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My twins both submitted FAFSA on the same day (Jan 3) and one had to resign but the other didnt. Makes no sense to me!! The financial aid office at State College told me it depends on what sections of the form had calculation errors. Like if you had certain types of income or family situations those were the ones affected by the system glitch. So maybe your sons form just didnt have any of the specific issues they fixed?
Update: Just got off the phone with the financial aid office at my son's top choice school. They said they're seeing many applications from early January that are proceeding normally without corrections! The advisor suggested we just keep monitoring the portal and emails, but that there's no need to worry if we haven't received correction notices. She also mentioned that even with the delays, they expect to have all financial aid packages ready by early April, which is plenty of time before the May 1 decision deadline. Feeling much better now!
That's excellent news! Thanks for sharing the update. It's helpful for others to know that some early applications are indeed processing normally.
update????? did u figure this out?? my nephew is having this same problem now and we're getting desperate!
Yes! We finally resolved it. Turned out it was two problems combined - I use Yahoo email (which was blocking the messages) AND my daughter had entered my phone number with a typo so the text verification wasn't coming through either. We used that Claimyr service someone mentioned above to actually get through to FSA, and they fixed it while we were on the phone. Got the invitation immediately after that and completed my portion. Her SAI calculation came through 2 days later.
why is the system so BROKEN every single year?? 🤬 my daughter had to apply for loans instead of grants because the fafsa wasn't processed in time last year. the whole system is designed to fail i swear
Last year was especially bad with the completely redesigned system. My son applied in October and didn't get his SAI until February! But they did eventually process everything and adjusted his aid package retroactively. Did your daughter follow up with her financial aid office? They can often make adjustments even after initial awards.
WHY is nobody talking about how COMPLETELY BROKEN the new FAFSA system is?!? This is my third kid going to college and I've NEVER had these problems before. The Department of Education should be ashamed of themselves for rolling out this disaster and then just leaving families to suffer. They've had MONTHS to fix these problems and nothing has improved. Now thousands of students across the country are at risk of not being able to attend school because some government bureaucrats couldn't build a functioning website. Absolutely infuriating.
Exactly! I don't understand why this isn't headline news everywhere. My daughter might have to drop out because of these delays, and the silence from the Department of Education is deafening. Not even an acknowledgment of the problems or timeline for fixes.
Quick update on what finally worked for me: After getting through to FSA (using that Claimyr service I mentioned), I discovered our FAFSA was stuck because of an error with the parent contribution section. Even though we filled everything out correctly, their system had some glitch with how our W-2 info transferred. The agent manually overrode something in their system, and our SAI showed up in the school's system literally THE NEXT DAY. Federal loans were processed within a week after that. If you can just get someone on the phone who knows what they're doing, they can often fix these issues immediately. Hang in there - I know how stressful this is!
That's so helpful to know! I'm glad you finally got yours resolved. I'm trying that service today - at this point I'll try anything. Did they ask for any specific information when you called? I want to make sure I have everything ready.
Yes! Have these ready: - FSA ID and password for both student and parent - Social Security numbers for both - Any confirmation numbers you received when submitting - Dates you submitted applications - School's federal code - Your Data Release Number (DRN) if you have it The agent I spoke with was actually super helpful once I got through. He said they're dealing with unprecedented call volume, but the actual fixing of issues can be pretty quick when you reach someone. Good luck!
oh also i forgot to say make sure ur using ur adjusted gross income (AGI) not just total income. we made that mistake at first and had to fix it. the AGI is after all the business deductions so its usually way lower than total income for small business owners!
After you update your FAFSA with your actual tax information, I would recommend following up with the financial aid office with an email confirming you've made the update. Include your daughter's student ID number and the date you made the correction. This creates a paper trail and can help prevent delays if there are any issues with the electronic updates. Also, if your income for 2022 ends up being significantly different than 2021 (either higher or lower), be prepared to explain this to the financial aid office. Large changes can sometimes trigger additional verification steps.
Ayla Kumar
Great news! Glad you finally got your SAI. Did the number come in close to what you were expecting based on your financial situation?
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Clay blendedgen
Actually it's quite a bit lower than I expected (which is good since lower SAI = more aid)! I think the new formula must be more generous with the income protection allowance like someone mentioned above. Now I'm just waiting to see what my actual aid package looks like!
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