FAFSA just calculated my SAI at $89,687 for sophomore daughter - completely unrealistic!
Just got our 2025-26 FAFSA results back and our Student Aid Index (SAI) is listed as $89,687 for my daughter who's going to be a sophomore next fall. I actually laughed out loud when I saw it. We live in a high cost area, have a mortgage that eats half our income, and have two other kids starting college in the next 3 years. There's absolutely NO WAY we can contribute anywhere near that amount! My husband works overtime just to keep the bills paid. Has anyone successfully appealed an insane SAI calculation? Our financial situation has definitely changed since the tax year they're using, but I'm not sure if that qualifies for a professional judgment. I'm honestly panicking about how we're going to afford next year.
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Honorah King
That's basically how the FAFSA works now with the SAI... just assuming every family can magically contribute tens of thousands. Parents in our boat are getting DESTROYED by these calculations. My SAI came back at $72k and we barely make $140k COMBINED in Massachusetts!
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Brielle Johnson
•It's absolutely ridiculous! Do they think we're just sitting on piles of cash? We're in Connecticut and the cost of living here eats everything we make.
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Oliver Brown
You can definitely appeal this through your school's financial aid office by requesting a professional judgment review. The fact that you have additional children entering college soon is absolutely relevant. The 2025-26 FAFSA isn't automatically capturing the impact of multiple children in college like the old formula did. Gather documentation about your current financial situation, especially if it's changed since the tax year used. You'll need to reach out to each school individually since professional judgments are handled at the institutional level, not through FAFSA directly.
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Brielle Johnson
•Thank you! I didn't realize we needed to contact each school separately. Does this mean our SAI could end up being different at different schools after they review our situation?
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Oliver Brown
•Yes, exactly. Each school has its own approach to professional judgment reviews. Some may adjust your SAI significantly while others might make minimal changes. This is why the same financial situation can result in very different aid packages across schools. Make sure to highlight your multiple children entering college and your high cost-of-living area in each appeal.
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Mary Bates
Don't panic just yet! The SAI is only one part of the equation. Your daughter's school will use that number but they also consider their own cost of attendance and may have institutional scholarships. My daughter's SAI was $65k (also laughable), but she still qualified for some institutional grants because the college had their own formula. Definitely talk to the financial aid office at her school - they often have options that aren't obvious from just the FAFSA results.
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Brielle Johnson
•Thanks for the hope! I'll definitely reach out to her school. Did you have to provide additional documentation for the institutional grants, or was that just automatic?
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Mary Bates
•We had to fill out their institutional form (similar to the CSS Profile, but their own version) and provide more detailed financial info than the FAFSA asked for. It was worth the extra paperwork though - ended up with about $12k in institutional grants we wouldn't have received otherwise.
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Clay blendedgen
lol welcome to the club! my kid's SAI was 95k and we literally make 130k in northern california. might as well have said a million dollars!! the whole system is broken
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Ayla Kumar
•The system IS broken, but you do have options. Call your school's financial aid office ASAP. I found out most schools have set aside additional institutional funds specifically because they know the new FAFSA formula is creating these issues. Don't just accept that number!
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Lorenzo McCormick
I went through this exact situation last year. After countless attempts to call Federal Student Aid about my SAI calculation (kept getting disconnected after 2+ hour waits), I finally used Claimyr.com to get through to an agent in minutes. They have a service that holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is available. You can see how it works in their video demo: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent explained that while they couldn't change my SAI directly, they gave me specific documentation to submit to each school for a professional judgment review. Three out of four schools ended up adjusting our SAI down by almost 40% after seeing our complete financial picture.
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Brielle Johnson
•Thank you! I've been trying to call FSA all week with no luck. I'll check out that service because I really need to talk to someone who can explain exactly what paperwork we need for the professional judgment. 40% reduction would make a huge difference for us.
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Carmella Popescu
•does this actually work? i tried calling like 8 times last month and just gave up
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Kai Santiago
ur supposed to laugh! the whole system is a joke now lol. my cousin got an SAI of over 100k and they rent an apartment and drive old cars. I don't think anyone in charge of FAFSA has ever had to PAY for college themselves!!!!
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Oliver Brown
•While the frustration is understandable, it's important to know the SAI calculation follows a specific formula based on the income/assets reported on your tax returns. The new FAFSA formula actually eliminated some key deductions that used to help middle-income families, especially the multiple children in college benefit. This is why professional judgment reviews are so important now.
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Ayla Kumar
Request a professional judgment review immediately. The 2025-26 FAFSA uses 2023 tax data, so if your situation has changed at all, that's grounds for appeal. Also, make sure to check if you correctly reported your assets and investments on the FAFSA. I've seen families accidentally include retirement accounts (which should be excluded) or miscalculate home equity. The fact that you have multiple children approaching college age is critical information that the financial aid offices need to know, as the new SAI formula doesn't automatically adjust for that like the old EFC formula did.
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Brielle Johnson
•I'm going to double-check our application tonight. I don't think we included retirement accounts, but now I'm worried we might have made a mistake somewhere. Do you know if we can correct the FAFSA if we find errors, or do we need to address that through the professional judgment too?
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Ayla Kumar
•You can absolutely correct FAFSA errors! Log into studentaid.gov and select "Make FAFSA Corrections." However, if you've already received your SAI, I'd recommend doing both - correct the FAFSA AND start the professional judgment process, as corrections can take several weeks to process during peak periods.
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Clay blendedgen
just wait til ull have 3 in college at once... we had triplets and our SAI was still 65k lol
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Brielle Johnson
•Oh my god, triplets in college at once? I can't even imagine. How did you manage?
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Clay blendedgen
•lots of loans and one of them got a big merit scholarship which helped. the other 2 went to state schools and lived at home. still drowning in debt tho
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Oliver Brown
After reading through your situation, I wanted to add that your specific circumstances (multiple children entering college soon, high cost of living area, mortgage burden) are exactly the types of factors that financial aid officers can consider during professional judgment reviews. Document everything clearly - upcoming college plans for your other children, housing costs compared to area median, and any changes in financial circumstances since 2023. The most successful appeals I've seen provide clear, organized documentation rather than just describing the hardship.
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Brielle Johnson
•This is really helpful advice. I'll start putting together a folder with all our documentation. Should I include things like utility bills to show our cost of living, or just focus on the big expenses like mortgage?
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Oliver Brown
•Focus on the major expenses first (mortgage, medical costs if applicable, other debt obligations), but also include a monthly expense summary that shows all categories. For the other children, include their college timelines and any documentation from their high schools about college preparation. Keep everything organized with a cover letter that clearly explains your appeal points.
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Alberto Souchard
I'm new to this whole FAFSA nightmare and seeing your story gives me hope that there are actually steps I can take! My daughter is a junior in high school and I just started looking at college costs - I had no idea the financial aid system had changed so much. Reading through everyone's advice about professional judgment reviews and contacting schools directly is really eye-opening. It sounds like the key is being proactive and not just accepting whatever number they give you. I'm definitely going to bookmark this thread for when we go through this process next year. Thanks for sharing your experience and all the helpful responses from everyone!
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Fatima Al-Sayed
•Welcome to the FAFSA stress club! You're smart to start researching this early. One thing I wish I had known before going through this - start documenting your family's financial situation NOW, even though your daughter won't apply for another year. Keep records of major expenses, any financial changes, and research the schools she's interested in to see what additional forms they require beyond FAFSA. The more prepared you are with documentation, the easier it will be to navigate the professional judgment process if needed. Also, don't be afraid to call financial aid offices at her target schools with questions - I've found most are actually pretty helpful when you're not in crisis mode!
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