FAFSA verification selected AGAIN after Biden's SAI announcement - what's different now?

Yes, this is 100% related to the Biden administration's announcement about adjusting the FAFSA SAI formula. What's happening is that anyone who falls within certain adjusted income brackets is getting automatically flagged for verification under the new system. The Department of Education is recalculating SAIs for millions of students and verification is part of that process. If your first SAI was $7,800, you're probably in one of the targeted adjustment brackets. The good news is that for many students, their new SAI is coming back LOWER than before, which means more aid. The bad news is the verification delay.

Same thing just happened to me!!! Verified in january and now they want MORE documents?! i already sent them my parents tax forms, W-2s, and got my dad's employer to sign that stupid form. how many times do they need to see the EXACT SAME INFORMATION??? the system is so broken

I work in a university financial aid office and can explain what's happening. The Biden administration announced changes to the Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation that will give more weight to certain expenses and family situations. This is actually GOOD NEWS for most students - your SAI will likely go DOWN, meaning MORE financial aid. The verification isn't to penalize you; it's to make sure they have accurate information for the new formula. If you already completed verification once this year, the second round should be much faster. Our office is being told 7-10 days for processing these re-verifications instead of the usual 3-4 weeks.

I spent THREE HOURS yesterday trying to call Federal Student Aid about this exact issue!!! Kept getting disconnected or told the wait time was over 2 hours. This is ridiculous - they make a big announcement about changing the formula but then don't staff up their phone lines to handle all the questions?! I still have no idea what this means for my daughter's financial aid package. Her SAI was $12,345 before and we're hoping it goes down with these changes, but being stuck in verification hell again is stressing us all out.

Here's what the announcement actually means for FAFSA applicants: 1. The SAI formula now gives more weight to family size and number of family members in college 2. Housing costs and medical expenses get additional consideration 3. Students with $0 SAI previously will still have $0 SAI 4. Most middle-income families (roughly $60k-120k) will see a reduced SAI 5. The verification is targeted at confirming the expenses that now get more weight The Department of Education estimates this will increase total Pell Grant distribution by about $1.8 billion for the 25-26 academic year. So while the verification is annoying, it's likely going to result in more aid for you.

am i the only one who thinks this is all political BS timing?? election year and suddenly they're "giving more aid" after cutting so many programs before? and making everybody verify TWICE? seems like a way to make headlines without actually helping much imo

Update: I just got through to someone at my school's financial aid office who had more info. Apparently for students who were already verified once, they're ONLY re-verifying specific expenses that get more weight in the new formula. For me that's my family's medical expenses and housing costs. They said once I submit those specific documents, the new SAI calculation should be much faster than a normal verification. Hope this helps others in the same situation!

For anyone confused about what documentation to submit for this second verification round: - Housing costs: Mortgage statement or lease agreement - Medical expenses: Summary of medical bills or Schedule A if you itemized medical expenses - Multiple students in college: New enrollment verification form - Child support: Court documentation or notarized statement Check your specific verification letter to see which categories they're requesting - most people only need to verify 1-2 of these categories, not all of them.