FAFSA and VA education benefits 'under review' - Should we mark 'No' on military question?

DONT SAY NO!!!! The question is about military SERVICE not benefits. If he served in the Navy he IS a veteran regardless of benefit status. My cousin marked 'no' thinking the same thing and it messed up his independent status and we had to go through a whole correction process. The benefits review is separate from his veteran status.

Answer Yes to the veteran question if your son has served in the active military and was released under conditions other than dishonorable. This is about his status, not his benefits. The FAFSA uses this primarily to determine if he qualifies as an independent student (which most veterans do). The VA education benefits review is a separate process that doesn't affect how you complete the FAFSA veteran questions.

exactly what the others said - its about STATUS not BENEFITS. My husband marked yes on his FAFSA while still waiting on benefit approval and it was fine. You'll report any VA education benefits as untaxed income once approved, but thats different from the veteran status question.

Just to add - make sure you have his DD-214 on hand if they ask for verification. My son had to submit his during verification. If he just got out last month he might still be waiting for the official copy?

I work with student veterans at a community college. Here's what you need to know: 1. The FAFSA veteran question is about SERVICE status, not benefit status 2. If your son served in active duty and was released under conditions other than dishonorable, mark YES 3. With veteran status, he'll be considered an independent student (no parent info needed) 4. When his VA education benefits are approved, they may need to be reported, but this doesn't affect how you answer the initial veteran question Also, since he's newly separated, make sure his income information on FAFSA reflects his CURRENT situation, not his military pay from last year. You can request a professional judgment review if his current income is significantly lower than what tax records show.

Calling the FAFSA hotline is a nightmare with this stuff. I spent 3 hours on hold last month trying to get clarification on veteran status questions. I finally got through using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they have this system that calls and waits on hold for you, then calls your phone when an agent picks up. Saved me hours of frustration. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - might be worth it if you need specific clarification on your son's situation.

also gonna add that sometimes the VA education benefits take FOREVER to approve. my husbands took almost 4 months but he still marked veteran on fafsa and everything worked out fine

To answer your question about SAI calculation - yes, as an independent student, your son's Student Aid Index will be calculated based only on his information (and spouse if married), not yours. This typically results in a lower SAI and potentially more aid eligibility. When he completes the FAFSA as an independent student due to veteran status, he won't need to provide any parental information at all. The system will skip those sections entirely after he answers the veteran question as 'Yes'.

this happened to us too! ended up restarting the whole application because my son didn't know whether to mark yes or no. he served 4 years but was waiting on his GI Bill. what a mess!!!! definitely mark YES for veteran status. but BE CAREFUL later in the application when they ask about untaxed income - that's where you DON'T include VA education benefits (at least thats what we were told???

The FAFSA is always so confusing with these edge cases. Just make sure to keep documentation of everything in case you need to do corrections later.