FAFSA SAI jumped from 6235 to 11300 - lost Pell Grant eligibility after reprocessing

omg this happened to my son too!! His SAI went from like 7000 something to 11400 in march. We're also waiting to choose a school. The financial aid ppl just keep giving us the runaround and no one will explain what happened. So frustrating 😡

This is unfortunately becoming more common this year. The most likely causes for a significant SAI increase after reprocessing are: 1. Data verification/correction between your initial FAFSA and tax records 2. A correction submitted (even accidentally) that added income or assets 3. Reporting of additional financial information not included in the initial submission 4. A change in your daughter's dependency status during verification You should request a detailed comparison of your initial submission versus the reprocessed application. You can do this by downloading both SAR (Student Aid Report) versions and comparing them line by line.

Something similar happened to me - SAI jumped by about 3000 points after "reprocessing" in March. I was able to find the issue by comparing my original Student Aid Report (SAR) with the updated one. Turns out they counted some retirement savings as available assets in the second processing that weren't counted initially. I filed an appeal with my top choice school explaining the situation and they adjusted my aid package. Don't give up!

This sounds like what happened to my nephew! His FASFA SAI went up after they reprocessed it and suddenly he didn't qualify for grants anymore. His Dad had to spend weeks calling everyone to get answers. So annoying how they just change things without explaining it to anyone!!!

After having this EXACT same issue (SAI jumping from 4350 to 9800), I spent days trying to get through to FSA with no luck. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with an actual human at FSA without the endless waiting. The agent helped me identify that they had double-counted some of our retirement income in the reprocessing. Check out their video to see how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ It was worth it to finally get answers instead of being told to "contact the school" when we hadn't selected one yet. The agent also submitted a correction request that fixed our SAI calculation.

ugh the new FAFSA is such a disaster i dont even understand how they managed to mess it up this bad. my SAI also changed but it actually went down?? which i guess is good but now im paranoid they'll "fix" it again and raise it.

For those experiencing SAI increases after reprocessing, here are the technical steps to take: 1. Download both SAR reports (original and current) from studentaid.gov 2. Compare the following sections carefully: - Reported income figures - Asset values - Household size - Number in college - Retirement or business asset reporting 3. If you identify discrepancies, document them with screenshots 4. File a formal correction request through studentaid.gov AND contact each school's financial aid office with your documentation 5. Request an official "Professional Judgment Review" from your preferred schools The new 2025-2026 FAFSA has had significant processing issues, particularly with income verification against IRS data.

its probably because they're using the federal data retrieval tool thingy now that pulls tax stuff automatically. My friend who works in financial aid says the system is glitching and sometimes pulling the wrong tax years or counting certain incomes twice

UPDATE: After comparing the two SAR reports as suggested here, I found the issue! In our original FAFSA, we correctly reported my retirement accounts as retirement assets (which aren't counted in the SAI calculation). In the reprocessing, these somehow got categorized as regular investment assets, adding almost $85,000 in countable assets! I submitted a correction request through studentaid.gov AND used Claimyr to speak with an FSA representative who confirmed this was a known issue affecting many applications. They've submitted an urgent correction request, and I should see an updated SAI within 3-5 business days. THANK YOU all for your help and suggestions! I'll update again when I hear back.

I'm so sorry this happened to you but thank you for sharing your experience! As someone new to this whole FAFSA process (my daughter is a junior, so we're preparing for next year), reading about these reprocessing issues is really eye-opening. It's terrifying that they can just change your numbers so dramatically without proper explanation. I'm taking notes from all the advice here about downloading and comparing SAR reports - definitely going to be extra vigilant when our time comes. Really hoping your correction gets processed quickly and your daughter gets her Pell Grant eligibility back!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar issue where my son's SAI went from 8,200 to 12,500 after reprocessing in late March. Reading through everyone's experiences, it sounds like the retirement asset miscategorization is really common this year. I'm going to download both SAR reports tonight and compare them line by line like Andre suggested. Carmen, I'm so glad you found the issue with your ex-husband's income being counted twice - that gives me hope that there's a logical explanation for our jump too. Has anyone else had success with the Claimyr service that Liam mentioned? I'm getting desperate after being on hold with FSA for hours multiple times this week.