FAFSA shows processed with SAI but colleges say corrections needed - nothing showing up to fix?

This happened to me with my son's application! The colleges were saying corrections needed but FAFSA showed complete. Turns out there was a mismatch between the tax information we entered and what the IRS Data Retrieval Tool had on file. The weird part is that studentaid.gov doesn't always show what's wrong. You need to call the Federal Student Aid Information Center directly and have them check your specific file. They can see things on their end that don't show up in the student portal.

omg this fafsa system is the WORST. same thing happened to my daughter. turns out our w-2 info didn't match exactly what they had on file even tho we used the IRS tool thing?? such a broken system

call each school's financial aid office! they can probably tell you EXACTLY what needs fixing. colleges are usually way more helpful than the actual fafsa people tbh

Based on what you've described, this is almost certainly what we call a "silent correction situation." This happens when the Department of Education's verification system flags a discrepancy after the initial processing. Common causes include: 1. Tax filing status discrepancies between parents 2. Household size numbers that don't align with tax dependent claims 3. Inconsistencies between reported assets and income 4. Social Security Number verification issues What's frustrating is that these flags often don't appear on the student portal. You'll need to contact Federal Student Aid directly to identify the specific correction needed. Once identified, you can submit the correction and request all schools to download the updated ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record).

I work in a financial aid office, and we see this situation frequently. When colleges tell you corrections are needed but nothing shows on studentaid.gov, it's typically because of database matching issues that happen behind the scenes. The most efficient approach is to: 1. Call the financial aid office at ONE of the colleges and ask specifically what correction is needed 2. They can see the exact error code on their end 3. Make the correction on studentaid.gov (even if you can't see what's wrong) 4. After submitting corrections, it takes 3-5 business days to reprocess 5. Once reprocessed, contact each college to confirm they've received the updated ISIR This happens to about 15% of applicants, so don't worry - it's common and fixable!

Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to FAFSA? I was stuck in the exact same situation last month and spent days trying to reach someone. My adviser recommended claimyr.com and they got me through to a live agent in 30 minutes when I'd been waiting for hours before. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. The agent was able to see exactly what was flagged on my daughter's application that wasn't showing up online.

THE EXACT SAME THING IS HAPPENING TO ME RIGHT NOW!!! I'm so stressed I can't sleep. My daughter got accepted to her dream school but they won't finalize her scholarship without the FAFSA and now we're stuck in this correction loop from hell. Did anyone actually get this resolved?? Please tell me there's hope...

Update for those following this thread: I called my daughter's first choice school this morning. The financial aid officer was super helpful and told me exactly what was flagged - turns out there was a mismatch between the household size we reported (5) and the number of exemptions on our tax return (4) because my oldest started filing independently this year. Had to submit documentation explaining the discrepancy. The officer said this happens ALL THE TIME and is nothing to panic about! She's expediting our correction once submitted.

my cousin works in financial aid and she says the most common "invisible" corrections are: - asset reporting errors - parent marital status not matching tax filing status - IRS Data Retrieval Tool conflicts - household size inconsistencies just sharing in case it helps someone else! this year's FAFSA has been a nightmare for everyone

I'm dealing with this exact same nightmare right now! My son's FAFSA shows "processed" with an SAI, but two colleges are saying corrections needed. I called the Federal Student Aid line yesterday and finally got through after an hour wait. The agent told me there was a "C code" on our application that wasn't visible to us - apparently our reported income didn't match what the IRS had on file by like $200 because of a small 1099 we forgot about. The frustrating part is that we used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, but it doesn't capture ALL forms apparently. Once I knew what to fix, the correction took 5 minutes to submit. Now just waiting for it to reprocess. Hang in there - it's fixable even though the system makes it impossible to know what's wrong!

I went through this exact same situation last year with my daughter's FAFSA! The "processed" status showing an SAI while colleges are asking for corrections is unfortunately super common. What saved us was calling the financial aid office at her top choice school first - they were able to tell me within 5 minutes that there was a verification flag for our reported bank account balance that didn't match some other piece of information in our file. The crazy thing is that studentaid.gov showed absolutely nothing wrong on our end. Once the school told me what to look for, I was able to submit the correction and everything got resolved within a week. Don't panic - this happens to tons of families and the schools are usually really helpful once you get them on the phone. The key is being persistent with those calls!

I'm going through the EXACT same thing right now with my twin daughters' FAFSAs! Both show "processed" with SAI scores, but four different colleges are saying corrections needed. After reading through all these comments, I'm going to skip trying to call the Federal Student Aid line (sounds like a nightmare) and go straight to calling the financial aid offices at their schools tomorrow. It's so frustrating that the system doesn't show us what's actually wrong - like why have a student portal if it doesn't display the real status? Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here, especially those who posted updates after getting things resolved. This thread is giving me hope that we can figure this out before aid package deadlines hit!

I'm dealing with this exact situation right now too! My daughter's FAFSA has shown "processed" with an SAI for two weeks, but yesterday I got emails from three colleges saying they need corrections before they can finalize her aid package. After reading through everyone's experiences here, I'm definitely going to call the financial aid offices directly instead of trying to navigate the Federal Student Aid phone system. It's honestly mind-blowing that the student portal can show everything as complete while there are actually verification issues flagged on the backend. This whole process feels like it's designed to be as confusing as possible! Really appreciate everyone sharing their stories - it's reassuring to know this is a common problem and not something we messed up. Will definitely post an update once I figure out what's going on with ours.

I'm experiencing the exact same frustrating situation! My son's FAFSA shows "processed" with his SAI displayed, but I just received emails from two colleges yesterday saying corrections are needed before they can process his financial aid. Like everyone else here, there's absolutely nothing on studentaid.gov indicating what needs to be fixed. After reading through all these helpful responses, I'm definitely going to call the financial aid offices directly tomorrow morning instead of trying to get through to the Federal Student Aid line. It's really reassuring to see so many families dealing with this same issue - at least we know it's not something we did wrong! The fact that the student portal can show everything as complete while there are actually verification flags on the backend is just mind-boggling. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and especially those who posted updates after getting things resolved. Will definitely come back and share what I find out once I make those calls!