Received my SAI score for FAFSA - where to find reliable loan options?

Congrats on completing your FAFSA! Your school will actually send you a financial aid package that explains exactly what federal loans, grants, and work-study you qualify for based on your SAI and their cost of attendance. This usually happens a few weeks after you're accepted. In the meantime, studentaid.gov has the most reliable info directly from the Department of Education. With your SAI, you'll likely qualify for Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, and possibly some grants depending on the school's cost. Just be careful with those private loans - they don't have the same protections as federal ones!

the website finaid.org is pretty good too they have calculators and stuff

With an SAI of 7352 and a $24k annual cost, you'll likely qualify for the full amount of Direct Subsidized loans ($5,500 for first-year students), some Unsubsidized loans, and possibly some grant aid. Your school's financial aid package will outline everything. I recommend these reliable resources: 1. studentaid.gov (official federal site) 2. mappingyourfuture.org (nonprofit resource) 3. collegeboard.org (has good comparison tools) Avoid sites that immediately push you toward private loans or ask for payment information. Remember that your financial aid package may differ between schools even with the same SAI.

I got my SAI last year and was freaking out too lol. But then I waited like 3 weeks and got my financial aid letter from my school and it showed EVERYTHING I qualified for. Each school gives different amounts even with the same SAI so wait for those letters before you panic!!!!!

Be careful!! My daughter got her SAI score and we thought we were fine, but the actual aid package was WAY less than what we expected. These schools play games with the numbers and leave families scrambling at the last minute. I'd start looking at private loans now just in case. And those Parent PLUS loans are HIGHWAY ROBBERY with their fees!

I was in the same boat last year trying to figure out loan options. One thing that really helped was calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center to ask specific questions about my loan eligibility based on my SAI. Getting through to them was nearly impossible though - I kept getting disconnected after 2+ hour waits. I finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me a callback from FSA within 30 minutes instead of waiting on hold all day. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA rep explained exactly what my federal loan options were based on my SAI and school cost, which was way more helpful than trying to figure it out from websites alone.

DoNt forget to look at your schools specific merit scholarships!!!! They dont show up on FAFSA and can be HUGE. My SAI was similar to yours (7600ish) but i ended up with almost full tuition covered because I applied to every scholarship my school offered. Some only required a short essay. DO THIS NOW dont wait!!!

To summarize what you should do now: 1. Wait for your official financial aid packages from each school before making decisions 2. Compare all offers side-by-side (some schools include loans in their "aid" number which is misleading) 3. Apply for school-specific scholarships as suggested above 4. Contact each school's financial aid office for clarification on their packages 5. Only after understanding your true remaining need, consider additional funding sources For that last step, the order to consider is: additional scholarships → federal student loans → parent PLUS loans → private loans (absolute last resort). Based on your SAI and a $24k cost, you'll likely have some gap to fill, but don't panic until you see the actual packages!

Hey Emily! As someone who went through this process a few years ago, I totally understand the stress you're feeling. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track everything once I started getting my financial aid packages. I listed each school, their total cost, federal aid offered, scholarships, and then calculated my actual out-of-pocket need. This made it SO much easier to compare schools and see where I might need additional funding. Also, don't forget to check if your state has any need-based grant programs - many do and they're not always included in your initial FAFSA estimate. Your state's higher education agency website should have info on this. You're being really smart by researching early rather than waiting until the last minute like I did! The fact that you're asking the right questions now puts you way ahead of where I was at this stage.