Huge discrepancy between FAFSA calculator and actual SAI - 3800 point difference!

YEP happened to us too. The estimator said my son would get -978 but the actual SAI came back at 1795. Its like they use totally different formulas or something!!

This is unfortunately more common than you'd think. The FAFSA estimation tool uses simplified calculations that don't account for all the detailed factors in the actual SAI formula. A few possible reasons for the discrepancy: 1. The estimation tool might not fully capture all assets or income in the same way the full FAFSA does 2. There could be differences in how retirement accounts or home equity were counted 3. The estimator might use different income protection allowances than the actual formula 4. The new FAFSA formula for 2025-2026 has several changes that some estimators haven't fully incorporated I'd recommend carefully comparing your SAR (Student Aid Report) line by line with what you entered in the estimator to identify where the differences are occurring.

call them and ask. i had a similar thing happen and it turned out they used wrong tax year info somehow. they fixed it after i called like 50 times lol

I went through this exact same thing last month! My calculator showed an SAI about $2,900 lower than what we actually got. I was FURIOUS because we had based all our college choices on that estimate. I tried calling the Federal Student Aid number for THREE DAYS and couldn't get through to anyone who could explain the difference. Just endless hold times and disconnections. So frustrating!!

There are actually specific factors that commonly cause these discrepancies: 1. The treatment of multiple children in college has changed in the new FAFSA 2. How business income and farm assets are calculated is different 3. The income protection allowance adjustments vary between estimators and actual calculations 4. Some estimators don't correctly apply the state tax allowance tables In my experience as a financial aid counselor, you should always request a professional judgment review if your SAI seems inaccurately high. Bring documentation of any special circumstances like medical expenses, job loss, or other financial hardships not captured in the tax year used for FAFSA.

my cousins sai was WAY off too!!! the whole system is rigged tbh. they make the calculator look good so people think they'll get aid then BOOM they hit you with the real number and ur dreams are crushed

make sure u check the student contribution vs parent contribution breakdown too. sometimes the kid's summer job or tiny savings account DESTROYS the sai calculation

In response to your latest question - yes, student assets are assessed at a much higher rate (20%) compared to parent assets (usually around 5-6%). So $3,200 in student savings could add about $640 to your SAI that might not have been captured correctly in the estimator. If your main concern is the impact on aid eligibility, remember that an SAI of 2454 is still relatively low and should qualify for significant need-based aid at many schools. The Pell Grant maximum cutoff is typically around an SAI of 6000, so you're still well within range for considerable federal aid.

I'm new to this whole FAFSA process and reading through this thread is both helpful and terrifying! We haven't submitted our FAFSA yet, but I've been using the estimator to get a rough idea of what to expect. Now I'm worried the actual number could be way different. Should I even bother with the estimator or just wait for the real thing? Also, for those who had big discrepancies - did you end up getting it resolved or did you just have to accept the higher SAI? My daughter is a junior so we have some time to plan, but I want to make sure we're not caught off guard like this.

This is such a helpful thread for someone navigating FAFSA for the first time! I'm going through this process with my son right now and the estimator showed an SAI around 1,800, but after reading all these experiences I'm preparing myself for it to potentially be higher when we get the actual results. A few questions for those who've been through this - should I be taking screenshots of all my estimator inputs in case I need to compare them later? And for those who successfully got discrepancies resolved, how long did that process typically take? We're trying to finalize our college list and knowing whether to expect the estimated SAI or potentially a much higher one would really help with our planning. Thanks to everyone sharing their experiences here - this is exactly the kind of real-world insight that's so hard to find elsewhere!

Reading through all these experiences has been incredibly eye-opening! I'm currently helping my niece with her FAFSA and we used the estimator which gave us an SAI of around 900. Now I'm really worried it could end up being much higher based on what everyone's shared here. A couple of questions - has anyone found any estimators that tend to be more accurate than the official federal one? And for those dealing with small business income, how exactly does that get calculated differently in the actual FAFSA vs the estimator? We have a small family business that shows losses some years but assets that might complicate things. Also want to echo what others said about taking screenshots - definitely doing that now after reading this thread! Thanks everyone for being so open about your experiences, this kind of real-world info is invaluable.

This thread has been incredibly helpful - I'm in a similar situation where our estimator showed an SAI of around 1,200 but I'm now expecting it could be much higher based on everyone's experiences here. We have some student assets from my daughter's part-time job that I'm realizing might have been handled differently in the estimator vs the actual FAFSA. For anyone still dealing with discrepancies, I found this Federal Student Aid publication that breaks down the SAI formula: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2024-05-09/2025-26-federal-student-aid-handbook-available. It's super technical but might help identify where the differences are coming from. Also want to add that even though these discrepancies are frustrating, don't give up on appealing if you think there's an error or if you have special circumstances. My neighbor went through a professional judgment review last year for medical expenses and got their SAI reduced significantly. The key seems to be having good documentation ready and being persistent with following up.

This thread has been such a lifesaver! I'm going through the exact same thing right now - our FAFSA estimator showed an SAI of around 800, but I'm terrified it's going to come back much higher after reading all these experiences. We submitted our actual FAFSA last week and are waiting for results. One thing I wanted to add that might help others - I called our state's college planning office and they mentioned that many colleges have their own net price calculators that might be more accurate than the federal estimator for determining what you'll actually pay. They use the college's specific aid formulas rather than just federal aid. Might be worth running those for your target schools to get a better range of what to expect. Also, for those dealing with business assets, our accountant mentioned that the FAFSA treats business assets very differently from personal assets, even if they're in your name. Apparently sole proprietorships get treated differently than LLCs or corporations too. Definitely something to double-check if you have any kind of business income. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - at least now I know to expect potential surprises and have screenshots of everything!

I'm new to this community but going through the same nightmare right now! Our FAFSA estimator showed an SAI of around 1,100, but after reading through all these experiences I'm genuinely scared about what the actual number will be. We just submitted our FAFSA last week and I'm already losing sleep over this. What really gets me is how the Department of Education can have such a broken estimator tool. If they know it's not accurate, why not fix it or at least put a big disclaimer warning people that the actual results could be THOUSANDS of dollars different? We've been making college planning decisions based on that estimate for months. I'm definitely taking everyone's advice here about screenshots and documentation. Already went back and captured everything from our estimator session. Also bookmarked that Claimyr service mentioned by @Katherine Shultz just in case we need to actually get through to FSA later. Has anyone tried reaching out to their congressional representative's office for help with FAFSA issues? I've heard they sometimes have staff who can help navigate federal agency problems, but not sure if that applies to situations like this. At this point I'm willing to try anything if our actual SAI comes back way higher than expected. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - this thread should be required reading for anyone using the FAFSA estimator!