FAFSA SAI of 2658 - still eligible for NY TAP aid after partial Pell Grant?

Your daughter will definitely still qualify for a substantial Pell Grant with an SAI of 2658. For the 2025-2026 aid year, the maximum Pell is for SAIs of 0-3000, so she's still in a good range. The NY TAP program requires a separate application through the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) website. Your FAFSA information will transfer, but you need to complete the additional state application. The good news is that with your income level, she should qualify for significant TAP funding as well.

my daughter got an sai of like 3100 last year and still got almost the full pell grant amount, dont stress too much. the new york state thing is seprate tho, gotta do another form

The NY TAP application process is pretty straightforward. Go to hesc.ny.gov and create an account. The system will pull most of your FAFSA data automatically, but you'll need to answer some NY-specific questions. With your income level and SAI, your daughter should be eligible for close to the maximum TAP award, which is around $5,800 for the 2025-2026 academic year. Remember that TAP is only for NY state schools though - it won't apply if she's going to an out-of-state college.

DID U KNOW THE WHOLE FINANCIAL AID SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE PPL?? they WANT u to miss deadlines and not get aid! the middle class gets CRUSHED while the ultra rich pay full price easily and the very poor get everything covered. its a SCAM

Have you considered appealing your SAI? My son's initial FAFSA gave us an SAI of 4200, but I submitted an appeal to his school's financial aid office explaining our circumstances (medical bills not reflected on taxes) and they adjusted it down to 1800. Might be worth trying if you have any special circumstances the FAFSA doesn't capture.

My nephew went through this last year trying to get his finaid appeal processed. He kept calling FSA for weeks trying to get through to someone who could help with his verification issues, always on hold forever. He finally used something called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got him through to an actual person at Federal Student Aid in like 5 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Saved him so much frustration when he needed to update his FAFSA for the appeal process.

Just wanted to say - congrats on having an SAI of only 2658! That's actually really good. My daughter's came back at 11,245 despite us not being wealthy by any means (teacher and nurse). Your daughter will definitely qualify for significant aid with that number. For NYS TAP, they use a different calculation called the NY State Net Taxable Income (NTI), which sometimes works out even better than the federal formula.

ur making under 32k and they gave u an SAI of 2658?? thats CRIMINAL!! the system is SO BROKEN. i know someone making 60k who got an SAI of 0 somehow. the whole thing is who u know and how good u are at working the system

dont 4get to check with SUNY buffalo directly too, they might have their own scholarships u can apply for on top of the TAP and pell stuff

To apply for NYS TAP, follow these exact steps: 1. Wait 3-5 days after submitting your FAFSA for the data to transfer 2. Go to hesc.ny.gov and click on "Apply for TAP" 3. Create an account using the same email as your FSA ID 4. Complete the application (it's much shorter than the FAFSA) 5. Make sure to list SUNY Buffalo on your application With your income level, you should expect a significant TAP award. Combined with the Pell Grant, this should cover a substantial portion of the tuition costs.

I completely understand your stress about this! As a parent who went through this process two years ago, I want to reassure you that an SAI of 2658 with your income level actually puts your daughter in a very good position for aid. The FAFSA formula considers more than just income - it factors in family size, number in college, and other variables that can sometimes seem confusing. With your income under $32K, she'll definitely qualify for a substantial Pell Grant (likely around $6,000+ for the year) plus significant NY TAP funding. Make sure to also check if SUNY Buffalo has any need-based institutional grants - many SUNY schools offer additional aid beyond federal and state programs for students in your income bracket.