VA disability payments on new FAFSA - not counting as income anymore?

The good news is that VA disability payments are still supposed to be excluded from income calculations for FAFSA purposes, even with the new system. The automatic transfer should be pulling your AGI from your tax return, not box 1 gross income. However, there's a key distinction: if you're concerned about VA disability payments, make sure you're looking at the SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation, not just the raw income data transfer. Non-taxable veterans benefits should still be excluded from the SAI calculation. The automated system is designed to understand these nuances, but it's always good to verify on the confirmation page once you submit.

I just completed our FAFSA last week and had the same question about my husband's VA disability! What I found was that the system DOES NOT include VA disability payments in the calculation. The tax data transfer pulls your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income), not your gross income. Since VA disability isn't taxable, it's not in your AGI anyway. The whole point of the new system is to make this easier so we don't have to manually exclude these things! Still, I was super paranoid too so I called FSA to confirm. Took FOREVER to get through to someone.

Financial aid advisor here - this is a common question with the new FAFSA. VA disability payments are specifically excluded from income consideration for federal student aid. The direct tax data transfer is using your AGI from your tax return, which already excludes non-taxable VA benefits. However, there's an important change with the new FAFSA: the formula itself has changed from EFC to SAI. This means your calculated index number might be different from previous years even if your income situation hasn't changed. This isn't because VA benefits are suddenly being counted, but because the entire calculation methodology has been revised. If you're seeing a significant difference in your SAI compared to your previous EFC, it's more likely due to the formula change rather than your VA benefits suddenly being counted.

My son is also a veteran and we had the same concern! The thing nobody tells you is the new FAFSA actually helps veterans more because it doesn't just exclude the disability payments but also gives better treatment to other military benefits. Did you deploy to a combat zone? That income is treated differently too. We actually saw our SAI go DOWN with the new system even though they changed the formula.

THEY COUNT EVERYTHING NOW!!! The whole "simplified" FAFSA is just a way to give less aid to families. My brother has 100% VA disability and his daughter got WAY less aid this year even though nothing changed in their finances. Don't believe what they tell you about "not counting" certain income - the new algorithm is a complete black box and nobody can see how they're calculating the numbers. The old system was better because at least it was transparent.

I'm a veteran myself and just went through this process with my daughter's FAFSA. The automated system should NOT be counting your VA disability payments - they're excluded by federal law from financial aid calculations. The confusion you're experiencing is totally normal because the new direct data transfer can make it seem like everything is being pulled automatically without our control. But here's what's actually happening: the system pulls your AGI from your tax return, and since VA disability isn't taxable income, it's not included in your AGI anyway. If you're seeing a higher SAI than expected, it's most likely due to the formula change from EFC to SAI, not because your VA benefits are being counted. The new calculation methodology affects families differently - some see increases, some decreases, even with identical income situations. My advice: double-check that your tax return shows the correct AGI (which shouldn't include VA disability), and if your SAI seems way off, contact your school's financial aid office for a professional judgment review. They can verify everything is calculated correctly.

As someone who works with veterans on education benefits, I want to add that there's actually a verification step you can take to ensure your VA disability payments aren't being counted. After you submit your FAFSA, you'll receive a FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) - this replaced the old SAR. While the FSS doesn't show a detailed breakdown like the old system, you can compare the "Total Income" line with your tax return's AGI. They should match exactly if only taxable income is being counted. If you see a discrepancy where the FAFSA shows higher income than your AGI, that could indicate an error. Also worth noting - if you have other untaxed income like VA education benefits (GI Bill housing allowance, etc.), those ARE counted differently than disability compensation. Make sure you're not confusing the two types of VA benefits when reviewing your application. The bottom line is that VA disability compensation should definitely NOT appear anywhere in your FAFSA income calculations under current federal law.

I'm also a veteran dealing with this same confusion! Just wanted to add that if you're still worried after checking everything everyone mentioned, you might want to look at your state's veteran education benefits too. Some states have their own rules about how they treat VA benefits for state aid programs, which could affect your overall financial aid package even if the federal FAFSA is handling your disability payments correctly. Also, keep in mind that if you're using both federal and state aid, make sure to check with your school about any veteran-specific scholarships or grants they might offer. Sometimes these can help offset any changes from the new SAI calculation, especially if your family is in that middle-income range where the formula changes hit hardest. The new system is definitely more of a black box, but at least the core protections for VA disability are still there. Hang in there!

I went through this exact same situation when filling out my son's FAFSA a few weeks ago! As a disabled veteran, I was really concerned about how the new automated system would handle my VA disability payments. After doing some research and speaking with our school's financial aid office, I can confirm that VA disability compensation is still excluded from income calculations. The key thing to understand is that the direct data transfer pulls your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your tax return - and since VA disability payments aren't taxable, they're not included in your AGI anyway. What really helped me feel confident about this was comparing my tax return's AGI with what showed up on our FAFSA Submission Summary after we submitted. They matched exactly, which confirmed that only our taxable income was being used in the calculation. If you're seeing a higher SAI than expected compared to previous years' EFC, it's most likely due to the new formula methodology rather than your VA benefits being counted. The switch from EFC to SAI has affected many families differently, even with identical financial situations. My advice is to submit your FAFSA, then carefully review your FSS when you receive it to make sure the income numbers match your tax return's AGI. If something looks off, definitely contact your school's financial aid office - they can help verify everything is calculated correctly.

As a newcomer to this community, I'm so grateful to have found this discussion! My husband is a disabled veteran and we're about to start our daughter's FAFSA for the first time. I was completely panicked about how his VA disability would be handled with the new automated system, but reading through everyone's experiences has been incredibly reassuring. It sounds like the key takeaway is that VA disability payments are still legally protected from being counted as income, and the new system pulls from our AGI (which already excludes those payments) rather than trying to include them. The fact that multiple veterans here have verified this by comparing their tax returns to their FAFSA Submission Summary gives me a lot of confidence. I especially appreciate the practical advice about checking the FSS when it comes in and reaching out to the school's financial aid office if anything looks off. As someone who's never navigated this process before, having a clear verification step makes all the difference. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences - it's exactly what families like mine need to hear!

As someone new to this community and the FAFSA process, I can't tell you how relieved I am to have found this thread! My partner is a disabled veteran and we're preparing to fill out our first FAFSA for our son who's starting college next year. I've been losing sleep over how the new automated system would handle VA disability payments. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly educational and reassuring. It's clear that the legal protections for VA disability compensation are still in place, and the system is designed to pull from AGI (which already excludes these payments) rather than gross income. What I find most helpful is the practical verification advice - comparing the AGI on our tax return with what appears on the FAFSA Submission Summary once we submit. Having that concrete way to double-check gives me so much more confidence in trusting the automated process. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and real-world experiences. This is exactly the kind of community support that makes navigating these complex processes so much easier for families like ours!

As a newcomer to this community, I want to thank everyone for this incredibly detailed and reassuring discussion! My spouse is a disabled veteran and we're about to tackle our first FAFSA for our daughter's college applications. I've been genuinely worried about how the new automated system would handle VA disability payments, especially since we can't manually control what gets included anymore. Reading through all these real experiences from veteran families has been so helpful. The consistent message that VA disability compensation is still legally protected and excluded from income calculations, combined with the practical verification steps using the FAFSA Submission Summary, gives me much more confidence in the process. I particularly appreciate the advice about comparing our tax return's AGI with what shows up on the FSS after submission - having that concrete verification method makes such a difference when you're trusting an automated system for the first time. It's also reassuring to know that if anything does look off, the school's financial aid office can help with professional judgment reviews. This community support is exactly what military families need when navigating these complex financial aid processes. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences!

As someone completely new to both this community and the FAFSA process, I can't express how valuable this entire discussion has been! My husband is a 100% disabled veteran and we're preparing to file our first FAFSA for our twin daughters who will be starting college in the fall. I've been absolutely terrified about how his VA disability compensation would be handled with the new automated system. What's been most reassuring is seeing so many veteran families confirm that the legal protections for VA disability payments are still firmly in place. The fact that the system pulls from AGI (which already excludes these non-taxable benefits) rather than gross income makes perfect sense once it's explained, but I never would have understood that distinction on my own. I'm definitely going to follow the verification advice everyone mentioned - comparing our tax return's AGI with what appears on the FAFSA Submission Summary after we submit. Having that concrete way to double-check removes so much of the anxiety about trusting an automated process we can't see inside of. Thank you all for creating such a supportive space where military families can share real experiences and practical advice. This discussion has transformed what felt like an overwhelming and scary process into something much more manageable!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm so grateful to have found this comprehensive discussion! My husband is a disabled veteran and we're about to start our son's FAFSA for the first time. I've been really anxious about how the new automated system would handle his VA disability payments, but reading through everyone's experiences has given me so much peace of mind. The consistent message from multiple veteran families that VA disability compensation is still legally protected and excluded from income calculations is incredibly reassuring. I also appreciate learning about the distinction between AGI and gross income - it makes perfect sense that the system would pull from AGI which already excludes non-taxable VA benefits. The practical verification advice about comparing our tax return's AGI with the FAFSA Submission Summary is exactly what I needed to feel confident about trusting the automated process. Having that concrete way to double-check takes away so much of the uncertainty. Thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences and creating such a supportive environment for military families navigating this process. This discussion has transformed what felt like a daunting task into something much more manageable!

As someone new to this community and the FAFSA process, I want to thank everyone for this incredibly thorough and reassuring discussion! My partner is a disabled veteran and we're getting ready to complete our first FAFSA for our daughter who's applying to colleges this year. I've been really stressed about how the new automated system would handle VA disability payments, especially since we can't manually exclude them like in the old system. Reading through all these experiences from veteran families has been so educational and comforting. The consistent confirmation that VA disability compensation remains legally protected and excluded from income calculations, even with the new direct data transfer, gives me much more confidence. Learning about the AGI vs. gross income distinction was particularly helpful - it makes complete sense that the system pulls from AGI which already excludes these non-taxable benefits. I'm definitely going to use the verification method everyone recommended - comparing our tax return's AGI with what shows up on the FAFSA Submission Summary after submission. Having that concrete way to double-check the system worked correctly removes so much anxiety about trusting an automated process we can't see inside. This community support is exactly what military families need when facing these complex financial aid processes for the first time. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and real-world experiences!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm incredibly grateful to have found this detailed discussion! My spouse is a disabled veteran and we're preparing to file our first FAFSA for our son who's starting his senior year of high school. I've been genuinely anxious about how the new automated system would handle VA disability payments, but this thread has been so reassuring. The consistent experiences from multiple veteran families confirming that VA disability compensation is still legally excluded from income calculations gives me so much confidence. I really appreciate the explanation about AGI vs. gross income - understanding that the system pulls from AGI (which already excludes non-taxable VA benefits) makes the whole process seem much less mysterious. The verification advice about comparing our tax return's AGI with the FAFSA Submission Summary is exactly the kind of practical guidance I needed. Having a concrete way to double-check that everything worked correctly removes so much of the anxiety about trusting an automated process. Thank you all for creating such a supportive space where military families can share real experiences and get practical advice. This discussion has transformed what felt like an overwhelming process into something much more manageable for our family!