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Lily Young

Can I correct FAFSA financial info errors after submission? Will my SAI recalculate?

I think I messed up entering our family income information on my FAFSA for 2025-2026. I just realized my dad's W-2 shows $63,500 but I accidentally put $53,500 (transposed numbers). Will the IRS Data Retrieval Tool catch this or am I in trouble? Can I go back into my submitted application to fix this error? If I correct it, will my SAI automatically recalculate or will I have to call someone? Really stressed because I don't want to be accused of trying to get more aid by reporting lower income!

Yes u can definitely go back and fix it! I made a similar mistake last yr. Just log in to studentaid.gov, click on ur FAFSA application, and there should be a 'make correction' option. It will recalculate SAI automatically after u submit, u don't need to call anyone. But don't wait too long to fix it!

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Lily Young

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That's such a relief! Do you remember how long it took for your SAI to update after you made the correction? Did it affect your final aid amount?

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Wesley Hallow

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To add some clarification: Yes, you can absolutely make corrections to your FAFSA after submission. The correction process is available until the federal deadline (June 30, 2026 for the 2025-2026 FAFSA). Here's the process: 1. Log in to studentaid.gov using your FSA ID 2. Select the "FAFSA Correction" option 3. Navigate to the financial information section 4. Update the income information with the correct amount 5. Submit the correction Your SAI will automatically recalculate once the correction is processed, typically within 3-5 business days. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool would have caught this discrepancy during verification, so it's good you're fixing it proactively.

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Justin Chang

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This happened to my daughter and it took 2 weeks for her SAI to update!! The financial aid office said they were backed up with corrections. So dont wait!!

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Grace Thomas

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LMAO they WANT you to make mistakes so they can deny aid!! Been there done that and when I fixed my "error" my SAI went up by like 2000 points and I lost half my grant money!!! The system is DESIGNED to trick people. They make these forms confusing ON PURPOSE! Fix it if you want but just be prepared for them to cut your aid. It's all a scam anyway.

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That's not accurate information. SAI calculations follow a standardized federal formula. If your SAI increased after correction, it was because your corrected financial information actually showed higher ability to pay for college, not because of any penalty for making corrections.

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Grace Thomas

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Whatever. You sound like you work for them. I'm just sharing my REAL experience with this broken system. Call it what u want but my daughter lost $4500 in grants because of one stupid number correction.

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Dylan Baskin

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i made a bunch of mistakes on my fafsa too lol don't sweat it. fixed them all after and got my money fine

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Lily Young

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Thanks for sharing your experience! That makes me feel better about fixing the mistake.

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This is a common concern, and you're doing the right thing by addressing it promptly. Yes, you can and should correct the error. The FAFSA correction process is straightforward, but there are a few important things to know: - You'll need your FSA ID to access the correction feature - The correction will trigger a recalculation of your SAI automatically - Processing times vary from 3 days to 2 weeks depending on volume - Schools will receive the updated information automatically - If you've been selected for verification, inform your financial aid office about the correction It's much better to fix this now than to have discrepancies during verification later, which could delay your aid.

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Lauren Wood

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I've been trying to call Federal Student Aid to ask about a correction I made, but keep getting disconnected after waiting forever. Has anyone found a better way to reach them about FAFSA corrections?

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Justin Chang

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I used a service called Claimyr when I needed to talk to someone at Federal Student Aid about my daughter's FAFSA correction. It got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. Check out their demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ or go to claimyr.com. Totally worth it when you need answers right away about your application!

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Lauren Wood

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My sister works in a college financial aid office, and she says they see this ALL THE TIME. Fixing the error is definitely the right move. Just make sure you take a screenshot of the confirmation page after you submit the correction. Sometimes schools will ask for proof that you made the correction if they've already downloaded your original FAFSA data. And don't stress - they understand that people make honest mistakes on these complicated forms!

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Lily Young

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Great idea about taking a screenshot! I wouldn't have thought of that. Will definitely do that when I submit the correction.

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BTW just wondering if u already got accepted to schools? Cuz if u did, u might wanna tell their financial aid offices about the correction ur making so they don't think something fishy is happening when ur SAI suddenly changes...

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Lily Young

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Oh that's a good point! I've been accepted to 3 schools already and waiting to hear from 2 more. Should I email all their financial aid offices or just wait until the correction processes?

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Lauren Wood

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Contact all of them now. My brother had a similar situation and one school actually put a hold on his aid package because they noticed the SAI change but didn't know why. Better safe than sorry!

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Justin Chang

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When my son was applying we put the wrong 401k balance and had to fix it after submitting. The SAI went up :( but at least we didn't get in trouble later! It's confusing tho because some money like retirement doesn't even count toward FAFSA but they still ask about it? Why ask if it doesn't count?? The whole system makes no sense to me.

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Retirement accounts aren't counted in the SAI formula, but they ask about them for verification purposes and to get a complete financial picture. Some schools that require the CSS Profile (for institutional aid) do consider retirement assets in their own aid calculations.

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Don't panic - this is totally fixable! I went through the exact same thing last year with a similar income typo. Here's what I learned: definitely make the correction ASAP through studentaid.gov, and yes your SAI will automatically recalculate within about a week. The $10,000 difference will likely increase your SAI some, but it's way better to be accurate than to have verification issues later. Also, since you mentioned being accepted to schools already, I'd recommend sending a quick email to their financial aid offices just letting them know you're making a correction so they're not surprised when your SAI changes. They deal with this stuff all the time and won't think anything suspicious about it. You're being responsible by fixing it proactively!

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