FAFSA processed but SAI number missing - schools can't create financial aid package without it

OMG same here!!! My son got the exact error and we've been waiting for SIX WEEKS with no resolution. Called the financial aid office like 10 times and they keep saying "its a known issue" but nobody seems to know how to fix it?? And they're telling us to just wait and be patient. Like how are we supposed to decide on a school when we don't know what we can afford???

I work in a financial aid office and can confirm this is unfortunately a widespread system issue with the 2025-2026 FAFSA rollout. The Department of Education is aware of the problem and working on it, but they haven't provided a timeline for resolution. The issue occurs because the initial processing completes and generates an estimated SAI, but then a secondary validation fails due to data mismatches or verification flags that aren't being properly communicated to applicants. What I recommend: 1. Check if any items show as incomplete in your daughter's FAFSA portal 2. Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center directly at 1-800-433-3243 3. Ask your daughter's school financial aid office if they can provide a preliminary estimate based on the SAI in the email confirmation 4. Request a deadline extension for any deposits, citing this known FAFSA system issue

Been trying to reach a human being at Federal Student Aid for 2 weeks about a similar issue. Either get disconnected after 2+ hours on hold or told to call back later because call volume is too high. This whole FAFSA system is a JOKE. Complete disaster this year with the "simplified" version.

I can explain what's happening technically. The initial FAFSA processing engine is generating a conditional SAI and sending the "processed" notification. But the SAI validation module (which verifies all inputs and confirming correct contributor data) is detecting a potential inconsistency. This is occurring in approximately 12-15% of all applications according to what our school's financial aid contacts at ED have told us. The problem often stems from how tax information was transferred or entered, particularly with the new "contributor" designation replacing the old parent categorization. My suggestion: request your daughter's school to provide a conditional aid package based on the estimated SAI from the email while noting it may change. Most schools are able to do this given the widespread nature of the issue. They may require you to sign an acknowledgment that the final package could differ.

my son had this exact problem last month!!! the issue was that even tho it LOOKED like we completed everything, there was actually a problem with how his dad's (my ex) tax info transferred. we had to call FSA like 50 times but eventually someone helped us. they had to reset something on their end and then we had to go back and re-authorize the IRS data retrieval tool for his dad's tax info. SAI calculated correctly 3 days later. u might have a similar issue

I'm going through the exact same frustration with my twins' FAFSAs right now. Both show as processed but neither has a valid SAI. I was finally able to get a very helpful agent on the phone yesterday who explained what's happening in many of these cases: The new FAFSA system is extremely sensitive to even minor discrepancies between reported information. In my case, the agent identified that our home address format in the FAFSA didn't exactly match what the IRS had on file (we had "Avenue" spelled out versus "Ave" in the IRS database). This triggered an automatic validation error that prevented the SAI calculation. The agent put in a manual correction request that should resolve the issue within 3-5 business days. I recommend getting through to an agent who can look at the detailed error codes in your account - they can see far more information than what's visible to us in the portal.

Just wanted to update - I used the Claimyr service I mentioned earlier and got through to FSA yesterday. They identified the specific issue with my daughter's application. In our case, it was because my employer's name had a hyphen in the FAFSA but no hyphen in the IRS database (seriously). The agent submitted a correction request, and we just got notification that her SAI has been calculated! The process took exactly 4 business days from when the agent submitted the correction request.

just saw on twitter that the Department of Education announced they're implementing a massive fix for this exact issue this weekend. Supposedly all affected applications will be reprocessed automatically by next Wednesday. Not sure if I believe it but thought I'd share!

UPDATE: After reading all your advice, I was able to connect with a very helpful FSA agent (the Claimyr service worked great, btw - got a callback in about 2 hours instead of waiting on hold forever). Turns out the issue was with how my daughter's birthdate was formatted. In the FAFSA we had entered 09/04/2007 but the IRS had it as 9/4/2007 without the leading zeros. Such a tiny thing! The agent submitted a correction request yesterday, and we just received notification that her SAI has been calculated correctly. Her school's financial aid office can now access it and start putting together her aid package. Thank you all for your help and suggestions! For anyone else dealing with this issue, definitely try to reach a live agent who can see the detailed error codes - they can identify exactly what needs to be fixed.