FAFSA SAI increase reduced my Pell Grant by $2000 despite no income changes - disability student seeking help

same thing happened to me!! my SAI went up by like $3500 this year for no reason and my pell got cut too. IDK what's up with the new formula but it sucks

Did you try calling the financial aid office at your school? I've left three messages but haven't heard back yet...

There was a significant change to the FAFSA formula starting with the 2024-2025 aid year. Many students are seeing SAI changes that don't seem to match their financial situation. The new formula handles certain types of income and assets differently, particularly for recipients of government benefits like disability. \n\nYes, you can absolutely appeal this! It's called a Professional Judgment review (sometimes called a Special Circumstances appeal). Since you're on disability with no change in your financial situation, you have a strong case. Contact your school's financial aid office immediately and ask about their Professional Judgment process. Bring documentation of your disability status and financial records showing no meaningful change in your situation.\n\nAlso, double-check that all your dependency questions were answered correctly. A single incorrect response could dramatically change your SAI calculation.

Thank you so much for this information! I didn't know about the Professional Judgment review option. I'll start gathering my disability documentation and bank statements right away. Do you know roughly how long these appeals usually take to process?

The new FAFSA is completely BROKEN!!! I work in a college financial aid office and we're getting HUNDREDS of these cases. The new formula is screwing over students with disabilities in particular because they changed how certain benefits are counted. It's not just you!

While the formula has changed, I wouldn't say it's necessarily

Trust me, it's BROKEN. We have students who literally have IDENTICAL financial situations getting wildly different SAIs compared to last year. The system is miscalculating certain income types and the backend is a mess. The Department of Ed has already issued 3 emergency corrections since the rollout.

I had a similar issue but for different reasons and managed to get it fixed. First, immediately request an SAI recalculation from Federal Student Aid. But getting through to them is a nightmare right now.\n\nAfter being disconnected 4 times and spending hours on hold, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a FAFSA agent in about 15 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Their website is claimyr.com - basically they wait on hold for you and call when an agent is on the line. Saved me so much frustration.\n\nWhen I finally got through, the agent found that my disability income had been incorrectly categorized in the new system, which was causing my SAI to be calculated incorrectly. They were able to flag my application for review.

does that service cost money tho? like i'm already broke which is why i need the pell lol

Yeah it does cost something, but for me it was worth it rather than spending literal hours on hold or getting disconnected repeatedly. If you're really tight on money, try calling right when they open at 8am Eastern time. That's when hold times are shortest.

Has anyone noticed if there's a specific question on the FAFSA that might be causing this? I'm on SSDI too and wondering if it's like a specific asset question or something about how disability is reported? Just trying to figure out if there's a pattern to why this is happening to people on disability specifically.

Great question! One common issue we're seeing is related to question 38 on the new FAFSA where it asks about \

Omg that makes so much sense!! I think that's exactly what happened to me too! I reported my SSDI as untaxed income because technically it is untaxed! No one told me I shouldn't count it there. I'm going to check my application right now.

when i was helping my daughter fill out her fafsa last month the website kept crashing and we had to restart like 3 times. maybe you accidentally entered something wrong? the new form is so confusing

I thought about that too, but I've checked my submission multiple times. That's what makes this so frustrating - I can't find any errors in what I submitted that would explain the change. Did your daughter's SAI calculation seem accurate in the end?

This seems to be a systematic issue with the new FAFSA formula's handling of disability income. Here's what I recommend:\n\n1. File a Professional Judgment appeal with your school's financial aid office immediately (bring documentation of your disability status and bank statements)\n\n2. Simultaneously file a correction to your FAFSA - especially check question 38 about untaxed income as mentioned above\n\n3. Contact your school's disability services office - they may have resources to help with the appeal process\n\n4. Reach out to the FSA Ombudsman Group if you can't resolve it with your school\n\nThe timeline varies by school, but most try to process appeals within 2-4 weeks. Make sure to specify this is urgent for your upcoming term expenses.\n\nAlso, check if your school has emergency grants available while you wait for the appeal. Many schools have set aside funds specifically for situations like this.

This is incredibly helpful, thank you! I didn't even think about checking with disability services, but that makes perfect sense. I've already started the Professional Judgment appeal process today, and I'm going to follow up with the other steps you suggested. I really appreciate the clear guidance on what to do next.

wait i'm confused... i thought they changed from EFC to SAI to make it BETTER for low income people?? why are we all getting less money then??

That was definitely the intention, and many students (especially middle-income students with siblings in college) ARE seeing improved aid packages. But the new formula has implementation issues and changes to how certain types of income and assets are counted. For disability recipients, there's often confusion about how to properly report that income in the new system. For many, it's not that the new formula is inherently worse, but rather that the transition has created technical problems and confusion.

ok that makes sense i guess... still sucks tho lol

Update for everyone following this thread: The Department of Education just released guidance to financial aid administrators about disability income and the new FAFSA. They're aware of the calculation issues and have instructed schools to prioritize Professional Judgment reviews for students on disability assistance who are seeing unexpected SAI increases. This is good news for the original poster and others in similar situations!\n\nIf you're experiencing this issue, make sure to reference the \

This is amazing news! Thank you so much for the update. I have an appointment with my financial aid office tomorrow, and I'll definitely mention this specific guidance document. It's such a relief to know they're aware of the issue and trying to fix it.

I'm so glad you found this thread and that there's some progress being made! As someone who's been through the appeals process before (though not for FAFSA), I'd recommend keeping detailed records of every conversation you have with your financial aid office - dates, names, what was discussed, etc. It really helps if you need to follow up or escalate later. Also, don't be afraid to ask for a timeline on your appeal - they should be able to give you at least a rough estimate of when you'll hear back. Wishing you the best of luck with your appointment tomorrow!