FAFSA family size discrepancy affecting SAI and Pell Grant eligibility - filed separately

This is actually a common issue for parents who file separately. The 2024-2025 FAFSA is notoriously bad at handling data from separate tax returns. When you filed the correction, did you receive a confirmation email about the processed changes? Also, what does your current SAR (Student Aid Report) show for family size? That should tell you what's currently in the system.

same thing happend to me but worse!! my son's FASFA showed family size as 2 when we are 5!! we fixed it online but SAI never change. school gave him way less money and now were stuck with a $7000 gap we cant afford. The whole system is RIGGED i swear.

I work in financial aid, and I can tell you this is a known issue with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, especially for parents who filed separately. Here's what's happening: The system is correctly showing your updated family size on the SAR, but there's a processing delay with recalculating the SAI. However, when schools download your FAFSA data, they should see the corrected family size. What you need to do is contact your daughter's financial aid office again and specifically request they: 1. Verify the current family size showing in their system 2. Manually recalculate the SAI based on the correct family size 3. Provide written confirmation of what Pell Grant amount your daughter qualifies for If they're not helpful, you'll need to escalate to the director of financial aid. You have the right to see how your aid was calculated.

ugh this happend to my nephew to!!! he had to wait 3 MONTHS to get it fixed and still got less money than he should. good luck with all the bureucracy lol

Had almost the identical issue (also filed separately). One thing that worked for me was specifically requesting an SAI recalculation. The financial aid office kept telling me to wait for automatic processing, but after 6 weeks of nothing changing, I finally got desperate and drove to campus. Turns out they could've manually recalculated it the whole time! The difference between family size 2 vs 3 was about $2700 in additional Pell Grant eligibility for my son. Also - I found it nearly impossible to reach anyone at Federal Student Aid by phone to get this sorted out. After getting disconnected four times, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual FSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. The agent confirmed that family size ABSOLUTELY affects SAI calculation and Pell eligibility. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

My daughter had a similar issue with her FAFSA this year (also with family size) and we just went ahead and filed an appeal with supporting documents. Took about 3 weeks but we got it resolved. You might be overthinking this.

Quick update on this issue: I checked with our processing department this morning. For the 2024-2025 FAFSA, there's a specific glitch affecting parents who filed separately where family size corrections don't automatically trigger SAI recalculations. This is a known issue at Federal Student Aid. You can verify what family size was used in the original calculation by requesting a "calculation breakdown" from your school's financial aid office - they can generate this report from their system. If they claim they can't do this, they're incorrect - all schools using Department of Education software have this capability. Also, make sure to get the recalculation in writing. The difference between family size 3 and 4 could absolutely affect Pell Grant eligibility by thousands of dollars, depending on your income level.

I had this exact problem last year. The SAI difference for us was about $2,500 between family size 2 and 3. What finally worked was having my daughter (the student) contact the financial aid office herself. For some reason, they took her more seriously than when I called as the parent. Within a week, they had manually recalculated her aid package with the correct family size, and she got an additional $2,000 in Pell Grant. Sometimes it just depends on who you talk to at the financial aid office.

i'm confused why is family size even matter so much?? isn't FASFA mostly about income??

Final thought: Since the 2024-2025 FAFSA has had so many technical issues, be sure to keep documentation of EVERYTHING. Save screenshots of your corrected FAFSA showing family size 4, save all emails from FSA and the financial aid office, and take notes during phone calls (date, time, who you spoke with). If you need to escalate this beyond the financial aid office, having that paper trail will be crucial. And yes, the difference between family size 3 and 4 can absolutely affect Pell Grant eligibility by thousands of dollars, so this is worth pursuing until it's resolved correctly.

I'm a current college student who went through something similar with my FAFSA last year. One thing that really helped me was creating a timeline of all the steps I took and keeping track of reference numbers from each interaction. When I finally got through to someone who could help, having all those details made the process much smoother. Also, don't give up! The financial aid office at my school initially told me they couldn't do anything, but when I persisted and asked to speak with a supervisor, they were able to resolve it within a few days. The key is being polite but firm about getting the correct calculation. That $3,000 difference is definitely worth fighting for - it made the difference between me taking out loans or not. Good luck with your call tomorrow! I hope they can get this sorted out quickly for your daughter.

I'm going through the exact same situation right now! My family filed separately in 2022 and we've been stuck with the wrong family size for months. What's really frustrating is that I've called the financial aid office three times and gotten different answers each time. The first person told me it would update automatically, the second said family size doesn't affect aid calculations (which I knew was wrong), and the third finally admitted they could do a manual recalculation but "it would take 4-6 weeks." Reading through all these responses is giving me hope though! I'm going to try having my son call directly like @Carmella Popescu suggested, and I'm definitely going to ask for that "calculation breakdown" that @Kai Santiago mentioned. It's ridiculous that we have to become experts on their own system just to get the aid our kids deserve. For anyone else dealing with this - don't let them tell you family size doesn't matter. I used the Federal Student Aid estimator and the difference between our actual family size and what they have on file is over $2,800 in Pell Grant eligibility. That's not pocket change for most of us!

Just wanted to share what happened when I dealt with this same issue earlier this year. My daughter's FAFSA showed family size 2 instead of 4, and like everyone else here, the SAI didn't update after we made the correction online. What finally worked for us was going directly to the financial aid office in person with printed documentation - our corrected FAFSA showing family size 4, our 2022 tax returns, and a letter explaining the discrepancy. The in-person visit made all the difference! They were able to pull up her file immediately and see that the system had indeed updated the family size display but hadn't recalculated the SAI. The financial aid counselor walked me through exactly what was happening: their system downloads FAFSA data in batches, and corrections don't always trigger automatic recalculations. She manually initiated the SAI recalculation right there, and within 2 days we received an updated award letter with an additional $2,400 in Pell Grant eligibility. My advice: if phone calls aren't working, try visiting in person if possible. Bring documentation and ask them to show you on their screen what family size is currently in their system. Sometimes seeing it together makes it easier for them to understand what needs to be fixed!

I'm just starting to navigate FAFSA for my daughter and reading through this thread is honestly terrifying! It sounds like the system is completely broken when it comes to handling separated tax filings and family size corrections. I had no idea that making a correction online might not actually trigger a recalculation - that seems like such a basic function that should work automatically. Question for those of you who have been through this: when you initially filled out the FAFSA, did you have any indication that the family size was going to be wrong? Or did you only find out when you got the SAR back? I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to catch this issue before it becomes a months-long battle with financial aid offices. Also, for @Kai Santiago - since you work in financial aid, is there anything parents can do while initially completing the FAFSA to avoid this glitch, or is it just a system issue that we have to deal with after the fact? This thread has been incredibly helpful but also really stressful to read. The fact that so many families are dealing with thousands of dollars in incorrect aid calculations is just unacceptable.

This entire thread has been so validating! I've been dealing with a nearly identical situation with my son's FAFSA - filed separately, family size showing as 2 instead of 4, and no change in SAI after making corrections online. What's really frustrating is that I've spent hours on hold with FSA just to be told "it will update eventually" while watching deadlines approach. Reading everyone's experiences here has given me a clear action plan. I'm going to call the financial aid office tomorrow and specifically request: 1. The calculation breakdown showing what family size was used 2. Manual SAI recalculation with correct family size of 4 3. Written confirmation of the corrected Pell Grant amount If that doesn't work, I'll have my son call directly, and as a last resort, we'll make an in-person visit with all documentation in hand. The potential $3,000+ difference in aid is absolutely worth the fight. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - especially @Kai Santiago for the professional insights and @Nia Jackson for the in-person visit strategy. It's ridiculous that we need a support group just to get basic FAFSA calculations right, but I'm grateful this community exists!

As a newcomer to this community, I have to say this thread has been incredibly eye-opening and frankly quite concerning. I'm just beginning the FAFSA process for my daughter and had no idea about these family size calculation issues, especially for parents who file separately. Reading through everyone's experiences, it's clear that the 2024-2025 FAFSA has some serious systemic problems. The fact that so many families are dealing with thousands of dollars in incorrect aid calculations due to what appears to be a known glitch is really troubling. It shouldn't require this level of advocacy and persistence just to get accurate financial aid calculations. That said, I'm incredibly grateful for all the practical advice shared here - from requesting specific calculation breakdowns to making in-person visits with documentation. The step-by-step strategies from @Kai Santiago and @Nia Jackson especially seem like they could save families months of frustration. For those still fighting these issues, it sounds like the key is being very specific about what you're requesting and not accepting vague answers about "automatic updates." The difference between family sizes of 3 vs 4 or 2 vs 4 clearly has major financial implications that are worth pursuing until resolved correctly. I'll definitely be taking screenshots of everything when we submit our FAFSA and checking the SAR immediately for accuracy. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - this community support seems essential for navigating these bureaucratic challenges!