Does FAFSA miscalculation notice from college require me to contact Federal Student Aid?
Just got an email from my daughter's college saying they FINALLY received her FAFSA for Fall 2024, but there's something about it being "potentially affected by a miscalculation during the original processing by the federal government." Does this mean I need to call the FAFSA people directly? The college didn't actually say what to do next, and I'm worried this will delay her financial aid package. Has anyone else gotten this kind of message? What did you do about it?
16 comments
Join the conversation
Nia Wilson
I got the exact same email from my son's school last week! It's because of that big FAFSA processing mess-up that happened with the new formula. From what I understand, the Department of Education is automatically recalculating all the affected FAFSAs and sending corrected versions to the schools. You shouldn't need to call unless the school specifically told you to take action.
0 coins
Luca Russo
•That's a relief! The email was pretty vague. Do you know how long the recalculation takes? My daughter's tuition deposit is due in 3 weeks and we really need to know what aid she's getting before committing.
0 coins
Mateo Sanchez
my cousins school sent somethin like this 2. they said just wait it out cuz fafsa is fixing it automaticly
0 coins
Aisha Mahmood
•Yep it's happening to everyone. The new SAI calculations got messed up in the system rollout.
0 coins
Ethan Clark
Financial aid administrator here. This is referring to the well-documented calculation error affecting many 2024-2025 FAFSA applications processed between January and March. The Department of Education identified an error in how the Student Aid Index (SAI) was being calculated, particularly for families with business losses and certain types of untaxed income. You don't need to take any action. ED is automatically reprocessing affected FAFSAs and sending corrected data to schools. However, this does mean your daughter's financial aid package will likely be delayed until the school receives the corrected data. Most schools are aware of this issue and are adjusting their timelines accordingly.
0 coins
Luca Russo
•Thank you so much for this information! Do you know if schools are extending their deposit deadlines because of these delays? My daughter's deposit deadline is May 1st.
0 coins
Ethan Clark
•Many schools are being flexible with deposit deadlines this year because of the FAFSA delays. I'd recommend contacting the financial aid office directly to explain your situation and ask if they can extend your deposit deadline or at least give you an estimate of when you'll receive the corrected aid package.
0 coins
AstroAce
I HATE how they roll out major changes and then can't get them right!! This is my third kid going through FAFSA and it gets WORSE every year! The whole system is completely broken. They had THREE EXTRA MONTHS to get this right with the delayed launch and they STILL messed it up. Now my kid might lose out on scholarships because everything is delayed and some deadlines have already passed. BEYOND FRUSTRATED.
0 coins
Yuki Kobayashi
•I feel your pain. I've spent hours trying to fix my son's application only to find out the problem was on their end all along. The worst part is you can never get anyone on the phone when you actually need help.
0 coins
Carmen Vega
•If you're still trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid about this or any other FAFSA issues, I finally had success using Claimyr last week after days of failed attempts. Their service connected me to an FSA agent in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Saved me so much frustration with the endless hold times and disconnects on the regular FSA number.
0 coins
AstroAce
•Thanks for the tip! After posting I actually tried calling again and was on hold for 2.5 hours before getting disconnected. Will check this out!
0 coins
Aisha Mahmood
This happened to my FAFSA too. My school financial aid office told me it could change my SAI calculation by quite a bit depending on my family's specific financial situation. In my case, it actually lowered my SAI by about 2000 points which meant I qualified for more aid! So this recalculation might actually be good news for you.
0 coins
Luca Russo
•That would be amazing if it worked out that way for us too! Did your school wait for the recalculated version before sending you an aid package, or did they send one based on the original calculation?
0 coins
Aisha Mahmood
•They sent me a preliminary package with a note saying it might change after the recalculation. Then about 2 weeks later I got the updated one with more aid. They were pretty good about communication though - might be worth calling your financial aid office directly to see what their process is.
0 coins
Nia Wilson
Just want to update - my son's corrected FAFSA was sent to his school yesterday, and they've already updated his financial aid package. The whole process took about 10 days from when we got that email. The good news is his SAI actually went down by about $3,500, which means more grants! So definitely wait for the recalculation before making any decisions.
0 coins
Luca Russo
•That's great news! I'll definitely wait for the recalculation. I called the school's financial aid office this morning and they said they're aware of the issue and will extend our deposit deadline if needed. Thanks everyone for the help!
0 coins