FAFSA SAI calculation gave us 87k when our income is only 85k - how is this possible?

Same boat here. Our SAI came in at 62k when we make 68k with 2 kids in college. The new FAFSA calculation is BRUTAL on middle-class families. They're counting assets that we can't even use! I've spent hours trying to understand where they get these numbers from.

The new FAFSA formula definitely hits middle-income families with assets harder. Your home equity isn't counted, but they do factor in your other assets and income in ways that might surprise you. Some things to check: 1. Did you have any one-time income boosts in the past two years? (inheritance, property sale, etc.) 2. Do you have non-retirement investments they're counting? 3. Did you correctly report your retirement accounts as protected assets? With the new SAI formula replacing EFC, many families are seeing higher expected contributions. It's worth checking the calculation for errors, especially since this is the first year with the new system.

hate to be the bearer of bad news but yeh the new formula is WAY worse for ppl like us. i make 72k with 1 kid in college and got a SAI of 54k lol. its a joke. private schools might still give you aid tho, they use the CSS profile not just fafsa

Financial aid advisor here. You should definitely request a professional judgment review (what most people call an appeal). The $12K in stock sales could be affecting your calculation if it pushed your AGI significantly higher for the tax year they're using. The SAI formula now uses what's called the "Adjusted Available Income" which combines income and a portion of assets. The new FAFSA also changed how they handle multiple students in college, which negatively impacts families like yours. Under the old system, your EFC would have been divided by the number of college students in your household. The new SAI doesn't do this, which is why many families with multiple students are seeing shockingly high numbers. Request a professional judgment review through your student's college financial aid office (each school handles it differently). Bring documentation about the stock sale being used for necessary home repairs.

You need to do the professional judgment review with EACH school individually. I went through this last year with my daughter. It's extremely time-consuming because each school has their own forms and requirements. Start with the schools your son is most interested in. Also, check if the schools offer merit scholarships that aren't based on the FAFSA calculations. Many schools have academic scholarships based on GPA and test scores that might help offset costs.

Try calling Federal Student Aid directly to ask about your calculation. I spent THREE DAYS trying to get through on their helpline last month when we had a similar issue. Kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that holds your place in line and calls you back when an agent is available. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Saved me hours of frustration and the agent was able to explain exactly where our calculation went wrong (they had counted my spouse's retirement accounts incorrectly).

The stock sale is 100% affecting your SAI. My brother in law had the exact same thing happen - sold some investments to fix their roof and it pushed their SAI through the roof (no pun intended lol). You need to focus on scholarships at this point honestly.

One more suggestion - when you submit your professional judgment appeal, specifically mention that the stock sale was a one-time event used for necessary home repairs. Include documentation of both the sale and the home repair expenses. Be very explicit that this income will not be repeated in future years and therefore doesn't represent your true ability to pay. Also important: check each school's priority deadline for professional judgment appeals. Many schools review these requests in the order received until their aid funds are depleted.

This is exactly why I joined this community - going through the same nightmare! Our SAI came back at 73k on a 79k income and I literally thought there was a computer glitch. The removal of the sibling discount is devastating for families like ours. I have twins who will both be in college next year and under the old system we would have qualified for significant aid. Now we're looking at potentially $150k+ in loans just for their first year. It feels like the system is designed to punish middle-class families who tried to save responsibly. Following this thread closely because I need to figure out our appeal strategy too. Good luck with your professional judgment reviews!

I'm completely new to this whole FAFSA process and honestly terrified after reading all these responses. My daughter is a junior in high school and I thought we'd be okay financially for college since we make about 90k combined income. But now I'm seeing families with similar incomes getting SAI calculations that are higher than what they actually make?! This is insane. A few questions for everyone here: 1) When exactly should I start the FAFSA process for my daughter's senior year? 2) Are there any strategies to minimize your SAI that are actually legal and ethical? 3) Should I be looking primarily at merit-based scholarships instead of need-based aid? I'm genuinely panicking that we're going to be priced out of college entirely. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - it's eye-opening but also really scary!

This thread has been incredibly eye-opening and frankly terrifying as someone just starting to navigate this process. I had no idea about the removal of the sibling discount or how brutally the new SAI formula hits middle-class families. For those dealing with the stock sale issue - I'm wondering if there's any benefit to timing when you submit corrections or appeals? Like, should you wait until after schools release their initial aid packages to see which ones might be more receptive to professional judgment reviews? Also, has anyone had success with state-based aid programs that might not rely on the federal SAI calculation? I'm starting to think we need to completely rethink our college strategy and maybe focus on schools where our kids would be in the top 25% of applicants for merit aid rather than trying to chase need-based aid that apparently doesn't exist for families like ours anymore. The fact that people are getting SAI numbers higher than their actual income is just mind-boggling. It really does feel like the system is designed to force middle-class families into massive debt or price them out entirely.