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Wait did anyone explain the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized????? That MATTERS!!! With subsidized the govt pays interest while shes in school but with unsubsidized the interest adds up the WHOLE TIME even when she's still taking classes!!!! My daughter ended up with $8000 in EXTRA INTEREST from unsubsidized that we didn't understand!!!!!
This is an important distinction. Subsidized loans don't accrue interest while in school, during the grace period, or during deferment periods. Unsubsidized loans begin accruing interest immediately after disbursement. However, students can't simply choose subsidized over unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are need-based and have lower annual limits. Most students receive a mix of both types based on their financial need as determined by the FAFSA's SAI calculation.
kinda off topic but why did u wait so long to figure out the payment? my dad had us planning college payments like a year before i even got accepted lol
Fair question! We actually thought we had it figured out based on the financial aid package, but then her first-choice school came through with a late acceptance off the waitlist about a month ago. The new school has higher tuition than the one we had been planning for, so we had to quickly recalculate everything. Lesson learned about having backup financial plans!
did anyone notice if the sai score is different from what the old efc would have been? trying to figure out if the new formula helps or hurts us
One important note for everyone: once your FAFSA is processed, make sure to check if you've been selected for verification. About 25% of FAFSA applicants get selected for this additional step, and it's not always immediately obvious in the portal. Look for a notification in your messages center or a verification flag on your SAI report. If selected, you'll need to submit additional documentation to each school you've applied to, and this can add several more weeks to the financial aid process. Don't wait for schools to contact you - be proactive and check your verification status as soon as your FAFSA is processed.
i waited until december last year and the site crashed like crazy. took me THREE DAYS to submit because of all the errors. don't procrastinate like me lol. and if you get stuck, use the chatbot on studentaid.gov - it actually helped me fix an error when i couldn't figure out why my form wouldn't submit
One more thing to check - make sure you're using an UPDATED browser when you go to submit. My sister tried using an old version of Internet Explorer last year and nothing worked right. Chrome and Firefox usually work best for the FAFSA site. And clear your cookies/cache if you run into weird errors!
I went through this exact situation 2 years ago when my overtime pushed us above the Pell threshold. The most successful approach for us was completing BOTH: 1. A special circumstances appeal with the financial aid office (got $1500 in university grants) 2. Applications to external nursing organizations like the American Association of Colleges of Nursing scholarship program Also, look into whether your state has a nursing shortage initiative - many states provide forgivable loans (effectively grants) if your daughter commits to working in that state for 1-2 years after graduation. Our daughter got $5000/year this way.
One option nobody's mentioned yet is the AmeriCorps Education Award. If your daughter can fit in a summer service program with AmeriCorps (many have healthcare placements), she could earn around $6,495 towards her education costs. It's not technically a grant, but functions similarly. Also, make sure to check your daughter's specific subsection of nursing for specialized grants. Pediatric nursing, geriatric care, and mental health nursing all have separate grant foundations that many students don't know about.
Eva St. Cyr
Just make sure you enter your income information correctly when you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. With the new FAFSA, your Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation will be directly affected by your income. Also remember that the 2025-2026 FAFSA uses 2023 tax year information, so your custody arrangement during that specific period is what matters.
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Melody Miles
•That's good to know. I definitely have my 2023 tax information ready and I understand how to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. I just wanted to be sure I was correctly identifying myself as the custodial parent since it wasn't clear from the instructions how that intersects with tax dependency.
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
btw if ur worried about verification just start gathering ur docs now... custody agreement, calendar of where kid stayed, maybe school records showing ur address as primary... better to have it ready than scramble later
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Melody Miles
•That's really smart advice! I'm going to put together a folder with all of that documentation just in case. Better to be prepared than panic later.
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