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One important thing to understand is that your 401k contributions are still counted in your income for FAFSA purposes. With your income level, your SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) will likely be high enough that need-based aid isn't available at most schools. However, beyond the Parent PLUS loan question, make sure your daughter is applying to schools with strong merit scholarships. Many schools offer significant merit aid that's completely separate from FAFSA need calculations. Schools in lower cost-of-living areas tend to have more generous merit aid packages.
We're definitely focusing on schools with good merit aid. Do you happen to know if selling my rental property during the application year would negatively impact her aid eligibility for the following year? I'm worried about the capital gains showing up on my taxes.
Great question. The 2025-2026 FAFSA uses your 2023 tax information, so any 2024 or 2025 transactions won't affect her initial aid package. However, if you sell in 2025, it could impact her 2027-2028 FAFSA. One strategy might be timing the sale for when it would least impact aid if you decide to go that route.
also dont forget to check out CSS profile schools if your kid has good grades cuz they might give merit money even with high income!!
Thanks for the reminder! She does have a 3.9 GPA and good test scores, so that might be a path worth exploring. Do CSS Profile schools look at assets differently than FAFSA?
Yes, CSS Profile schools look at more financial details than FAFSA. They consider home equity, small business assets, and non-custodial parent information. However, many also have more generous institutional aid and more flexibility with special circumstances. Your rental property equity would be considered an asset on the CSS Profile.
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My cousin was just talking about parent plus loans the other day. Her mom got one but its been a hassle for them cause the money gets sent to the school not to you directly i think? And she said they had to pay some fee upfront which was annoying. Something like 4% which adds up to ALOT of money!!
Yes, Parent PLUS loan funds go directly to the school first. The school applies the money to outstanding charges (tuition, fees, room and board if living on campus), and then refunds any remaining amount to either the parent or the student (depending on what the parent selected on the application). And you're right about the fee - it's currently about 4.2% of the loan amount that's deducted right away. So if your parents borrow $10,000, only about $9,580 actually goes toward your education. That's why it's generally better to max out your federal direct loans before turning to PLUS loans, since the fees and interest rates are lower.
Thank you all for the great information! I definitely misheard "Parent PLUS" as "College Plus" and was getting so confused. I'll talk to both my parents about this option, but given my dad's credit issues, we might need to look at alternatives. I'm going to schedule an appointment with my financial aid office to discuss all options based on our specific situation. Is there anything specific I should ask them about besides the Parent PLUS loan?
When you meet with the financial aid office, also ask about: 1. Any institutional scholarships or grants you might qualify for 2. Work-study opportunities on campus 3. Payment plans that might allow you to spread tuition payments over the semester 4. The process for submitting a special circumstances appeal if your family has had recent financial changes not reflected on tax returns 5. How a Parent PLUS denial would affect your specific aid package 6. Any state-specific programs you might qualify for Bring documentation of your father's credit issues if you have it, as this might help with your case for additional institutional aid.
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Just got an update from my school (UCL) - they said the Department of Education sent out guidance to international schools yesterday with a temporary workaround. Apparently they can now access some basic information through a special portal, but the full data integration is still being worked on. You might want to check with Edinburgh if they received this update!
That's great news! I'll email my admissions counselor right away to see if they got the same update. Thanks for sharing!
btw if ur going to edinburgh hit me up when u get there! i have friends who go there and they LOVE it. the financial aid stuff is stressful but dont let it ruin ur excitement about studying in scotland!!
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm trying not to let this dampen my excitement - I've been dreaming about studying in Edinburgh for years. I just hope this all gets sorted in time.
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my daughter didn't get her sai for like 3 weeks and then suddenlty it showed up. just be patient it'll come thru
One additional point that might be helpful - make sure you're checking both the studentaid.gov dashboard AND your email regularly. Sometimes the SAI will be included in the Student Aid Report (SAR) email before it appears on the dashboard. Also, be sure to check spam folders as these official emails sometimes get filtered there. If more than 10 business days pass without an SAI for your freshman, log back into studentaid.gov and verify that there are no items in the "Action Required" section. Occasionally there might be identity verification steps or requests for additional documentation that aren't clearly communicated.
Great suggestion! I just checked and there's nothing in the Action Required section, so that's a relief. I'll keep checking my email including spam folders.
Javier Morales
i had this same issue last year with the 2024-2025 fafsa. got stuck on a different page (the parent contributor one) but same deal - kept freezing and not saving info. ended up having to completely restart my application THREE TIMES. so frustrating. at least it seems like they're fixing things faster this cycle.
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LunarEclipse
•That's actually reassuring to hear they're improving the process. Did your final aid package match closely with the estimated SAI you received? I'm trying to figure out if we can actually rely on this number for planning purposes.
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Paolo Esposito
Quick update for everyone - the Department of Education just released a statement acknowledging the Assets page issue. They've deployed a fix as of yesterday evening, which explains why some of you are suddenly able to get through. They're also automatically reviewing applications that have been stuck in this stage for more than 10 days. Regarding the SAI number you received - that's the Student Aid Index that replaced the old EFC. This number is used by colleges to determine your aid eligibility. With an SAI of 4200, you'd likely qualify for partial Pell Grant funding (assuming no verification issues), and most state grants would be available to you as well. The "in review" status simply means they're matching your self-reported information with IRS data through the automated data retrieval system. This typically takes 3-7 business days, but shouldn't require any action on your part unless you're selected for verification.
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LunarEclipse
•Thank you so much for this detailed information! It's such a relief to hear they're actually acknowledging the problem. I wish they'd communicate better about these issues instead of leaving us all in the dark. I'll wait for the final processing before getting too excited about the aid possibilities.
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