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!!

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.

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.

Just to clarify something important: The new Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation will likely change after you correct the dependency status. Independent students generally qualify for more aid than dependent students (unless the parents have very low income). So be prepared that your daughter's aid eligibility might decrease after correction. It's still important to submit accurate information though - incorrect FAFSA data can lead to verification headaches later.

That's a good point - thank you. We have relatively low income so hopefully the change won't be too dramatic. I just want to make sure we do everything correctly.

UPDATE: We finally got it working! It turned out to be something incredibly small - on my daughter's application I had entered my name as "Elizabeth A. Smith" but on my son's I just put "Elizabeth Smith" without the middle initial. Can't believe such a tiny difference caused so much trouble! For anyone else having this issue, check EVERY character you enter, including periods and spaces. The system is extremely picky about exact matches. My husband was able to create his FSA ID using the email that received the invitation, and that worked smoothly once we knew what to do. Thank you everyone for your help!

Just FYI - save all your login info and screenshots! My kid's FAFSA randomly reset last week and we had to redo the parent part again. The new system has so many glitches this year.

Just thought of something! If youre low income you might qualify for free tax prep help through VITA and they can also help with FAFSA questions. My friend used them last year and they were super helpful with understanding how her child support should be reported on FAFSA.

Following up on retirement contributions - yes, your retirement contributions can affect the SAI calculation. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, voluntary retirement contributions are reported as untaxed income, which can increase your SAI (potentially reducing aid eligibility). However, mandatory contributions to employer retirement plans are not counted. One more important note: Since your son is a continuing student at SDSU, make sure to also check if he needs to complete the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA. Some California institutions require both for institutional aid, though SDSU typically only requires FAFSA for most aid programs.