdated information, and a Professional Judgment review should result in a recalculation based on your current financial reality without your father's income and with the loss of death benefits. Also, most schools have an enrollment deposit deferment process for students in special financial circumstances. Ask about this specifically when you contact them - it could allow you to defer your deposit deadline until after your aid is recalculated.

After reading through all the responses, I want to emphasize something important: document EVERY communication with the financial aid office. Save emails, note the names of who you speak with by phone, and follow up verbal conversations with summary emails. If your appeal is denied initially, you have the right to escalate to university leadership. The death of a parent is one of the most clearly defined special circumstances in financial aid guidelines.

make sure 2 check if ur school requires any additional forms for parent plus some colleges have their own form 2 fill out also don't forget 2 do the MPN (master promissory note) after getting approved thats something else totally

Something else to consider with Parent Plus loans that often gets overlooked - the debt is entirely in the parent's name, not the student's. This means your daughter has no legal obligation to repay it, even though many families have informal agreements about who's actually making the payments. If you're planning to have her help with payments after graduation, make sure to have clear conversations about that expectation. I've seen many miscommunications in families where parents assumed their child would help repay the Parent Plus loans, but nothing was explicitly discussed. Also, if you're nearing retirement, consider how these payments might impact your finances over the next 10-15 years, as Parent Plus loans don't have the same income-driven repayment options unless you consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan.

My daughter wanted to go to college so I told her to get a job instead. No FAFSA headaches, no student loans. She's been working at the mall for 6 months now and seems happy enough. Maybe college isn't worth all this trouble anyway?

UPDATE: We tried creating a completely new FSA ID with a different email address for my husband, and IT WORKED!! We had to wait 3 days for the SSN verification to process, but we finally got in and completed the FAFSA last night! Thank you to everyone who suggested solutions. The email address change seemed to be the key for us - I guess his old email was somehow linked to an account in the system even though he couldn't access it. For anyone facing similar issues: definitely try the different email approach before resorting to paper forms. And I'm going to check out that Claimyr service for future reference since we'll have to do this all again next year.

anybody know if this effects your SAI calculation?? my brothers fafsa had the same issue and his SAI was way higher than expected when it finally went through. not sure if its related but just a warning.

UPDATE: The IRS data finally came through today! Interestingly, as soon as it did, I got a completely different notification saying "New information has been added to your FAFSA" instead of the incomplete reminders. We were able to finish the rest of the application in about 20 minutes. For anyone else facing this issue - it took exactly 6 business days for the IRS data to transfer. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!