FAFSA error gave my non-eligible daughter full Pell Grant - How to correct without risking admission?
I'm freaking out because I think our FAFSA submission has a major error that resulted in my daughter getting Pell Grants she's not eligible for. We're US citizens living abroad (daughter is dual citizen) with combined income around $190K, so definitely NOT eligible for need-based aid. When we submitted FAFSA in late March for Fall 2024, something weird happened - my husband couldn't update his income information (he makes about 85% of our household income). The system only recorded MY salary which is much lower. Yesterday my daughter got notifications from two universities offering her FULL PELL GRANTS! This is clearly wrong and I'm worried about potential consequences. We can easily afford tuition and don't need financial aid, just applied hoping for merit scholarships. Who should I contact first to fix this - the universities or Federal Student Aid? Will correcting this affect her admission status? I don't want her to lose her spots because of our mistake on the FAFSA form!
21 comments


Freya Christensen
You need to contact both immediately. Start with each university's financial aid office (not admissions) and explain the situation. Let them know you've discovered the error and are also contacting Federal Student Aid to correct it. The schools can put a hold on disbursing the Pell Grant funds while this gets sorted. Then go to studentaid.gov, log in with your daughter's account, and submit a correction to the FAFSA showing your husband's income. This won't affect her admission status since admissions and financial aid are separate departments, but you must act quickly before funds are actually distributed.
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Ravi Malhotra
•Thank you so much! I'll call both universities first thing tomorrow morning. Do you think I should email them tonight too so there's a paper trail? And when we correct the FAFSA, will her SAI score automatically update and notify the schools?
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Omar Hassan
I'm EXTREMELY confused why you'd want to correct this. My daughter goes to NYU and we pay $72,000 a year even with our 'high' income. If your daughter qualified somehow, just take it! The government wastes billions on stupider things. Pell Grants are only like $7,000 max anyway. Nobody's going to come after you for this.
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Chloe Robinson
•This is extremely poor advice. Knowingly accepting financial aid you're not eligible for is fraud. The system will eventually catch this during verification, especially with such a large income discrepancy. The student could face serious consequences including having to repay all funds with penalties, academic discipline, and potentially even legal issues for the family. Always report accurate information on the FAFSA.
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Omar Hassan
•Look, all I'm saying is mistakes happen. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for FAFSA errors. They can just say they didn't realize there was a problem.
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Diego Chavez
•My cousin's roommate got caught with incorrect income reporting on FAFSA and had to pay back all the aid plus $2,500 penalty... not worth it
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NeonNebula
this happened to me to but opposite way. my dad's income didn't get counted at all and we got denied everything even though we should qualify. fafsa system is broken tbh
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Ravi Malhotra
•Sorry to hear that! Did you manage to get it fixed? What steps did you take?
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Anastasia Kozlov
I had a similar issue last year with my son's FAFSA - system glitch prevented updating income. Our issue was resolved by calling Federal Student Aid directly to explain the situation and request help with the correction. However, reaching them was IMPOSSIBLE until I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com). They got me connected to an actual FAFSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours or getting disconnected. The agent manually updated our income information and notified the schools. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Definitely contact universities first, but FSA agents can expedite corrections on their end when there are system issues like you described.
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NeonNebula
•does claimyr really work? i keep getting disconnected from fafsa line every time i call
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Anastasia Kozlov
•Yes, it worked perfectly for me. Got through in ~20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. The FSA agent was able to help immediately with the income correction.
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Sean Kelly
As international parent of US kid, u should kno ur daughters colleges might still offer good merrit scholrships even after fixing FAFSA! My daughter's SAI was above 15000 n she still got $25k merit from Boston College (non-need scholarships). Don't worry about fixing this - be honest!! Colleges care about academic merrit not just need!
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Ravi Malhotra
•That's reassuring! She did have excellent grades and test scores, so hopefully they'll still consider her for merit scholarships after we fix this error.
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Freya Christensen
One important thing to note: When you submit the correction, request a new SAI calculation immediately. The corrected Student Aid Index score will be higher (meaning less aid eligibility), and the system will automatically notify all schools she's applied to. Make sure to follow up with each financial aid office to confirm they received the updated SAI. Additionally, prepare PDFs of your foreign tax documents and have them ready - they may request these to verify your actual income. The verification process for international income can be more complex than for domestic students.
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Ravi Malhotra
•This is very helpful. I have all our tax documents ready. Will the schools be annoyed that we're creating extra work for them? I'm still worried this might somehow affect her admission status.
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Chloe Robinson
Financial aid administrator here. This is a common system issue with the new FAFSA, especially for families with international income. Here's what you should do: 1. Contact each university's financial aid office immediately by phone AND email. Explain exactly what happened and that you want to correct it. 2. Submit a formal FAFSA correction at studentaid.gov. You may need to print the paper correction form if the online system still won't accept your husband's income. 3. Ask both the schools and FSA about the proper way to report foreign income - certain types may be reported differently. 4. Request written confirmation from each school that this will not impact admission status (it shouldn't - these are separate departments). This will not jeopardize her admission as long as you're proactive about fixing it. The schools will appreciate your honesty.
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Ravi Malhotra
•Thank you for this expert advice! One question - since we live abroad, does my husband need a US SSN to be properly added to the FAFSA? Could that be why his information wasn't accepted initially?
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Chloe Robinson
•Yes, that's likely the issue! Contributors without SSNs need special handling on the FAFSA. When you call Federal Student Aid, specifically mention this situation - they have a process for non-SSN contributors that requires manual intervention. This is a known issue with the new FAFSA rollout.
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Diego Chavez
just wondering but where abroad do u live that pays 190k? asking for a friend lol
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Ravi Malhotra
•We're in Singapore - the cost of living is very high here, but certain industries do offer competitive compensation packages for expatriates.
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Katherine Ziminski
As someone who went through a similar FAFSA correction process last year, I want to emphasize that you're doing the right thing by fixing this immediately. The key is documentation - when you contact the universities, ask them to email you confirmation that they've received your correction notice and that it won't affect admission status. Also, when you call Federal Student Aid, get a case number for your correction request. This creates a paper trail showing you acted in good faith to fix the error. The process can take 2-3 weeks to fully update across all systems, so don't panic if you don't see immediate changes. Your daughter's merit scholarship eligibility should remain intact since those are typically based on academic credentials, not financial need.
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