btw my sons college extended their fafsa deadline by 2 weeks bc of all the problems with the new system so maybe check if ur sons school did the same

One more tip - once your husband creates his FSA ID, make sure he logs in right away and verifies his email address and phone number. This might speed up the verification process. Also, both of you should check that the name, birthdate, and SSN exactly match what's on your Social Security cards. Any small discrepancy can cause verification delays.

btw did ur daughters SAI change much from freshman to sophomore yr? my kids went up by like 3000 even tho our income stayed the same 🙄

To address the SAI change question that came up: For 2025-2026 FAFSA renewals, several factors can affect your SAI even if your income stays the same: 1. Assets are assessed annually - changes in savings, investments, or property values impact SAI 2. Family size changes affect the calculation 3. Number of family members in college drastically impacts SAI 4. Age of oldest parent (protection allowances increase as parents approach retirement) 5. State of residence (some state tax allowances differ) Also, the 2025-2026 formula has some adjustments to income protection allowances that could affect your calculation differently than last year. If your SAI seems unexpectedly different, request a professional judgment review from your daughter's financial aid office.

just wanted to add that fasfa is taking FOREVER this year!! we submitted in november and didnt get our sai score until last week!!! so frustrating

Thank you all for the incredibly helpful responses! Based on your advice, I've: 1. Emailed the performing arts department to ask about their specific scholarship process 2. Started a spreadsheet to track all the different aid sources 3. Checked if there are any program-specific applications my daughter needs to complete 4. Set a reminder to follow up with financial aid in mid-March if we don't hear about our FAFSA It's comforting to know that program-specific scholarships are common, even if the whole system seems complicated. I'll update this thread once we hear back from either the FAFSA or after her audition. Fingers crossed for good news on both fronts!

Financial Aid Administrator here. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, here's what you need to know: 1. A missing parent signature means your FAFSA is incomplete, not just waiting for corrections. The FSA system won't calculate your SAI until all required signatures are submitted. 2. Your parent needs to create their own FSA ID (if they haven't already) and sign electronically on studentaid.gov. 3. Mid-April is still plenty of time to complete your FAFSA for most schools' priority deadlines, including your May 1st deadline. 4. For the income corrections you mentioned: these can only be made AFTER your FAFSA is fully processed with all signatures. The correction process is available year-round. 5. Contact your school's financial aid office immediately to explain the situation. Many schools will hold your place in line for priority aid if you've submitted by their deadline but are dealing with FAFSA processing issues. Remember that this year's FAFSA has experienced significant delays due to the FAFSA Simplification Act implementation. Most schools are being more flexible with deadlines as a result.

My kid's FAFSA had this same issue! We thought both parents had signed but apparently my husband's signature didn't go through properly. We fixed it in early March and it took about 4 days to process after that. Then we were able to make income corrections the following week. So yes, mid-April is fine to make corrections, but get that signature issue fixed ASAP!

Oh! Almost forgot to mention - make sure u look into the interest rates for this year's federal loans. I think they just got announced and they're higher than last year. I think Direct Loans for undergrads are around 5.5% now and Parent PLUS is even higher like 8% or something crazy. Still way better than private loans tho!!

I checked with the school's financial aid office today, and they confirmed we need to accept the loans in their portal by June 30th and complete the MPN and entrance counseling by July 15th. We're going to get that done this weekend. They also mentioned that for Parent PLUS loans, I need to apply separately on studentaid.gov and pass a credit check. Thanks everyone for your help! This process is way more complicated than I expected, but I feel like we know what to do now.