FAFSA SAI increased and Pell Grant decreased after adding college codes - what happened?

same thing happnd to me last month!!! added 2 schools and SAI went up $5. makes NO sense

This is actually a known issue with the new FAFSA system. When you add colleges, the system sometimes recalculates the SAI based on slightly different rounding methods or applies verification flags differently. A $4 change in SAI is extremely minor (though I understand the Pell reduction is frustrating). Unfortunately, the relationship between SAI changes and Pell Grant amounts isn't perfectly linear - there are specific thresholds where even a tiny SAI increase can reduce Pell by a set amount.

dude the fafsa system is BROKEN this year. my daughter's app has been "processing" for 6 weeks and when i call i get disconnected EVERY TIME. they don't care about us parents trying to help our kids.

The FAFSA system recalculates your SAI when you add schools because it runs through the entire formula again. Small differences can happen due to rounding at various steps. The $4 change pushed you just over a threshold for Pell Grant amounts. It's not a glitch - it's just unfortunate timing with the specific numbers in your case.

have you checked if maybe you accidentally changed something else when adding the college codes? sometimes the system updates other stuff without telling you. happened to my nephew where his dad's income somehow changed when they added schools

I went through something similar with my daughter's FAFSA. In our case, it turned out that when we added colleges, it triggered an automatic verification flag on her application, which slightly changed how some calculations were handled. The FSA helpline explained that certain colleges have different verification requirements that can affect how the system processes the application. Try calling the Federal Student Aid helpline (1-800-433-3243) to ask specifically about this issue. They can see exactly what changed in the system.

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid after three days of trying. They confirmed this was a system issue related to how the new colleges were processed. Apparently adding certain colleges can trigger "verification flags" that slightly change how some numbers are calculated. The representative said they've seen this happen multiple times this year and acknowledged it's frustrating. She recommended we submit an appeal through our first-choice college's financial aid office rather than directly through FAFSA. Thanks everyone for your help!

This is really helpful information! I'm a newcomer here and just submitted my FAFSA last week. Reading through this thread makes me worried about adding more colleges later if my daughter gets off any waitlists. It's crazy that the system can change your SAI just from adding school codes - that seems like a major flaw. @Chloe Robinson thanks for following up with the resolution, it gives me hope that these issues can be fixed even if it takes some persistence. I'll definitely bookmark that Claimyr service someone mentioned in case I need to contact FSA.

As someone new to this community, I'm really grateful for all the detailed responses here! I just completed my FAFSA for my daughter last month and had no idea that adding college codes could potentially trigger these kinds of system changes. The fact that verification flags can be triggered by certain colleges is something I wish was more clearly communicated in the FAFSA instructions. @Chloe Robinson your persistence in getting answers and sharing the solution is so helpful - it sounds like working through the college's financial aid office rather than trying to fix it directly through FAFSA might be the way to go for these types of technical issues. I'm definitely going to take screenshots of our current numbers before making any changes, just in case!