FAFSA reporting wrong tax return lines - delayed financial aid packages until mid-May!
Just got off the phone with my son's top choice university financial aid office, and I'm beyond frustrated! They needed his SSN to 'complete his financial aid package' (which wasn't mentioned ANYWHERE in the application process). But here's the kicker - even with that info, they won't be sending out ANY aid packages until MID-MAY! The advisor admitted they're finding tons of errors in the new FAFSA system. Apparently, it's pulling the WRONG LINES from tax returns, causing incorrect SAI calculations for EVERYONE. So now I'm panicking about the other schools that already sent us offers... will they recalculate and reduce aid later? Has anyone else been told about these widespread FAFSA calculation errors? This waiting game is torture when we need to make a decision soon!
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Marina Hendrix
yep dealing with this mess too. got aid package from 2 schools but 3rd one says they're 'reviewing' because of fafsa issues. nobody knows whats happening!!
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Romeo Barrett
•It's ridiculous! Did any of your schools mention specifically that the FAFSA system is pulling incorrect tax information? I'm wondering how widespread this problem really is.
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Justin Trejo
This is unfortunately becoming common with the new FAFSA rollout. The system is incorrectly mapping certain tax form lines when calculating the Student Aid Index (SAI). The Department of Education has acknowledged this issue and is working on patches, but it's causing massive delays across institutions. My recommendation: 1. Contact all schools that already provided aid packages and confirm if their offers are final or subject to recalculation 2. Ask for a written timeline for when final aid packages will be distributed 3. Request a deadline extension for your enrollment deposit if possible Many schools are being accommodating given the widespread FAFSA issues this year.
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Romeo Barrett
•Thank you for the detailed response! I'll definitely ask about deposit extensions. Do you know which specific tax return lines are being incorrectly mapped? The financial aid advisor wasn't very clear about that part.
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Justin Trejo
•The most common issue is with Schedule 1 income reporting and certain business income lines. Some schools have reported that the system isn't properly accounting for retirement contributions or is double-counting certain income streams. Since each family's tax situation is unique, the impact varies widely - some SAIs are artificially high, others artificially low. This is why many schools are manually reviewing applications now.
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Alana Willis
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!!! I've been waiting SEVEN WEEKS for my daughter's aid packages and every school tells us something different. One says her SAI is $8,421, another says $11,905, and a third says they're still 'processing.' HOW CAN THEY ALL GET DIFFERENT NUMBERS FROM THE SAME FAFSA??? 😡😡 This is affecting real families making real decisions with REAL MONEY on the line. I'm going to start calling my congressperson because this is completely unacceptable!!!
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Tyler Murphy
•Those SAI differences are concerning but may actually be legitimate in some cases. Each institution can adjust the SAI based on their own institutional methodology, especially if they also require the CSS Profile. The base FAFSA SAI might be the same, but schools can make adjustments based on their own aid formulas. That said, the current FAFSA issues are definitely causing inconsistencies that shouldn't exist. I'd recommend contacting the Federal Student Aid office directly to confirm your official SAI calculation.
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Sara Unger
I work in financial aid at a community college (not saying which one), and it's absolute chaos behind the scenes right now. The Department of Ed keeps sending us "urgent updates" about FAFSA calculation errors and telling us to hold aid packages until they fix things. Some issues we're seeing: - Tax return line item mapping errors (especially with Schedule C and retirement contributions) - Incorrect dependent calculations for students with unusual family situations - Missing data that was definitely submitted by students - Inconsistent SAI calculations between system updates My advice: be patient but persistent. Document EVERYTHING. Get names of who you talk to. Ask for written confirmations. And remember we're all trying our best to help students with a broken system we didn't break.
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Romeo Barrett
•Thank you for the insider perspective! This is really helpful. Is there any indication of when these issues might be resolved? The mid-May timeline we were given seems so late when enrollment decisions are due May 1st!
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Sara Unger
•Many schools are extending their decision deadlines because of these issues. If your son's school hasn't announced an extension yet, I'd specifically request one based on the delayed financial aid package. Most institutions are being flexible this year given the circumstances. As for when it will all be fixed... unfortunately, the Department of Ed isn't giving us clear timelines either. They're releasing patches weekly, but each patch seems to fix some issues while creating others. It's frustrating for everyone involved.
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Butch Sledgehammer
my daughter got different SAI numbers too!!! 1st school says 12,420 and other says 9,870?? how we supposed to decide schools without knowing true cost?? government really messed up this year
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Justin Trejo
•Those SAI differences are concerning. The official SAI should be identical across all schools unless they're making institutional adjustments. I'd recommend logging into studentaid.gov to view your official SAI calculation, then compare it with what each school is using. If there are discrepancies, point them out specifically to each financial aid office.
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Freya Ross
We went through something similar with my son. After weeks of no communication, we were told his FAFSA had been selected for verification because of a "data mismatch" between what was reported and his tax information. When we provided the documents, we discovered the FAFSA system had pulled the wrong line from our tax return! Had to submit corrections and now waiting AGAIN for processing. This whole rollout has been a disaster!
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Romeo Barrett
•That's exactly what I'm afraid of! Did the school tell you which specific line was pulled incorrectly? I'm wondering if we should proactively provide additional tax documentation to all the schools.
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Freya Ross
•In our case, the system apparently confused line 7 (capital gains) with our adjusted gross income (line 11) on the 1040 form. When I called FSA, they admitted there are widespread issues with the "tax data transfer" function that's supposed to pull info directly from the IRS. So the error might be completely different in your case. Super frustrating!
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Tyler Murphy
Financial aid advisor here. I'm seeing this issue at multiple institutions. The root of the problem is that the Department of Education launched the new FAFSA without adequately testing the tax line item mapping. For families with anything beyond simple W-2 income (self-employment, capital gains, retirement contributions, business income), the system is inconsistently pulling data. Remember that the SAI formula itself also changed this year, so even if the data was pulling correctly, your expected contribution might be different from previous years. I suggest: 1. Request a manual review of your tax information at all schools 2. Ask each financial aid office for a breakdown of exactly which income figures they're using 3. Keep documentation of all communications 4. Request deadline extensions where needed We're telling families to expect resolution by mid-May, but some institutions may process corrections sooner.
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Romeo Barrett
•This is extremely helpful, thank you! We do have some investment income and retirement contributions that might be causing issues. Would it be helpful to proactively send copies of our complete tax return to all the schools, or would that just add to their workload?
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Tyler Murphy
•It's a good question. I'd actually recommend calling each financial aid office first and asking if they would prefer you send the complete tax return. Some offices are implementing streamlined processes for these reviews and may have specific documents they want rather than the entire return. They might just need specific schedules or forms rather than everything. Be prepared to discuss exactly what types of income you have (W-2, self-employment, investments, etc.) so they can tell you what they need to verify the correct figures.
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