FAFSA
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FAFSA for 2025-2026 opening date confusion - did my school send incorrect info?
My son's school counselor just emailed all parents saying the FAFSA for 2025-2026 "isn't open yet" and warned that if we've already filled something out, it's "probably the wrong application." This has me completely confused! I thought the FAFSA for 2025-2026 officially opened on October 1st? We've already spent hours gathering tax documents and were planning to submit this weekend. Now I'm worried we might be filling out last year's form by mistake? Has the opening date changed? Anyone else getting mixed messages from their schools?
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FAFSA contributor confusion - married filing jointly but husband is EU citizen
I think I messed up our FAFSA contributor setup and need urgent help! My daughter completed her portion and added both me and my husband as contributors (we're married & file taxes jointly). I went ahead and filled out my section, including our joint tax info, but I only listed the bank accounts and investments in MY name. I thought my husband would list his separate assets when he completed his contributor section. But now I'm reading that for married couples filing jointly, only ONE parent needs to be a contributor?? Did I just waste time? Is he even supposed to fill out a separate form? I never saw anywhere to add his SSN or name in my section. To complicate things, my husband is an EU citizen (has a US SSN though). What's the correct way to handle this? Can/should he still complete a contributor section? Will this delay my daughter's financial aid if we've done it wrong? She's counting on getting her SAI score soon for scholarship applications!
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I just want to share another dimension to this. My wife is from South Korea, and while we file taxes jointly, some of her foreign accounts aren't technically reportable on US taxes due to certain thresholds. HOWEVER, all assets regardless of location or tax reporting status must be included on the FAFSA. We learned this the hard way when our son's university financial aid office verified our FAFSA and requested documentation for all assets. So definitely include everything!
Thank you everyone for your help! I went back and edited my contributor section to include ALL our household assets, including my husband's EU accounts (converted to USD with today's exchange rate). The form is now reprocessing, and my daughter should get her updated SAI score within 3-5 business days according to the confirmation message. This forum saved us from what could have been a major issue later on!
Excellent! You've done exactly the right thing. This shouldn't cause a significant delay in your daughter's overall financial aid process, especially since you caught and corrected it quickly.
Missing SAI after FAFSA was processed - normal or problem?
My husband submitted his FAFSA back in January (for 2025-2026) and got the email in March saying it was processed, but we can't find an SAI number anywhere. We've checked his studentaid.gov account multiple times and there's nothing there showing an SAI calculation. Isn't everyone supposed to get one? We're trying to figure out what colleges might offer us but have no idea where we stand without this number. Has anyone else had this issue? Should we be concerned that something's wrong with his application?
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Has your husband checked with the financial aid office at the school he's applying to? Sometimes they can see more information than we can on our accounts. My daughter's SAI wasn't showing online but when she called her school, they could see it in their system already!
That's a great idea! He's planning to go back to the same state university he attended before, so I'll have him contact their financial aid office tomorrow. Maybe they can see something we can't.
UPDATE: Problem solved! I wanted to post our solution in case anyone else runs into this. We called the university financial aid office and they said they could see his SAI in their system. Apparently there's a glitch with some accounts where the SAI is being calculated but not displayed to students on studentaid.gov. The financial aid officer gave us the number and said this has been happening to quite a few people. Thanks everyone for your help!
Thanks for posting the update! This is really valuable information. The 2025-2026 FAFSA rollout has had numerous technical issues, and this display glitch is unfortunately affecting many applicants. I'm glad you were able to get your husband's SAI through the school. For anyone else experiencing this issue, contacting your school's financial aid office is often the fastest solution.
FAFSA dashboard shows processed but can't find my -$1500 SAI score anymore
I'm feeling completely lost with the FAFSA website right now. We submitted our application last week and when we submitted, we saw our SAI score was -$1500 (which I think is good?). But now we logged back in and I can't find that number anywhere! The dashboard shows 'processed' and there's some kind of checklist, but I cannot for the life of me figure out where to see our actual SAI score again. Am I missing something obvious? Also, the checklist is confusing me - does that mean we have more steps to complete? I thought once it said 'processed' we were done. Feeling like I'm missing something super basic here... sorry for the newbie questions! 😔
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Just a heads up - make sure you check the "Communication Center" section of your FAFSA account weekly. That's where they'll notify you if they need any verification documents. About 30% of FAFSA filers get selected for verification, and if you miss those notifications, your aid could be delayed. The most annoying part of the new FAFSA system is how they hide important information in different places. And congrats on the -$1500 SAI - that typically qualifies for maximum Pell Grant eligibility!
Thank you! I didn't even know about the Communication Center. I'll check that regularly. And that's amazing news about possibly qualifying for maximum Pell Grant! My high school counselor mentioned that but I wasn't sure what a "good" SAI score was.
One more thing - now that your FAFSA is processed, you should start checking your actual college portals/accounts at each school. Many schools will post additional financial aid requirements there rather than through the FAFSA system. Some might require the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA (mostly private colleges), and others might have institution-specific forms. Financial aid packages typically start coming out in March-April for the 2025-2026 year.
Great advice! I've created accounts on all the college portals but haven't been checking them regularly. Will start doing that. Two of the schools mentioned CSS Profile during application but I wasn't sure if that was required since we did FAFSA. I'll look into that immediately!
Private student loan approval chances after FAFSA and merit scholarships - could we be denied?
Hey everyone, I'm kinda freaking out a bit. After getting our FAFSA results and adding in the merit scholarships my daughter qualified for, we still have about $14,300 gap for her freshman year at State University. We're planning to apply for a private student loan to cover this, but I suddenly had this terrifying thought - what if we get denied? My credit isn't terrible (around 680) but I have some medical debt from last year. My husband agreed to co-sign, but his score isn't much better. Does everyone who applies for these private loans get approved when they have a co-signer? Has anyone ever been turned down even WITH a co-signer? And if that nightmare scenario happens... what the heck do we do then? Are there any backup options? The deposit deadline is coming up fast and I'm losing sleep over this!
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wat about her getting a part time job at school? my kid works 20 hrs a week in the cafeteria and gets like 7,000 a year plus free meals when shes working. might help close the gap?
She's definitely planning to work part-time, but we were hoping she'd use that money for books and personal expenses. But you're right - if we're truly desperate, that income could help with tuition instead.
After seeing your responses, I think you should definitely pursue multiple options simultaneously. Apply for both private loans AND the Parent PLUS loan right away. With your credit score around 680 and some recent late payments, you might face challenges with private lenders. If you get approved for both, you can always decline one. But if you're denied for private loans, you'll already have the PLUS loan process underway. Also, absolutely contact the financial aid office about payment plans and emergency funding options. One other suggestion - check if your state has any last-minute grant programs or if there are professional organizations related to your daughter's major that offer emergency scholarships. Sometimes there are niche funding sources that aren't widely advertised.
Thank you for this thoughtful follow-up. You're right - we need to pursue multiple paths at once. I'm going to start both loan applications today and make an appointment with financial aid tomorrow. I appreciate all the helpful advice from everyone!
Omar Hassan
Just to add one more helpful tip - even though you can't submit the FAFSA for your son yet, you can still be preparing. Make sure you both create FSA IDs now (they take 1-3 days to process), calculate your Expected Family Contribution using online calculators, and research scholarship opportunities. Many merit scholarships have deadlines throughout his junior and senior years, so don't wait on those!
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Ravi Gupta
AuthorGreat suggestion! I'll use this time to get our FSA IDs set up and start looking into scholarships. Is the Expected Family Contribution still called that? I thought I read somewhere they changed the name.
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Omar Hassan
You're absolutely right - they've renamed it! It's now called the Student Aid Index (SAI). The formula is a bit different too. There are SAI calculators online that can help you estimate what your number might be when you apply next year.
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Anastasia Fedorov
my daughter's school said the same thing! i was so confused because we already submitted something a few weeks ago... now im worried we did the wrong one. she's a senior this year tho, graduating in 2024. did we do the right one??
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Freya Pedersen
if shes a senior now (class of 2024) then you did the correct form! the 2024-2025 FAFSA is for students who will be in college next fall (2024
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Anastasia Fedorov
omg thank u!! i was freaking out thinking we messed up and would miss deadlines!! this stuff is so confusing
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