FAFSA correction email from only one college out of seven - is this normal?

This happens more often than you'd think! Each school can run different verification checks on FAFSA data. What likely happened is that this particular school has a specific verification protocol that flagged something the others didn't. It doesn't necessarily mean your FAFSA has an error - it could be that this school wants additional documentation for something specific to their aid packaging process. Did the email specify what needs correction?

omg this exact thing happened to my son last year!!! turned out the school had some weird issue with how they were interpreting the W-2 box 12 retirement contributions. the other schools didnt care but this one was super picky. call them and ask specifically what they think is wrong.

This is actually quite common in the current FAFSA processing cycle. The Department of Education made significant changes to the 2025-2026 FAFSA, and different schools are implementing verification protocols at different paces and with different priorities. Some schools are more aggressive with verification than others. The most likely explanations are: 1. This particular school has implemented a specific verification check that the others haven't yet 2. There's a data transmission issue between ED and this specific school 3. The school's financial aid system is incorrectly flagging a section of your FAFSA I recommend calling the school's financial aid office directly and asking for specifics about what needs correction. Have your FAFSA confirmation number and SAI handy when you call. If they identify something that truly is incorrect, you can then update your FAFSA for all schools.

I got one of these emails too and it was a total scam trying to get my FSA ID and password!!! Be careful and don't click on any links!!

The financial aid system is such a JOKE. Every school wants something different, the Dept of Education can't get their act together with this new FAFSA system, and we parents are stuck in the middle trying to figure it all out! Last year my kid got THREE different "correction" requests from different schools, all for completely different things. WASTE OF TIME.

If you need to reach someone at Federal Student Aid directly about this, I'd recommend trying Claimyr. I was in a similar situation last month - kept getting bounced between my school and FSA with everyone giving different answers. I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a live FSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was flagged in my FAFSA and why only one school was seeing it. Saved me days of back and forth.

When you call the school, ask specifically if they're requiring verification or if it's a correction. These are two different things in the FAFSA world. Verification means they want you to prove the information is correct (by submitting documentation). A correction means they believe something is actually wrong and needs to be changed. Also, the new FAFSA system has a feature where schools can flag potential issues even when the Department of Education hasn't. This is part of what they call "institutional methodology" versus "federal methodology" for calculating aid. Some schools (especially private ones) are much more thorough in their review process.

Once you find out what the issue is, please come back and update us! It might help others who run into the same problem. The new FAFSA has so many quirks that we're all learning about in real-time.

my daughters school did this and turns out they just needed her to fill out an additional form for their specific financial aid program. had nothing to do with fafsa being wrong