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Just following up - after you contact your school's financial aid office, make sure to get documentation of your conversation. Ask them to note in your file that you're experiencing the known signature verification glitch. Many schools are implementing workarounds where they'll process your preliminary FAFSA data while waiting for the signature issues to be resolved. Also important - don't create multiple applications as someone suggested. This can cause even more problems in the system and potentially flag your application for verification, which adds another layer of complications.
Thanks for the follow-up! I got through to my school's financial aid office this morning. They were super understanding and said they're seeing this problem with lots of students. They made a note in my file and told me they'll process my preliminary data while I work on getting the signature issue fixed with FSA. What a relief!
FYI I just saw on the FSA Twitter that they're doing system maintenance this weekend that's supposed to fix the signature issues. Maybe wait until Monday before trying again? Good luck!
Just to add - don't forget that the Parent PLUS loan is also an option if the financial aid packages don't cover enough. That's what we ended up doing to fill the gap. It's not ideal because the interest rates aren't great, but it's there if you need it.
Be careful with Parent PLUS loans though! The interest rates are ridiculous and they can really add up. We're still paying off my oldest kid's PLUS loans 8 years later. Try to avoid them if possible.
Thank you everyone for your helpful responses! I feel so much better now understanding that this is just the federal portion and not the complete aid package. We'll wait for the schools to send their financial aid offers before making any decisions. One more question - if one school offers significantly less aid than another, is it possible to ask them to match the better offer? I've heard some people have success with this approach but wasn't sure if it's common practice.
Yes, this is called a financial aid appeal or professional judgment review. If you receive a significantly better offer from a comparable institution, you can absolutely contact your preferred school's financial aid office and ask if they can reconsider their offer based on the competing offer. Be prepared to provide documentation of the better offer. Many schools have formal appeal processes, and success rates vary by institution. It's always worth trying, especially if your preferred school is similar in standing to the one that gave the better offer.
One thing to keep in mind - after you submit corrections, there's typically another 3-5 day processing period before the schools receive the updated information. Since you mentioned Jake and Tyler are at different schools, I'd recommend following up with both financial aid offices early next week to confirm they received the corrected data. This is especially important if either school has priority deadlines approaching for institutional aid.
Did u have to redo all the tax info when making corrections or just the boys' personal stuff?? When I had to fix mine it made me reenter EVERYTHING and it took like 2 hours ugh
Quick question - once u download it, does the PDF have all the info scholarships need? Or do u have to get additional stuff?
The PDF includes your calculated SAI amount, FAFSA submission date, confirmation number, and basic household information. This is typically all scholarship committees need to verify your financial need status. However, some scholarships may request additional documentation like the CSS Profile or your college financial aid letter showing the complete aid package you've been offered.
They changed from EFC (Expected Family Contribution) to SAI (Student Aid Index) as part of the FAFSA Simplification Act. The new SAI is supposed to better reflect a student's financial situation and eligibility for aid. The calculation method is different and generally more generous for many students. The name change was also meant to clarify that it's an eligibility index for aid rather than what families are actually expected to pay, which was a common misunderstanding with the old EFC term.
Mei Zhang
The FAFSA system this year is complete garbage. They rushed out all these "simplification" changes without proper testing and now students are paying the price. I've been trying to help my nephew with his application for WEEKS and we keep hitting different errors. The signature page issue is especially bad because it's literally the last step before submission, so you think you're done and then... ERROR. I complained to my congressman about it and surprisingly his office responded saying they've received hundreds of similar complaints and are pressuring the Department of Education to extend all financial aid deadlines this year. Maybe we should all be contacting our representatives about this disaster.
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Ethan Brown
•That's actually a great idea. I hadn't thought about contacting our representative, but you're right - this is a systemic issue that's affecting so many students. I'm going to do that tomorrow. Can't hurt to add another voice to the complaints!
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Andre Lefebvre
•yeah the "simplified" fafsa is like 10x worse than before lmaooo. whoever designed this needs to be fired fr
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Ethan Brown
UPDATE: Finally got it to work! After trying basically everything suggested here, what finally worked was: 1. Using Microsoft Edge in InPrivate mode (thanks to the financial aid advisor who suggested this!) 2. Turning off my ad blocker (great tip from the parent who mentioned popup blockers) 3. Doing it at 5:30am when the system wasn't busy We got all the way through and have our confirmation email! Our SAI score was immediately available too. Now I'm going to help my daughter email her schools to explain the delay just to be safe. Thank you all so much for your help - I was seriously ready to throw my computer out the window!
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Zoe Dimitriou
•Excellent news! I'm glad you got it resolved. That 5:30am timing definitely helps with the FAFSA system performance. Smart move to still contact the schools - it's always good to document these situations even after they're resolved.
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Yuki Yamamoto
•5:30am?! you're a more dedicated parent than me lol! glad it worked out though!
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