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has anyone tried getting a job at starbucks or amazon?? they both have tuition programs that pay for school. my roomate works at starbucks and gets like $5k a year for school through their program
When my daughter was in school, we used a combination of a small private loan through Discover (their rates were decent at the time) and our state's education loan program. The state loan had better terms than most private options. Also, don't forget to look into whether your school offers an installment payment plan. Many schools will let you pay tuition in monthly installments for a small fee, which can be much better than taking out additional loans. My daughter's university charged only $50 to split tuition into 5 payments per semester, interest-free.
my cousin went to suny last year and they told him the negative sai mainly just get him the subsidized loans instead of unsubsidized. still have to pay it back but at least no interest while in school i guess 🤷♂️
One more thing to check - look at the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) listed in any communications from the schools. Sometimes schools still use this older term instead of SAI. If they list an EFC number that's different from your -1500 SAI, that could explain the discrepancy. Some schools use institutional methodologies that calculate need differently from the federal formula. For SUNY schools specifically, they typically meet only a portion of demonstrated need. Their institutional aid often goes to students with SAI scores much lower than -1500. But you should definitely be seeing some Pell Grant funds with that SAI.
Let me clear up some confusion here about the high school diploma correction issue: 1. This is related to the FAFSA Simplification Act changes for 2024-2025 applications 2. The education section was completely redesigned, causing integration issues 3. The online correction form has a specific bug with toggle fields (like yes/no questions) Here's what actually works: - Call FSA directly at 1-800-433-3243 - Tell them specifically you need a "manual override correction" for the education section - Request a confirmation email once corrected - Allow 3-5 days for the correction to appear in the system Your SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation is directly affected by education status, so this is definitely worth fixing properly. If you have a deadline approaching, ask the agent to note this in your file and request expedited processing.
Thank you so much for this detailed explanation! I managed to get through to FSA this morning using that Claimyr service someone mentioned above. The agent confirmed exactly what you said - it's a known issue with the education section fields. They made the manual correction and said it should update within 48 hours. I'm so relieved!
That's so frustrating! I'm already worried about deciphering what's a grant versus what's a loan. Did you find any good resources for understanding the aid packages when they arrive?
Henrietta Beasley
sooooo many ppl are dealing with these exact issues for the 2025-26 FAFSA... my daughter's college financial aid office told me they're getting like hundreds of calls about contributor problems. apparently if u wait for verification and submit all the correct tax docs then, the school will update the SAI calculation with the right info and it wont hurt ur aid. the FAFSA people know the system is glitchy AF with adding contributors after submission
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Margot Quinn
•That's reassuring to hear it's a known issue at least. I just hope it doesn't delay her aid package too much. She's trying to decide between colleges based partly on cost.
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Henrietta Beasley
•ya they told me verification stuff is taking about 3-4 weeks to process right now. not ideal but at least they'll fix it eventually!
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Evelyn Kim
one thing to check - when u tried to edit, were u using the same FSA ID that was used to start the application? cuz that tripped me up BAD last year. my son started his with his fsaid then i couldn't edit anything bc i was using mine! had to get him to log in first THEN i could make changes to my parts
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Margot Quinn
•Hmm, that's a good point! My daughter definitely started it with her FSA ID. I'll ask her to log in first and then try to make the edits that way. Worth a shot!
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