FAFSA shows processed with SAI but colleges say corrections needed - can't find what to fix?!

yep same issue w my daughter last week!! we ended up having to call each school individually. turns out they all wanted different things fixed... one needed parent W-2 verification, another said our tax return didnt match what we put on FAFSA (it did, they were looking at wrong line), third one never actually told us what was wrong just said 'fixed now'. fafsa website NEVER showed any errors needed fixing the whole time!!!

This is actually a very common issue with the 2025-2026 FAFSA. What's likely happening is that there's a data mismatch between what was submitted and what the colleges are seeing in their systems. The most common causes are: 1. Contribution number discrepancies (especially if multiple parents/guardians were included) 2. Tax information verification issues (even with direct IRS data transfer) 3. Citizenship verification problems 4. Housing plan selection inconsistencies The fact that your FAFSA shows as processed with an SAI means the federal processing is complete, but individual schools may have their own verification requirements. I recommend emailing each school's financial aid office directly with your student's ID number and a screenshot of your processed FAFSA. Be specific in asking them to tell you exactly what needs correction.

the same exact thing happened 2 me!!! spent 3 WEEKS trying to figure it out. ended up being that my mom put her income as $63,000 but her tax return showed $63,010 🙄 seriously. ten dollars. and the fafsa site NEVER showed any error messages or anything that needed fixing. the whole system is broken tbh

After spending 4 days trying to resolve similar issues with my twins' FAFSAs, I discovered that calling Federal Student Aid directly was the only solution. The schools kept saying corrections were needed but the FAFSA site showed everything complete. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with an actual FSA agent without the usual 2+ hour hold time. Their video demo shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent was able to see exactly what was wrong (in my case, there was a flag on our account due to a discrepancy between our reported family size and tax return dependents). That specific error wasn't visible to us online but was visible to schools. Once the agent removed the flag, all schools processed our aid within 48 hours.

Have you checked if your son completed the "Sign & Submit" section? That's something many people miss. Even though you've submitted the FAFSA, both the student and parent(s) need to sign with their FSA ID. Each section can show complete with green checkmarks, but if the signatures aren't there, schools can't fully process it. Just a thought!

This happens ALL THE TIME with FAFSA. The colleges use different verification systems that sometimes flag things that the main FAFSA system doesn't. I work in a college financial aid office (though I won't say which one) and about 35% of our students get caught in this exact situation every year. The most common issues we see are: 1. Legal name discrepancies (FAFSA vs. Social Security records) 2. Date of birth inconsistencies 3. Citizenship verification requirements 4. Tax information that needs additional documentation Definitely contact each school directly. Ask to speak with a financial aid counselor rather than a front desk person. And request SPECIFIC information about what needs to be corrected or submitted. Different schools have different requirements.

has ur son checked his school email accounts?? my daughter wasn't checking her admitted student emails and thats where they sent all the info about what needed fixing. the main email we used for fafsa got NOTHING

I can't believe they're still having so many problems with the new FAFSA system! This is literally students' futures at stake and they just can't get it right. My nephew had the exact same issue and it turned out there was a system flag because his mom's last name on her tax return had a hyphen but on the FAFSA it didn't. SOMETHING SO STUPID. And of course the website showed everything was fine! The Department of Education should be ashamed of this disaster. It's been months since the new system launched and they're still having these ridiculous problems!

Quick update based on the latest I'm seeing: There's currently a known issue where schools can't access certain FAFSA records that show as complete on the student's end. The Department of Education is working on fixing this discrepancy. As of last week, they're advising students to: 1. Download and save a PDF copy of your complete FAFSA with the SAI score shown 2. Email this PDF directly to each college's financial aid office 3. Include your student ID number and full name in the email 4. Specifically request confirmation that they've received all required information This workaround has been successful for many students experiencing this exact issue.

After using Claimyr to reach FSA yesterday, I wanted to update. The agent explained that there's a bug in the system where some colleges can see certain flags/issues that aren't visible to students on the studentaid.gov portal. They had to manually clear those flags in our account. Financial aid is now being processed at all schools! Definitely worth getting through to an actual agent who can see the backend system.

So glad to see this resolved! This thread is going to be super helpful for other families dealing with the same issue. It's crazy that there are backend flags that students can't see but schools can - no wonder so many people get stuck in this loop. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions. The FAFSA system definitely needs some major improvements, but at least we have workarounds like calling FSA directly or using services like Claimyr to actually get through to someone who can fix these invisible issues.