Can I update FAFSA cash assets after medical emergency depleted my savings?

this happened to me too!! had to use savings for car repair right after fafsa. called the hotline and they hung up on me TWICE

Yes, you can definitely request an adjustment! This falls under what's called a "special circumstance" review. You'll need to contact each school's financial aid office directly since FAFSA itself won't allow asset updates after submission. Make sure you have documentation of your medical expenses and updated bank statements showing the depleted funds. Schools have the authority to make professional judgment adjustments in situations exactly like yours. Don't wait for your aid offers - be proactive and contact each school now to ask about their special circumstance review process.

You can't actually update the FAFSA itself for asset changes, that's a common misconception. The system doesn't let you edit asset information after submission - UNLIKE income information which can be updated. That's why you have to go through each school individually as the other poster mentioned. BE CAREFUL though - some schools have deadlines for special circumstance reviews and if you miss them, you're stuck with the original calculation!!! I learned this the hard way and ended up taking out extra loans. Print everything, keep copies of all medical bills, and follow up aggressively with each financial aid office.

For anyone trying to reach the Federal Student Aid help desk about situations like this, I recently discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through after days of trying. They basically hold your place in the phone queue and call you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of listening to hold music! They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. That said, in this specific situation about asset changes, calling FSA probably won't help much because it's the schools that handle special circumstance reviews, not the federal processors.

The schools will def want to see PROOF of your medical expenses and updated bank statements. When my sister did a special circumstances review, they asked for: - Before and after bank statements - All medical bills - Proof of payment - Letter explaining everything Some schools approved her request and some denied it, even with the exact same documentation. The private colleges were actually more flexible than the state schools in her experience.

Everyone talking about "special circumstances" is making this MORE COMPLICATED than it needs to be! FAFSA lets you make corrections for 18 months after submitting. Just log in, click on "Make FAFSA Corrections" and update your cash asset value. I did this last year when I reported my savings wrong. Stop scaring people with all these complicated processes!

my cousin works in financial aid office at college and she says they see this ALL THE TIME. she said most schools have special forms for medical expenses specifically!! she said to do it ASAP tho before aid packages get finalized