I think the hole system is rigged anyway. My nephews SAI came back at 9700 even though his parents make less than 55k a year combined. How is that fair??? The formula makes no sense and now they cant even display the numbers right.

Update 4 anyone following: Just got our SAI this morning on the website (3 weeks after submission). Weirdly got no email notification or anything. Just randomly checked and there it was. So maybe just keep waiting???

Just wanted to mention that the FAFSA website has been having tons of issues this application cycle. My daughter and I had to try 5 different times over several days before we could get through all the sections properly. So frustrating! Keep trying and don't submit until you can enter all your information correctly.

UPDATE: Success! After trying multiple browsers and getting nowhere, I used Claimyr to reach an FSA agent (took about 20 minutes to get connected). The agent confirmed there's a known glitch affecting some renewal applications. They had me create a new FAFSA ID and start a fresh application rather than using the renewal option. This time all sections appeared correctly including the income questions! For anyone else experiencing this: DO NOT SUBMIT without income information. It's absolutely required and your application will either be rejected or flagged for verification, which will significantly delay your aid. Better to start fresh than submit incomplete info. Thank you all for your help!

dont 4get to check if her major has any special scholarships!! my roomate got 3500 just for being in the engineering department but she had to ASK nobody told her about it lol

One final note: if you do end up needing private loans, having a cosigner with excellent credit can significantly reduce the interest rate - sometimes by 2-3 percentage points. Also, look for lenders that offer cosigner release after a certain number of on-time payments (usually 24-48 months). This allows your daughter to take over the loan independently once she has established her own credit history, which removes your liability.

One important thing to note is that after making any corrections, there will be a processing period before your updated SAI is calculated. This typically takes 3-5 business days, though it can sometimes take longer during peak periods. Since you mentioned scholarship deadlines, make sure you plan for this processing time. Also, for future reference, if you're making multiple corrections, it's best to make them all at once rather than submitting several separate correction requests, as each new submission restarts the processing clock.

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses! We successfully made the correction through my son's student account yesterday. He was able to access both his own income section and could have changed our parent information too if needed. We both had to re-sign with our FSA IDs after making the change. Now we're just waiting for the updated SAI calculation. Fingers crossed it processes quickly since one of his scholarship applications needs the updated info by next Friday!

Update from someone who's been through this process multiple times: if you've already received aid offers from schools, you don't necessarily need to panic. Even if your SAI changes slightly after the review, many schools won't adjust your financial aid package unless there's a substantial change (usually over 10-15% difference in your SAI). Some schools have a policy of honoring their initial aid offer even if your FAFSA gets adjusted later, especially if you're close to the deposit deadline. If you're really concerned, contact the financial aid offices at the specific schools rather than just FAFSA.

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at FSA this morning! Apparently the review was triggered because my employer submitted a corrected W-2 in February (there was a small error in reported retirement contributions that changed our AGI by about $200). The agent said the review is standard procedure when tax documents get amended, and that such a small change wouldn't impact our SAI enough to change aid offers. She marked our file as urgent since we're approaching decision deadlines, and said the review should be completed within 5-7 business days. Thanks everyone for your advice!