What's considered a good SAI score for FAFSA? Need advice on reporting mid-year income drop

there isn't really a specific number thats "good" for SAI. its all relative to each college and their available aid. generally lower = better, but my daughters SAI was 14,000 and she still got decent aid packages from state schools (not privates tho). but yeah contact EVERY financial aid office ASAP about income changes!!! dont wait

Financial aid counselor here. For your income change situation, you need to request a "Professional Judgment" review (sometimes called a Special Circumstances review) from each college's financial aid office. Under federal guidelines, schools are allowed to adjust your FAFSA data when significant financial changes occur. Regarding a "good" SAI - there's no universal answer. A Student Aid Index of 0 qualifies you for maximum need-based aid including full Pell Grants. The higher your SAI, the less need-based aid you'll receive. Many middle-income families have SAIs between 5,000-20,000. Elite private colleges often meet full need regardless of SAI, while state schools have more limited aid budgets. Contact each school now - don't wait for acceptance. And be prepared to provide documentation of the job loss and reduced hours.

My SAI was 8500 and I didn't get ANYTHING!!!!! The whole system is RIGGED against middle class families. We make too much to qualify for aid but not enough to actually afford college. When my dad got sick last year and our income dropped, I filed all that special circumstances paperwork with three different schools and only ONE actually adjusted my aid package. Don't get your hopes up.

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING with your income change situation. Get a termination letter from your dad's employer, doctor's notes about your mom's reduced hours, recent pay stubs showing the decrease, etc. When you contact financial aid offices (which you should do immediately), they'll need proof of these changes. For context on SAI numbers: Generally 0-3,000 = maximum federal aid including full Pell Grant, 3,000-12,000 = partial Pell eligibility, and above that is where institutional aid becomes more important than federal aid. But every school treats SAI differently based on their own aid formulas. If you're struggling to reach financial aid offices (they're swamped this time of year), I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to them faster. They have a service that helps you skip the phone queues. I used it when trying to fix a FAFSA verification issue last semester - saved me hours of hold time. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it works.

my sister had an SAI of like 6000 i think? she got decent financial aid from our state university but the private college she wanted gave her almost nothing lol. every school is different oh and yeah definitely tell schools about income changes!! my friend's dad lost his business during covid and they did that professional judgment thing the financial aid person mentioned and got way more money

Thank you everyone for the advice! I've started gathering documentation (dad's termination letter, mom's reduced schedule paperwork, our current bank statements) and I'm going to contact all the financial aid offices this week. I'll definitely look into the Professional Judgment reviews - that's exactly what we need. And I'll check out Claimyr since I'm already dreading all those phone calls. Will update once I hear back from some schools!

One thing nobody mentioned - the timing matters too for income changes. If your dad lost his job recently (like past 2-3 months), it'll have more impact than if it happened right after you filed taxes last year. Also, is this a permanent job loss or temporary? That affects how schools view it. For your mom's reduced hours, do you know if this is permanent? All these details should be included in your professional judgment request.

I'm new to this whole FAFSA process and your situation sounds really stressful but also hopeful based on all the advice here! I'm wondering - when you do contact the financial aid offices about your family's income changes, do you need to submit the Professional Judgment request forms to every single school you applied to, or can you somehow update your FAFSA centrally? Also, does anyone know if there's a deadline for submitting these income change requests? My family might be facing a similar situation soon and I want to be prepared. Thanks for sharing your story - it's really helping other people like me understand what to expect!