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Has anybody actually looked at whether this makes mathematical sense? I mean if your parents are close to retirement they might have a lower income soon which could qualify them for lower payments under ICR. If you refinance, you're stuck with the full payment no matter what. Just make sure you RUN THE NUMBERS before making this decision. I know ppl who regretted refinancing because they lost all flexibility when life circumstances changed!!
This is an excellent point. Income-Contingent Repayment for Parent PLUS loans (after consolidation) caps payments at 20% of discretionary income. If the parents' income drops significantly in retirement, their required payments could drop as well. Additionally, these loans can be forgiven after 25 years of payments under ICR, though the forgiven amount is currently taxable. It's definitely worth running scenarios based on their retirement income projections versus the total cost of refinancing.
just fyi i forgot to mention in my first post - when i refinanced they gave me options for 5, 10, 15, or 20 year terms. the shorter terms had better interest rates but higher monthly payments. i went with 15 years to keep payments manageable but still not be paying it off until im 50 lol. shop around bc every lender has different term options!!
I want to add an important detail about the transition from community college to a 4-year institution that many miss. For transfer students, there's often special "transfer scholarships" that aren't automatically considered with the general financial aid process. Make sure your son specifically asks about: - Phi Theta Kappa transfer scholarships (if he's a member) - Academic merit scholarships specifically for transfer students - Departmental scholarships from his intended major - Community college partnership scholarships (many 4-year schools have special relationships with local CCs) These are completely separate from the FAFSA/federal aid process and require separate applications with different deadlines. I've seen transfer students miss out on thousands in scholarships simply because they focused solely on FAFSA and didn't realize these other options existed.
i just remembered someting else..... make sure u tell ur son to request his official transrcipt from the community college ASAP!!! my son almost missed a deadline because they take forever to process those requests especially during graduation time. the university wont finalize his aid package without the final transcript!!
One important clarification: This is actually not a FAFSA issue directly, but rather a tax filing sequence issue. The FAFSA uses tax information, but it doesn't create conflicts with the IRS filing system itself. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, your daughter's dependency status for financial aid purposes is determined by specific FAFSA criteria (age, marital status, degree level, etc.), which are different from IRS tax dependency rules. The issue you're experiencing is purely on the tax side - the IRS system is flagging contradictory information between your return and your daughter's. The quickest solution is having your daughter file Form 1040-X checking the box that she can be claimed as a dependent. This won't require you to refile your FAFSA.
dont forget this stuff can affect ur daughters SAI score on FAFSA 2! make sure whatever u report to IRS matches wut u put on FAFSA or they might flag u for verification which is a WHOLE other headache!!!
Actually, this particular tax filing issue won't affect the SAI calculation. The 2025-2026 FAFSA uses the information you report directly, and while verification can happen, the specific issue here (dependent checking a box incorrectly on their own return) doesn't trigger FAFSA verification. As long as the income and household size reported on the FAFSA are correct, the SAI calculation remains the same regardless of how the tax filing conflict is resolved.
This is definitely a display issue with the parent/contributor portal that the Department of Education is aware of. The SAI (Student Aid Index) calculations are being correctly applied for 2024-2025 even when the display shows 2023-2024 in some areas. I recommend these steps to ensure you're submitting for the correct year: 1. Check that your student initiated a 2024-2025 FAFSA application (they should confirm this on their end) 2. When you complete your contributor section, the thank you/confirmation page will usually display the correct year 3. Have your student check their SAI calculation once you've completed your section If you do find yourself in a situation where the wrong year was processed, you can submit a correction after the fact, but this will delay the SAI calculation and potentially impact priority deadlines.
Mi hijo sí inició la solicitud correcta para 2024-2025, eso lo verificamos juntos. Voy a seguir sus consejos y asegurarme de que la página de confirmación muestre el año correcto. Gracias por explicar sobre el SAI también.
Actualización: ¡Logré resolverlo! Después de todos sus consejos, decidí intentar una cosa más antes de llamar. Borré todas las cookies y caché de mi navegador, y luego accedí a la cuenta de mi hijo primero (no directamente a mi sección de contribuyente). Desde su cuenta, usé el enlace para invitar al padre contribuyente, me envié una nueva invitación a mí misma, y esta vez cuando accedí a través del nuevo enlace, ¡todo mostraba correctamente 2024-2025! Parece que había algún problema con mi sesión anterior o con cómo accedí inicialmente. Gracias a todos por su ayuda.
That's great news! Thanks for sharing the solution - I bet this will help other parents with the same issue. The browser cache seems to cause a lot of FAFSA problems this year!
Excellent troubleshooting! This is actually a solution we've seen work for many similar display issues. The caching problem seems to be especially common when parents access the system through older saved links or when switching between student and parent views. I'll add that if anyone else faces this issue, using an incognito/private browsing window can also prevent these caching problems.
Connor O'Reilly
why dont u just try signing with ur daughters fsa id if she has the password? my mom did that when we had same problem lol
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StardustSeeker
•Please DO NOT do this. Using someone else's FSA ID is considered fraud and could result in the entire application being rejected or flagged for verification, which would delay processing even further.
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Ava Thompson
UPDATE: IT'S FIXED! Wanted to share what worked for anyone else facing this issue. These steps did the trick: 1. I used Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome (thanks for that tip!) 2. Checked my FSA ID info and found my address was incorrect as someone suggested 3. Updated my address in my FSA ID account 4. Completely logged out of everything 5. Cleared all browser data 6. Logged back in to my parent account 7. Found a notification in the "My FAFSA" section (not under corrections) 8. Clicked that notification which took me to a working signature page The signature button is now showing my signature as complete! My daughter's application now shows fully processed with her SAI score calculated. Thanks everyone for your help!
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CyberSiren
•so glad you got it fixed!!!! the whole system is a nightmare this year
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Miguel Alvarez
•Thank you for sharing your solution! This will help others facing the same issue. Make sure your daughter checks with her schools to confirm they've received the processed FAFSA data.
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