FAFSA showing 'correction started' suddenly - related to the government error?
I'm freaking out right now. My son and I submitted his FAFSA back in January, and it finally said 'processed' at the end of March. We've been patiently waiting for his college offers, but today I logged in to check the status and suddenly it says 'a correction was started yesterday' and will take 2-3 days to process! We've received ZERO emails about this - not me, not my son. Is this related to that big government error everyone's been talking about? Will this delay his financial aid packages from schools? His deposit deadline for his top choice is coming up soon and we need to know what aid he's getting before making a decision. Has anyone else experienced this random 'correction' appearing out of nowhere?
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CosmicCruiser
This is definitely part of the mass correction the Department of Education is implementing to fix the formula error in the 2024-2025 FAFSA. They announced they'd be automatically adjusting millions of applications. The good news is that most SAI scores will decrease after the correction, which means more aid eligibility for many students. The bad news is colleges can't finalize aid packages until they have the corrected SAI. You should contact your son's schools and explain the situation - many are extending their deposit deadlines because of these delays.
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Mateo Hernandez
•Thank you so much! That makes me feel a little better. I'll reach out to his top schools tomorrow morning. Do you know how long these automatic corrections typically take? The status just says 2-3 days but I've learned not to trust those timelines anymore.
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Aisha Khan
I work in a college financial aid office, and I can confirm this is almost certainly the Department of Education's system-wide correction. The original FAFSA had an error in how it calculated the Student Aid Index (SAI) related to U.S. income taxes paid for certain households. Many schools are aware of these delays and are adjusting their deposit deadlines accordingly. Here's what I recommend: 1. Take a screenshot of the correction status on your FAFSA 2. Email the financial aid offices at each school your son is considering 3. Explain the situation and ask if they're extending deposit deadlines due to the FAFSA corrections 4. Check your FAFSA daily for updates Once the correction processes, the schools will receive the updated information automatically and should adjust aid packages if necessary.
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Mateo Hernandez
•This is incredibly helpful information! I just took screenshots as you suggested. Do you think I should call the schools as well, or is email sufficient? I'm worried about this getting lost in their inbox during such a busy time.
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Ethan Taylor
the same thing happened to me!! i submitted in febuary and it JUST got processed last week and now its saying correction started?? like WHY cant they just get it right the first time?? my daughters so stressed about college and this isnt helping at all!!! 😡
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Mateo Hernandez
•It's so frustrating! This whole year has been a mess with the FAFSA rollout. I hope your daughter's situation gets resolved quickly. Have you heard anything from her schools about extended deadlines?
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Yuki Ito
I had this exact situation happen with my daughter's FAFSA. After waiting on hold with Federal Student Aid for almost TWO HOURS trying to find out what was going on, I finally discovered Claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual FAFSA agent in about 10 minutes. The agent confirmed it was part of the national correction process and that I didn't need to take any action. They have a quick video demo that shows how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Saved me hours of frustration and gave me peace of mind knowing exactly what was happening with our application.
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Carmen Lopez
•is this service legit? ive never heard of it before and im always suspicious of sites that want my info just to talk to the govt
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Yuki Ito
•Yes, it's legitimate! I was skeptical too but desperate after multiple failed attempts to get through to FSA. They don't access your FAFSA account - they just connect you with a federal student aid phone representative much faster than waiting on hold. The agent I spoke with was definitely a real FSA employee who had access to my daughter's application details once I verified my identity with them.
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Andre Dupont
My sons fafsa got processed in february and then suddenly had a correction in april too. His SAI went down by about $1200 which is good for us. You might actually benefit from this correction! I was stressed too but turns out it worked in our favor.
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Mateo Hernandez
•That's really encouraging to hear! I'm hoping for a similar outcome. Did his schools automatically update his financial aid packages after the correction, or did you have to contact them?
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Andre Dupont
•His state university automatically sent a revised aid letter about a week after the correction. His private college didnt so we had to email them and then they sent updated info. Just keep checking your email and student portals!
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QuantumQuasar
The Department of Education identified an error in the FAFSA calculation formula that affected approximately 4 million applications. They're now implementing automatic corrections to all affected applications. Here's the timeline you should expect: - 2-3 days for the correction to process in the FAFSA system - 1-3 additional days for the corrected data to be sent to your selected schools - 1-2 weeks for schools to recalculate financial aid packages You should definitely reach out to the admissions and financial aid offices at your son's top choice schools. Most institutions are aware of this issue and many have implemented flexible deposit deadline policies as a result. You can request an extension based on the pending FAFSA correction. This isn't your error, so don't stress too much. The schools understand this is a system-wide issue affecting millions of students.
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Ethan Taylor
•but WHY did they mess up the formula in the first place??? this whole "new and improved" FAFSA has been nothing but problems!!!
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QuantumQuasar
•The error was related to how the new formula accounts for state and local tax allowances in the Student Aid Index calculation. Essentially, they failed to properly implement a component of the FAFSA Simplification Act that was meant to adjust for differences in state tax burdens. It's definitely frustrating, but the correction should benefit most students by lowering their SAI (meaning more aid eligibility).
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Carmen Lopez
my nephew had this happen and his SAI went down almost $2000 after the correction! maybe youll get lucky and this will actually help your son get more aid. silver lining maybe??
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Mateo Hernandez
•That would be amazing! I'm trying to stay positive. Thanks for sharing your nephew's experience - gives me hope this might actually work out in our favor.
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Ethan Taylor
I just dont understand why they didnt EMAIL US about this!!! How are we supposed to know whats going on if they dont tell us??? The whole system is broken and they expect us to just figure it out!
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CosmicCruiser
•The Department of Education actually did send out a press release about this, but they're relying on schools to communicate with individual families. It's definitely a communication failure on their part. Always check studentaid.gov for updates rather than waiting for emails - they often post system-wide notices there first.
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Aisha Khan
Just to follow up on my earlier comment - I checked with some colleagues today, and based on what we're seeing, these automatic corrections are taking about 3-5 days to process (not the 2-3 days the system claims). After that, schools typically need 5-7 business days to reprocess aid packages. Most schools are being very understanding about deposit deadlines right now. Don't panic if you don't have all the aid information by the standard May 1 deadline - just be proactive in communicating with the schools.
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Mateo Hernandez
•Thank you for the update! We've heard back from two schools already - one extended their deadline to May 15th for everyone, and the other said they'd work with us on a case-by-case basis. Such a relief to know we won't have to make decisions without all the information.
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