my niece goes to penn state and she said a lot of people dont know that u can appeal for more summer aid. but you gotta do it quick b4 the term starts!!!! did u try that??

One important detail no one has mentioned: Your 23-24 FAFSA technically covers Fall 2023, Spring 2024, and Summer 2024. If your son received full Pell for Fall and Spring, that would explain the reduced summer amount (hitting that 150% cap others mentioned). For the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year, make sure you've completed the new FAFSA (the simplified one that just launched). If you maintain a 0 SAI (formerly EFC), your son should be eligible for maximum Pell Grant amounts for the regular terms. And definitely check with Penn State about possible summer scholarship options - many schools have specific funds just for summer study that aren't automatically applied.

When my daughter started college last year, I found myself in a similar situation - wanting to combine Parent PLUS loans with out-of-pocket payments. Here's what I learned the hard way: 1. Financial aid and student accounts/billing are TWO SEPARATE OFFICES at most schools. If you're asking about payment plans and billing, you need the Bursar's Office or Student Accounts, not Financial Aid. 2. The Parent PLUS loan process is frustrating because you have to specify an amount, but the exact bill isn't always clear when you're applying. 3. If you ever need to INCREASE your Parent PLUS loan mid-year (which we did), there's additional paperwork and another credit check. If I could do it all over again, I would have borrowed slightly MORE than I thought I needed for fall semester, then adjusted downward for spring once I had a better handle on our finances.

One more tip from my experience: the Parent PLUS loan application asks for the loan period (academic year) and loan amount. If you indicate a full academic year loan period but later decide you don't need the spring semester portion, you can cancel that disbursement without penalty before it's processed. This gives you flexibility - if your financial situation improves dramatically, you can cancel the spring portion. If not, it's already approved and ready to disburse. Also, keep in mind that Parent PLUS loans require a new application each academic year, so you'll go through this process again next year for your son's sophomore year.

Just to follow up on my earlier comment - make sure when you contact your son's financial aid office that you specifically ask about an \

Thank you for the follow-up! I just spoke with my son, and we're going to his financial aid office first thing Monday morning with all his documentation about the retirement account. I'll specifically ask for an \

I called our university's financial aid office yesterday about my son's delayed SAI, and they said they're accepting screenshots of the "FAFSA submitted" confirmation page as proof that students have completed their financial aid application requirements by the priority deadline. Then they'll process the actual awards once the SAI comes through. Might be worth asking your daughter's schools if they have a similar policy in place.

In response to your question about contacting FSA directly - yes, it can help, especially if your daughter's application might have an issue that's not displaying in the system. Many families are discovering their applications are stalled for verification or inconsistencies that aren't being clearly communicated. If you do manage to speak with an agent, ask them to check if the application is truly "in process" or if it's flagged and waiting for additional information. Also ask them to verify that all parental contributions and signatures are properly recorded in the system. By the way, most colleges have established workarounds for these delays, so don't panic about the deadlines. Just make sure your daughter communicates proactively with each school's financial aid office.

they should really make this more clear!!! i was so confused by the black vs blue too, ended up starting over TWICE thinking i did something wrong!!! 😤

To address a few questions that came up in this thread: @user109: The EFC (Expected Family Contribution) was replaced by the SAI (Student Aid Index) starting with the 2024-2025 FAFSA as part of the FAFSA Simplification Act. It's essentially the same concept but with some calculation changes that better account for family size and multiple students in college. For everyone having trouble reaching Federal Student Aid by phone: they're experiencing extremely high call volumes due to all the questions about the redesigned form. In addition to the Claimyr option mentioned above, you can also try: 1. Using the virtual assistant on studentaid.gov (it's actually pretty helpful) 2. Calling during off-peak hours (early morning or late evening) 3. Contacting your school's financial aid office for guidance The new system has a learning curve, but once you understand the blue/black field system and the contributor model, it's actually faster than the old version.