FAFSA SAI numbers changing after March 15 without notification - anyone else seeing this?

same thing happened to us! our SAI went down like 8% which actually helps us but still weird they didnt tell us. i only noticed cuz my son's college portal showed a different expected contribution than what i remembered. no clue why they changed it tho

This is actually part of the planned FAFSA Simplification Act adjustments. The Department of Education announced they would be recalculating SAI numbers after identifying formula application issues from the initial rollout. They're trying to ensure consistent application of the new formula across all applicants. The recalculations should be finalized by early April, and colleges have been notified about these changes. The lack of communication to families is definitely frustrating though. They should have emailed everyone whose numbers changed. If your SAI increased significantly, you might want to contact your schools' financial aid offices directly since they're aware of these adjustments and may have additional institutional aid to help offset the changes.

yep mines changed too!!! went up like 20% this is bulls*** how r we supposed to plan for college when they just randomly change the numbers?? typical government nonsense

Financial aid advisor here. The Department of Education is indeed making adjustments to SAI calculations as part of the ongoing FAFSA Simplification Act implementation. There were several calculation issues identified in the initial formula application that they're now correcting. What you should do: 1. Document your original SAI and your new SAI 2. Contact each school's financial aid office directly 3. Explain that your SAI has increased unexpectedly 4. Ask if they have any institutional funds to help offset this change Many schools have set aside additional institutional aid specifically for families affected by these SAI adjustments. They understand this is causing significant disruption to families trying to make college decisions.

I worked in financial aid for 12 years and have never seen such a mess as this year's FAFSA rollout. The recalculations are happening because they realized they were applying the new formula inconsistently across different applicant groups. Some families were accidentally advantaged while others were disadvantaged. They're trying to fix it now, but the lack of communication is inexcusable. One point of clarification - it's not that your "final" SAI changed. It's that the initial calculation was incorrect due to system errors, and they're now providing the correct calculation. Small comfort when you've been planning based on the first number, I know.

I've been trying to call Federal Student Aid for THREE DAYS about this exact issue! My SAI went up by 22% and my son's financial aid offer from his dream school got reduced by $7,500. We can't afford that difference. Every time I call, I either get disconnected or am told the wait is over 3 hours. Has anyone actually managed to get through to a human being there?

its crazy to me that they expect us to just deal with this!!! if a business changed prices after u already agreed to buy something theyd get sued!!! but govt can just change the rules whenever they want 🤬

Just a heads-up for everyone in this situation - many colleges have extended their deposit deadlines this year specifically because of the FAFSA issues. If the May 1st deadline is coming up too quickly now that your financial picture has changed, contact admissions offices and ask if they're offering extensions. Many are extending to May 15th or even June 1st to give families more time to sort out their financial aid situation.

does anyone know if they're still making changes? like could my SAI change AGAIN or is this the final number?

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with the financial aid office at my daughter's top choice school. They were actually really understanding and said they've been dealing with this issue with lots of families. They're giving us some additional institutional grant money to help offset the SAI increase! The financial aid director recommended I contact all the other schools too since many have set aside extra funds specifically for this situation. So definitely call your schools if your SAI changed!

This is such a relief to hear! My SAI went up 18% and I've been stressed about how to handle college decisions with this change. Reading everyone's experiences here has been so helpful - I didn't realize this was happening to so many families or that schools might have additional funds available. I'm definitely going to call the financial aid offices at my son's schools tomorrow and ask about institutional aid for families affected by the SAI adjustments. Thank you all for sharing your stories and advice!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I was feeling completely alone in this situation. My SAI increased by 13% and I had no idea why until reading everyone's explanations here. I've been panicking about how this affects my daughter's college choices, but seeing that @Zoe Papanikolaou was able to get additional institutional aid gives me hope. I'm definitely going to call the financial aid offices at her schools tomorrow. It's frustrating that the Department of Education didn't communicate these changes to families directly - we shouldn't have to find out by accident or through community forums like this. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and advice!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! My family is dealing with the exact same issue - our SAI increased by 14% and we had no idea why until stumbling across this discussion. It's so frustrating that they made these changes without any direct communication to families. We're literally making life-changing financial decisions based on these numbers! Reading about everyone's experiences and @Zoe Papanikolaou's success with getting additional institutional aid has given me hope though. I'm planning to call the financial aid offices at my son's schools first thing Monday morning. Thank you all for sharing your stories and advice - it's comforting to know we're not alone in this mess of a FAFSA rollout!

Just wanted to add my experience to this thread - our SAI also changed (went up 12%) and like everyone else, we had zero notification! I only discovered it when comparing our aid letters to what I thought our expected contribution should be. It's incredibly frustrating to be making such important financial decisions when the government can just silently change the numbers we're basing everything on. Reading everyone's stories here has been both comforting (knowing we're not alone) and helpful (learning about the possibility of additional institutional aid). I'll definitely be calling our schools this week to explain the situation. This whole FAFSA "simplification" has been anything but simple - more like a complete disaster that's causing unnecessary stress for families during an already overwhelming time. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and advice!

This is absolutely infuriating! My SAI jumped up by 16% and like everyone else here, I had ZERO notification about it. I only found out when my daughter's dream school sent a revised financial aid letter with less grant money. We've been planning our whole college strategy around the original number since January! The fact that the Department of Education can just silently change such crucial numbers without telling families is completely unacceptable. We're talking about life-changing financial decisions here, not some minor adjustment. Reading through this thread has been both a relief (knowing we're not alone) and incredibly frustrating (seeing how widespread this problem is). I'm definitely going to call all of my daughter's schools tomorrow after reading about @Zoe Papanikolaou's success with getting additional institutional aid. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences - this thread has been more informative than anything I could find on the official government websites!