FAFSA SAI calculation showing 3x higher than estimators - help!

This is unfortunately quite common with the new FAFSA. The most likely culprits for such a huge discrepancy are: (1) Assets being counted differently than expected (2) Small business value being incorrectly included (3) Retirement accounts accidentally included in your asset calculations (4) Multiple students in college not being factored correctly. Could any of these apply to your situation? The online estimators sometimes use outdated formulas that don't match the actual 2024-2025 FAFSA calculations.

omg the same EXACT thing happened to me!! our sai came back at like 43k which is insane bc we make like 85k combined. the online calculators all said like 15k so idk whats going on either

Did you check box for owning a farm or business? That's an automatic red flag for the system. Also if you own a home with significant equity, the new FAFSA is counting that differently. I'd double check all your asset entries since that's where most calculation errors happen. And yeah, the "in progress" status means it could still change.

After struggling with similar issues for weeks, I finally got through to a Federal Student Aid agent who explained my calculation errors. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to bypass the phone wait times - they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. The agent found I had misreported some asset information that was causing my SAI to be nearly triple what it should have been. Turns out I had entered some amounts in monthly terms when the form wanted annual values. Might be worth checking your entries with an agent.

The online calculators are TRASH with the new FAFSA system!! They haven't updated them properly for the new formula and they're giving everyone false hope. My daughters SAI came in 22k higher than what the College Board calculator estimated. So mad about this whole thing!!

You might want to check if you accidentally included the value of your retirement accounts in your assets. That's a really common mistake people make. The form asks for "investments" and some people include their 401k/IRA values, which should be excluded. Even though the form says "in progress," the SAI calculation is probably correct - that status just means they haven't finished processing your application for other reasons (verification, etc).

I'm a financial aid counselor and can offer some insight. First, check if you inadvertently included: 1. Home equity (should be excluded) 2. Retirement accounts (should be excluded) 3. Life insurance cash value (should be excluded) Second, verify that you entered annual income, not monthly. Third, check if you entered your state tax correctly - in the new FAFSA, this is a common error point. Also, some savings for emergency funds are protected under the Asset Protection Allowance, but this has been significantly reduced in recent years. If all your data is correct, request a professional judgment review from your college's financial aid office, as they can adjust your SAI based on special circumstances.

has anyone tried just calling fafsa directly??? i spent like 3 hours on hold yesterday and then got disconnected 😩

One additional thing to check: Did you properly account for all contributors? With the new FAFSA, if there are divorced/separated parents or other contributors, their information needs to be entered correctly. Sometimes the system counts income twice or applies formula components incorrectly when multiple contributors are involved. And remember, once your application is fully processed, you can always contact each individual college's financial aid office to request a professional judgment review if you believe your SAI doesn't accurately reflect your ability to pay.

Did you check if your SAI includes any untaxed income like contributions to tax-deferred pension plans? The new FAFSA treats those differently than the old system did. I found out I was double-counting some retirement contributions which totally messed up my numbers.