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Just to clarify for everyone: The 2025-2026 FAFSA now includes the Student Aid Index (SAI) which replaced the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC). When reporting parent income, retirement contributions and distributions have specific guidelines. Contributions to retirement accounts generally don't affect your SAI calculation, while qualified distributions used for education expenses are treated differently from other withdrawals. The specific rule the OP needs to focus on is that income from retirement accounts shouldn't be reported as additional income if it was already counted in the AGI on the tax return.
This is exactly why this process is so frustrating! How is a 17-year-old supposed to understand all these tax and retirement details? Most adults don't even understand this stuff. The form should be way more clear about what to include and what not to include.
UPDATE: I was finally able to submit my correction today! The error message went away after 4 days. For anyone else dealing with this issue - just keep checking back every day. Now I'm just nervously waiting to see how much my SAI changes and if it will arrive in time for my school's aid packaging. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!
Great news! The correction typically takes another 3-5 days to process. Once that's complete, you'll receive an updated SAI. Remember to download your corrected Student Aid Report and notify your schools about the update.
Will do! I already sent emails to my top three schools letting them know about the correction. Fingers crossed this all works out!
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I've been helping families with FAFSA issues for years, and this new system has been particularly problematic. Here's what I recommend: 1. Completely log out of the studentaid.gov website 2. Clear your browser cache and cookies 3. Log back in with your FSA ID (parent) 4. Go to "I'm a Parent" section and verify your profile is complete 5. Then have your son log in with his FSA ID 6. Start a brand new FAFSA application (do not use the correction feature) 7. When you reach the "Parent Information" section, make sure your son properly transfers access to you The key is making sure both FSA IDs are properly linked in the system. The new FAFSA has a contributor model where the student must explicitly request parent contribution rather than just having parents fill out sections themselves. If this doesn't work, call Federal Student Aid directly - though be prepared for long wait times.
Thank you for these detailed steps! I didn't realize there was a specific "I'm a Parent" section I needed to complete first. That might be what we're missing. We'll try this approach tonight.
UPDATE: We finally got it working! It was a combination of issues. First, we needed to use Firefox instead of Chrome as someone suggested. Second, my son had accidentally clicked the "homeless or self-supporting" box which made the system think he was independent even though he answered dependent on other questions. Finally, I had to complete my FSA ID profile completely before starting his application. For anyone else facing this issue - check EVERY dependency status question carefully and try a different browser! Thank you all for your help - his SAI finally calculated correctly and we can see the entire aid package now. What a relief!
So glad you got it fixed! The new FAFSA system is really sensitive to those special circumstance questions.
Excellent news! This is exactly why we tell families to review every question carefully. The new system seems to give precedence to certain independence criteria even when other answers indicate dependent status. Thanks for updating us!
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has anyone had any luck just straight up asking schools to push back their deposit deadline?? i'm tempted to just email all 7 of my daughters schools and ask for a june 1 deadline instead
Yes! Several of my advisees have successfully gotten extensions this year. The key is to be specific about why you need more time (waiting on other financial aid packages to compare) and to request a specific new deadline (like June 1). Don't just ask for "more time" - schools respond better to concrete requests. About 70% of schools are granting extensions when formally requested by email this year.
Update in case it helps others: We finally started making progress! The financial aid advisor at my son's top choice university told us they're actually processing packages by major right now. So if your student applied to a popular major (business, engineering, nursing), your package might come later than others. Once we understood this, we called and specifically asked if they could prioritize his application since we have the May 1 deadline, and they were actually pretty helpful!
That's really interesting about processing by major - my daughter applied for nursing at several schools so that could explain the delays. I'll definitely mention that when I call. Thanks for sharing what worked for you!
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One more tip regarding the 2025-26 FAFSA timeline: - Create FSA IDs now (October/November) - Application opens December 1, 2024 - Complete FAFSA as soon as possible after opening (ideally December/January) - Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation typically arrives 3-5 days after submission - Schools receive your information after SAI calculation - Aid packages typically sent February-April depending on the school Even though the deadline isn't until June 30, 2026, many state and institutional aid programs have much earlier deadlines and some operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Always aim to submit as close to the December opening as possible.
This timeline is extremely helpful! I had no idea some aid was first-come, first-served. We'll definitely aim to submit in December. Is the 2025-26 application based on our 2023 tax information like the current application?
Yes, the 2025-26 FAFSA will use your 2023 tax information (which you filed in 2024). This is part of the prior-prior year system they use now, which makes it easier since you'll already have completed those tax returns. One other thing to prepare - if you and your daughter both have smartphones, I recommend downloading the myStudentAid mobile app. You can create the FSA IDs and complete the FAFSA through the app as well, and some people find the mobile interface easier than the desktop site.
Perfect! We already have our 2023 taxes filed, so that part should be straightforward. I didn't know about the mobile app - will definitely check that out. Thanks for all the help!
Emma Johnson
idk but we added schools on 4/22 and they showed up right away? maybe try deleting cookies or using different browser? just a thought
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Evelyn Kim
•I hadn't thought about trying a different browser. I'll give that a shot, thanks!
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Diego Fisher
Update for everyone following this thread - I just checked with a colleague who works in financial aid processing, and they confirmed there was a system-wide issue affecting school list updates during the first week of May. The good news is that despite the visual glitch in the FAFSA portal, the schools ARE receiving your information correctly in most cases. The Department of Education is aware of the issue and working on fixing the display problem. But as others have suggested, contacting the schools directly to verify receipt is the safest approach right now.
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Evelyn Kim
•Thank you so much for checking and providing this update! This is extremely helpful and gives me a lot of peace of mind. I'll still follow up with the schools but it's good to know this is a system-wide issue that's being addressed.
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Olivia Garcia
•OF COURSE there was a system issue the EXACT week I made my corrections too! 🤦♂️ Thanks for confirming what we all suspected - the entire system is fundamentally broken. Appreciate the inside info though!
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