FAFSA signature email conflict with already disbursed Pell Grant - SAI calculation issue for 2024-25

I'm completely confused about my son's FAFSA situation and hope someone can help make sense of this mess. Last week he received an email saying his 2023-24 FAFSA needs a signature, but he already got his Pell Grant disbursed for both Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters (shows as disbursed in his university aid dashboard). Why would they ask for a signature now when the money's already been paid out? Then I checked his 2024-25 FAFSA which says it's "processed" but there's a message saying his SAI can't be calculated. No explanation why. Just that statement. He's already enrolled for Fall 2024 classes and now I'm panicking that his aid won't come through. Has anyone experienced this signature request AFTER getting aid disbursed? And what could cause the SAI not to calculate even though the application is processed? I'm worried his financial aid for next year is in jeopardy.

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14 comments

Kaylee Cook

•9M

This definitely sounds like a glitch in the system. If the Pell Grant was already disbursed for 2023-24, then the FAFSA was obviously processed correctly and had all required signatures. The email about the 2023-24 FAFSA needing a signature is almost certainly an error. As for the 2024-25 FAFSA showing "processed" but not calculating the SAI, that might be due to some inconsistency in the entered information. The most common reasons for this include: - Conflicting information between parent and student sections - Missing tax information that couldn't be imported via the IRS Data Retrieval Tool - A verification flag on the account requiring additional documentation I'd recommend calling Federal Student Aid directly to address both issues at once. They can tell you if the signature email was sent in error and what's needed to complete the SAI calculation for 2024-25.

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Oliver Alexander

•9M

OMG the EXACT same thing happened to my daughter last month!!! Email about needing 23-24 signature even tho she got all her aid already, and then the 24-25 FAFSA had that weird SAI calculation error too!!!! I tried calling FSA like 6 times but kept getting disconnected after waiting FOREVER. Finally got through and they said it was a system glitch affecting lots of people. They had to manually fix something on their end. Call them ASAP before all the Fall aid gets delayed!!!!

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Lara Woods

•9M

This is actually a widespread issue in the system right now. I work in a financial aid office, and we've had dozens of students with this exact problem. The signature request for 2023-24 is definitely a system error if aid was already disbursed. You can safely ignore it. For the 2024-25 FAFSA, the SAI calculation issue is happening because of a technical glitch in their processing system. When the Department of Education migrated to the new FAFSA system, some applications got caught in a verification loop. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your application. The fastest way to resolve this is to contact Federal Student Aid directly and have them manually review the application. The regular FSA phone line has extremely long wait times right now, so many students are using Claimyr to get through more quickly (claimyr.com). They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Once you get through to an agent, specifically ask them to check for "error code C-142" in your son's 2024-25 application. This is the code for the SAI calculation glitch. They need to clear this flag manually.

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Molly Chambers

•9M

Just to provide some additional context: When there's a discrepancy like this between disbursed aid and FAFSA status, it's almost always a system issue rather than something you did wrong. The electronic systems that manage FAFSA processing, SAI calculation, and school-based disbursement are separate and sometimes don't communicate properly. The 2024-25 SAI calculation issue is particularly common because this was the first year with the new simplified FAFSA form. Many applications got flagged with calculation errors that require manual review. You should definitely call the Federal Student Aid office to resolve this, but also notify your son's school's financial aid office. They can often place a override on their system to prevent any disruption to his enrollment or housing while this gets resolved. Most schools are very familiar with these issues right now and have processes to handle them.

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Eli Butler

•9M

After trying FSA customer service for 5 days straight with no luck (kept getting disconnected), I used the Claimyr service someone recommended in another thread and got through in under 15 minutes! The agent confirmed the signature email was sent in error and fixed the SAI calculation issue while I was on the phone. Totally worth it when you're on a deadline! Check out their demo video if you're struggling to get through: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent told me that about 30% of all 2024-25 FAFSAs are experiencing this SAI calculation issue. It's simply a glitch in their new system that requires manual review by an agent.

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Lara Woods

•9M

To answer your earlier question about what to tell your son's financial aid office: Just tell them he received an erroneous signature request email for 2023-24 despite aid already being disbursed, AND that his 2024-25 FAFSA shows as processed but has an SAI calculation error. Mention that you're working with FSA to resolve it. Most aid offices can place a temporary override in their system that will hold his classes and housing assignment while this gets resolved. They can also sometimes estimate his aid package based on last year's information if the SAI calculation delay continues. After an FSA agent fixes the SAI calculation issue, it typically takes 3-5 business days for the corrected SAI to appear on the StudentAid.gov dashboard, and then another 1-2 weeks for schools to receive and process the updated information. This is definitely one of the most common FAFSA issues this year due to the rollout of the new system.

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