FAFSA 529 account mistake - can I add missing 529 balance during review?

Don't panic! You CAN make corrections while the FAFSA is in review. Log into studentaid.gov with your FSA ID, select the application, and click on the 'Make Correction' button. For 2025-2026 FAFSA, 529 plans owned by parents are reported as parent assets in the 'Additional Financial Information' section. If you're having trouble seeing the correction option while it's in review, wait 1-2 days for processing to complete.

Thank you!! I've been stressing all day. I actually don't see a 'Make Correction' button anywhere on the dashboard. Do you think I need to wait until the review is complete? And will this delay her whole financial aid package?

the system wont let u edit during review... had the same issue last month. gotta wait till u get ur SAI then make correction. not a huge deal, colleges dont get the info til the SAI is calculated nyway

Oh no, seriously? How long did it take for your SAI to come through after submission? I'm worried about missing priority deadlines for her top schools!

This happened to me with my twins last year too! Except we forgot about a rental property income. The review stage took 12 days for us, then we made corrections. One important thing: when you do the correction, make sure you're ONLY changing the 529 account information. If you start messing with other sections that don't need corrections, it can trigger additional verification reviews and delay everything by weeks. Once your SAI is calculated, there's a specific window for amendments.

12 days!? That's going to be cutting it really close for some of her schools. Thanks for the tip about only changing the 529 info - I wouldn't have thought of that. Did your corrections affect your twins' aid packages much?

The corrections did change our SAI by about $2,100 higher, but it didn't impact eligibility for their Pell Grants. Your situation might be different depending on your overall finances. 529 plans are assessed at a maximum of 5.64% in the aid formula as parent assets, so $42,500 might change your SAI by around $2,400 max. Not insignificant but not catastrophic either!

THEY ARE DELIBERATELY MAKING THIS HARD ON PURPOSE!! The whole system is designed to confuse parents and trap students in debt. I applied for my daughter in October and we're STILL dealing with verification hell three months later because of ONE TINY mistake on reporting retirement accounts. They make it impossible to actually talk to a human being who can help. The FAFSA hotline is a joke - 2+ hour waits only to get disconnected!

I feel your pain! I was stuck in the same endless loop trying to fix an IRA reporting issue. After getting disconnected five times, I finally used Claimyr.com to get through to an actual FAFSA agent without the wait. They have this video (https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ) showing how it works. The agent was able to tell me exactly which section needed correction and how to properly document the retirement funds. Saved me weeks of frustration.

Wait does that actually work? I've never heard of it before. Might try anything at this point since we're approaching scholarship deadlines and still stuck in verification purgatory.

The 2025-2026 FAFSA is reporting assets differently than previous years. Don't forget that under the FAFSA Simplification Act, 529 plans owned by grandparents are no longer reported at all, and parent-owned 529s are reported as parent assets. This actually helps your calculation compared to the old system. When you make the correction, just make sure you're adding it to the right category - it should be under parent investments, not student assets.

Oh that's good to know! The 529 is under my name as the parent, not my daughter's or her grandparents'. So I'll need to add it under parent investments when I can make corrections. Hopefully this won't completely wreck her financial aid package.

I work in a college financial aid office. Here's what you need to know: 1) The FAFSA being

Thank you so much for this clear explanation! One more question - will the colleges automatically get the updated information once we make the correction, or do we need to contact each school's financial aid office to let them know we've made a change?

Yes, schools will automatically receive the updated information after you submit corrections and they process (which takes another 3-5 days typically). However, it's always good practice to email the financial aid offices at your priority schools to notify them you've submitted a correction. This puts it on their radar, especially for schools with upcoming deadlines. Include your student's name and FAFSA ID in the email. If a school's deadline falls before your correction processes, definitely contact them directly to explain.

This exact thing happened to me!! Forgot my sons 529 completely and had a total meltdown lol. Turns out the correction was super easy once the review finished. Don't stress too much - from what the aid officer told me, the parent assets don't impact aid as much as income does anyways. We added like $35k to our assets and his aid only changed a tiny bit.

That's really reassuring to hear! How long did the initial review take for you?

It was like 9 days I think? Felt like forever cuz I was checking it constantly! But yeah don't sweat it too much, wouldn't have made a huge diff in our case.

Just to clarify something important - with the new FAFSA Simplification, the output is now called the Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The formula does treat parent assets, including 529 plans, more favorably than student assets. Remember that parent assets are protected by an Asset Protection Allowance based on the age of the oldest parent, so depending on your overall financial situation, some or all of that 529 might fall under the protection threshold anyway.

Thank you for that clarification! This is all so new and confusing. I'm 48 years old - do you know approximately what the Asset Protection Allowance would be? We do have some other investments and savings too.

For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, a 48-year-old parent would have an Asset Protection Allowance of approximately $9,000-$10,000 if married, and less if single. It's significantly lower than it was years ago. This means the first $9-10K of your reported parent assets are not counted in the calculation. Above that threshold, parent assets are assessed at that maximum rate of 5.64% in the SAI formula. So even with the 529 included, the actual impact on your daughter's aid might be modest.

I'm in a similar situation as a first-time FAFSA parent! We just submitted ours last week and I'm constantly second-guessing everything we entered. Reading through all these responses is so helpful - especially learning that the 529 impact might not be as catastrophic as it feels right now. @Gemma Andrews, it sounds like you're handling this the right way by planning to make the correction as soon as possible. The advice about only changing what needs to be corrected and emailing the financial aid offices is gold. Hang in there - we're all figuring this out together!