My daughter just got back from studying in Florence last semester! One thing to keep in mind is that there are special study abroad scholarships that aren't part of FAFSA but can help with that extra cost. Have her check with: 1. The study abroad office at her school 2. The specific Rome program she's applying to 3. External scholarships like Gilman (if she receives Pell Grant) 4. Sometimes academic departments have travel grants My daughter got a $3,500 scholarship just for writing an essay about why she wanted to study in Italy. Definitely explore all options beyond just the regular financial aid.

so like when i went to spain for a semester my fafsa was the same but i had to do a bunch of extra paperwork with my school. but then i still had a gap of like $5000 that my regular aid didnt cover. ended up having to take an extra loan just for the study abroad. make sure ur daughter knows all the costs including spending money and weekend trips cause everyone does those and its not in the program price lol. i spent wayyyy more than i planned.

just wondering has anyone actually gotten there SAI score after fixing this SSN problem? Im in same boat wife's SSN disappeared mysteriously and I'm on week 4 waiting for it to get fixed

UPDATE: We figured it out!! It was exactly what @profile5 suggested - my husband hadn't completed his identity verification when he created his FSA ID months ago. Once he finished that process, I received a contributor invitation in MY account (not via email) about 24 hours later. After I sent the invitation to him, he was able to accept it, and his SSN populated automatically in my FAFSA. No need to manually enter it. For anyone else with this problem, check if all contributors have fully completed identity verification in their FSA ID accounts!

Everyone's advice has been so helpful! I just called the financial aid office and got confirmation. Here's what they told me: 1. We DO need to accept/decline by June 15th 2. We CAN reduce loan amounts later if scholarships come through by submitting a Loan Adjustment Form 3. The subsidized loan IS best to accept now since those funds are limited We're going to accept the full package now and then adjust when we hear about the scholarships. Such a relief to have a clear plan!

Has anyone calculated their SAI from FAFSA yet? My daughter's SAI was way higher than we expected and we're appealing it. Just wondering if anyone else here has gone through the appeal process for better loan offers?

does ne1 know if this affects the schools order on the fafsa? like if i put harvard first do they see my app first even if parent part isnt done yet?

UPDATE: My verification finally went through after about 36 hours! Just got the email and was able to log in and complete my section. The tax information transfer worked smoothly, though I had to manually enter some asset information. We got our SAI calculation immediately after submission. Thanks everyone for the reassurance that this was normal!

Great to hear you got it resolved! For anyone else seeing strange dates in their loan portal, here's a quick checklist: 1. Always verify directly with your loan servicer by phone 2. Check if you've been automatically enrolled in any new repayment plans 3. Confirm if your loans are in administrative forbearance during system updates 4. Make sure your contact information is updated so you receive notifications 5. Consider setting up autopay once your actual repayment date is confirmed (often comes with a 0.25% interest rate reduction) The transition to the SAVE plan is creating a lot of temporary confusion, but most borrowers will benefit from the new terms once everything is implemented.

To answer your question about making voluntary payments during forbearance - it's generally a good financial move, especially if your son can afford it. During most administrative forbearances, interest isn't accruing, so any payments made go directly toward reducing the principal balance. This can save significant money in the long run since he'll have less principal to accrue interest once regular repayment begins. Just make sure he keeps documentation of all voluntary payments made. Sometimes these don't get properly recorded during administrative periods, so keeping your own records is essential. Also, he should specify with the servicer that he wants these payments applied to principal rather than just advancing future payment due dates.