FAFSA SAI doubled with two siblings in college - should it be split?

Your counselor is incorrect about how the SAI works with the revised FAFSA. Under the new system (2024-2025 and beyond), your SAI is NOT automatically divided by the number of college students in your household. The formula has changed significantly. What happens now is that each student receives their own individual SAI, and colleges use that number directly for determining aid. This actually tends to result in less aid overall for families with multiple students compared to the old EFC system. You should definitely contact each school's financial aid office and explain your situation. Some institutions have discretionary funds they can use to adjust aid packages for multiple-student households, but it's not automatic like it was under the old system.

i had same exact issue!! my twin sister and me both got SAI of 18700 each. last year with old FAFSA our efc was like 9500 total. our financial aid packages are WAY worse this year and we dont know what to do :

The other posters are correct - this is a major change with the new FAFSA. The "student multiplier" that used to reduce EFC for multiple college students was eliminated when they switched to the SAI system. However, there are still options: 1. Contact each financial aid office directly and explain your situation. While the federal formula doesn't automatically adjust for multiple students anymore, many schools have institutional policies to help families in your situation. 2. Submit a Professional Judgment appeal (sometimes called a Special Circumstances form) at each school. This is a formal request for the financial aid office to reconsider your aid based on circumstances not reflected in the FAFSA. 3. Look for additional scholarship opportunities to help offset the difference. The removal of the student multiplier was one of the most controversial aspects of the FAFSA Simplification Act, and many families are experiencing this exact situation.

Absolutely contact all three schools you're considering! Each school has different policies for handling multiple-student households under the new system. Some might be more generous than others with institutional aid to offset this change. When you contact them, be very specific: 1. Mention that you have a sibling currently enrolled at [specific university] 2. Note that your family's financial situation hasn't changed significantly from last year 3. Provide both last year's EFC and this year's SAI numbers to illustrate the impact While you're at it, ask each school if they have any specific scholarships for families with multiple college students. Many institutions created new scholarship programs specifically to address this FAFSA change.

my cousin works in financial aid and she says some colleges are automatically adjusting for siblings and some arent. depends on the school budget. private colleges with big endowments might help more than state schools who have less flexibility. good luck!!!

I spent 4 HOURS trying to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid to ask about this exact same issue last week! Kept getting disconnected or stuck on hold. Finally I found this service called Claimyr that got me connected to an FSA agent in about 15 minutes (https://claimyr.com). Their video demo shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed everything people are saying here - the sibling discount is gone from the federal formula. BUT she also told me to make sure both FAFSA applications correctly list each sibling as a college student, because some schools still use that info for their own aid calculations even if the federal formula doesn't. Worth checking your FAFSA to make sure that part is correct!

just wondering... did your family income go up at all? even a little bit? or did ur parents take money from retirement or something? sometimes small changes can have big impacts on the SAI calculation

One additional suggestion: If your brother's university has already prepared his financial aid package for next year, ask him to share those details with you. This will give you a concrete example of how his school is handling the new SAI calculation, which might help you when talking to your potential schools. Some universities are creating special sibling grants to compensate for the federal formula change. These aren't advertised prominently, but if you specifically ask about programs for families with multiple college students, financial aid officers can tell you what's available.

my twin had to do an appeal at her school and got an extra $3k per semester after explaining our situation. def worth trying!!!

This whole FAFSA "simplification" has been a DISASTER. First they delay the form until January, then the system crashes constantly, and now families with multiple students are getting LESS aid than before. How is that an improvement??? The Department of Education should be ASHAMED of themselves for how they've handled this. Families are making college decisions RIGHT NOW without knowing what aid they'll receive! The worst part is the complete LACK OF TRANSPARENCY about these formula changes. They sold it as "simplification" but didn't clearly explain that it would HURT families with multiple college students!

As someone who just went through this exact situation last year, I can confirm everything others are saying is accurate. The elimination of the sibling adjustment has been devastating for families like ours. Here's what actually worked for my family: I created a spreadsheet showing our old EFC vs. new SAI calculations and included it with every financial aid appeal. I also researched each school's endowment and recent tuition increases to tailor my appeals - schools with larger endowments were more responsive to requests for additional institutional aid. One thing that helped was getting a letter from my high school counselor explaining that our family's financial circumstances were identical to the previous year, which helped demonstrate that the SAI increase was purely due to the formula change, not actual financial improvements. The appeals process took about 6-8 weeks at most schools, so start ASAP. Also, don't just email - call and speak to someone directly. The financial aid officers I spoke with were generally sympathetic once they understood the situation. Good luck, and don't give up! This change has hurt so many families that schools are starting to develop better processes to address it.