Cal Grant SSN mismatch after FAFSA transfer - anyone else facing this?

YES! This happened to us last month. The SSN mismatch issue with Cal Grant is unfortunately pretty common this year with the new FAFSA system. There are two things that might be happening: 1. The data transfer between FAFSA and CSAC (California Student Aid Commission) has a lag time - sometimes it takes 5-7 business days for everything to sync properly. If you just recently submitted your FAFSA, wait about a week and check again. 2. If it's been more than a week, there might be an actual mismatch between how the SSN was entered in the FAFSA and what's in the Cal Grant system. This could be something as small as a hyphen or space in one system but not the other. The fastest way to resolve this is to call CSAC directly at 888-224-7268. Unlike the portal where you might wait days for a response, phone support can often fix this in minutes by verifying and correcting the SSN in their system. When you call, make sure you have both the FAFSA confirmation number and your daughter's Cal Grant ID number ready.

Ugh the SSN thing is SO ANNOYING!!! i had the exact same problm last month and ended up wasting 3 WEEKS trying to fix it through email. My advise? DONT bother with the portal messages!! They take 4ever to respond and then just tell u to call anyway. Just call them directly and save yourself the headache

my brothers gf had this problem too i think its like a bug in there system? she said they had to send a copy of her social security card to them to fix it which is so dum cuz thats exactly wat she entered in the first place lol. pretty sure she had to fax it tho which who even has a fax machine anymore??

I work in a financial aid office and see this issue frequently. The Cal Grant SSN mismatch is usually caused by one of these specific reasons: 1. Name discrepancies - Even minor differences in how your daughter's name appears on FAFSA vs Cal Grant can trigger the mismatch. For example, if FAFSA has "Elizabeth" but Cal Grant has "Liz" or if there's a hyphenated last name entered differently. 2. Date of birth formatting - Sometimes the systems format dates differently (MM/DD/YYYY vs DD/MM/YYYY) 3. Citizenship status coding differences between systems 4. Data transmission errors between Federal Student Aid and CSAC The good news is that these issues are fixable and won't affect her aid eligibility as long as they're corrected before the final processing date. When you call CSAC, specifically ask them to check for these discrepancies between the systems. One important note: Make sure your daughter has also completed the Cal Grant GPA Verification Form (either electronically through her high school or by paper form). Many students focus on the SSN issue but forget this requirement, which is equally important for Cal Grant eligibility.

I had the EXACT same problem two years ago when my son was applying. It was SO frustrating because nobody could tell us what was wrong. We sent emails, left voicemails, and never heard back! Ended up missing priority deadline and had to go through appeals process. DON'T make our mistake!

I've been trying to reach California Student Aid Commission for THREE WEEKS about a similar issue. Their phone lines are constantly busy, and I keep getting disconnected after waiting on hold for 30+ minutes. So frustrating! Finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a CSAC representative in about 15 minutes. They basically hold your place in line and call you when a rep is available. Saved me hours of hold time frustration. Check out their demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ or visit claimyr.com. Definitely worth it for the peace of mind, especially with aid deadlines approaching.

Do NOT wait for the portal response!!!! My daughter had this exact issue in January. We waited for 12 days for a response through the portal and then just got a generic message saying to call them. When we finally got through by phone, the rep fixed it in 3 minutes!!! Apparently there was a single digit transposed in her SSN during the data transfer from FAFSA. Call them directly ASAP.

THIS IS WHY I HATE THE FINANCIAL AID SYSTEM!!! Everything is connected but nothing works together!!! FAFSA, Cal Grant, CSS Profile all asking for the SAME INFO over and over but then they don't talk to each other right. It's like they WANT us to fail!!

UPDATE: I called CSAC this morning using that service someone mentioned (Claimyr) and got through in about 10 minutes. The rep was super helpful and found the issue right away. Turns out my daughter's birthdate was entered correctly on FAFSA but somehow got flipped from MM/DD/YYYY to DD/MM/YYYY during the transfer to Cal Grant! The representative fixed it on the spot, and we can now see her Cal Grant eligibility in the portal. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

So glad you got it resolved quickly! This thread has been incredibly helpful - I'm dealing with a similar Cal Grant issue right now where my son's application shows "pending verification" even though our FAFSA was accepted weeks ago. Based on everyone's advice here, I'm definitely going to skip the portal and call CSAC directly tomorrow. It's reassuring to see that most of these issues are just data transfer glitches that can be fixed once you get through to a real person. Thanks for sharing your update - it gives me hope that we can get this sorted out before the deadline too!