Why are my twins' FAFSA SAI numbers completely different (-474 vs 714)?

the same thing happened with my neighbor's kids! turned out one of them had a small scholarship from their summer job employer that changed their calculation. did either of your twins have any income or external scholarships the other didn't?

That's interesting, but I don't think that's it. Neither of them had scholarships yet, and they both worked the same summer job with almost identical income (within $100 of each other). Could such a small difference cause a nearly 1200 point SAI gap?

This is actually a common question with twins! Several factors could cause different SAI numbers even with twins from the same household:\n\n1. Did you complete the applications on different days? The FAFSA system can pull different financial data depending on when you submit\n\n2. Different academic programs - even at the same school, different majors can affect aid calculations\n\n3. Check if one twin has any assets in their name that the other doesn't (savings accounts, trust funds, etc.)\n\n4. Verify if one application was selected for verification and the other wasn't\n\n5. If one twin is listed as the first student on the FAFSA and the other is second, this can sometimes affect calculations\n\nI'd recommend calling FSA directly to ask about the specific differences between the two calculations.

Thank you for the detailed response. I did complete them on the same day, literally one right after the other. They're both applying to different schools, but I didn't realize that would affect the SAI calculation itself. I thought SAI was just based on our family finances? Neither has extra assets - we set up identical accounts for both. I'll definitely need to call FSA to get to the bottom of this.

my triplets all got different numbers too lol. the financial aid office told me it was becuz i entered their birthdays wrong 🤦‍♀️ i put the wrong year for one of them and it messed up everything. double check all the basic info maybe??

Oh wow, I didn't even think about checking their birthdays! I'm going to review their applications again tonight. At this point I'm desperate enough to check every single field for differences.

The difference between -474 and 714 is significant and very unusual for twins from the same household. This is likely an error somewhere. The most common causes I've seen:\n\n1. Did you accidentally mark one twin as independent and one as dependent? This would cause a massive SAI difference.\n\n2. Check if you accidentally reversed digits in your AGI or assets on one application.\n\n3. Look at the number of people in college section - if one application shows 2 in college and the other shows 1, this would impact the calculation.\n\n4. Review the contribution calculation for each student in the SAI breakdown - this should identify exactly where the divergence occurs.\n\nI'd recommend logging into studentaid.gov and reviewing both SAI calculations side-by-side to spot the difference.

Thank you for these suggestions. I'm positive I marked both as dependent, but I'm going to check the other items you mentioned. Where exactly can I find the SAI breakdown on studentaid.gov? I only see the final number in their accounts.

If you've been trying to contact the FSA support line to resolve this, I know how frustrating the wait times can be. I was in a similar situation last month with my kids' bizarre SAI differences, and I was getting disconnected after waiting for 2+ hours. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an FSA agent without the wait. They have a demo video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\nThe agent explained that there was a processing error on one of my kids' applications that caused the SAI disparity, and they fixed it right away. Definitely worth checking into!

is that service legit? sounds too good to be true honestly...waiting on hold with fafsa is like the worst part of college apps lol

It's definitely legit - I was skeptical too but it worked perfectly for me. The agent was able to pinpoint exactly where the calculation went wrong between my kids' applications and fix it immediately. Saved me days of stress!

Thank you for the suggestion. I've been trying to call FSA for two days now with no luck. I'll check this out because I really need to get this resolved before my twins' college decisions come in.

This happened with my twins too. Turns out there was a MAJOR issue with how the new FAFSA system was processing multiple students from the same family. For us, the system had somehow duplicated our home value and counted it twice on one application but not the other. Another issue was that it randomly assigned different college attendance costs to each twin despite them applying to the same schools!\n\nSolutions that worked for us:\n1. Submit a correction to both FAFSAs\n2. Contact each school's financial aid office directly (they were MUCH more helpful than FSA)\n3. Request a professional judgment review from the schools\n\nThe schools were able to manually adjust the SAI when we showed them both applications. Good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experience! This is exactly what I was afraid of - some kind of system error. I'll definitely reach out to the financial aid offices at their schools. Did you have to provide any special documentation to prove the twins should have similar SAIs?

UPDATE: I finally got through to FSA after using that Claimyr service someone recommended. The agent found the problem immediately! Apparently on one twin's application, our home value was entered as $347,000 but on the other it somehow got entered as $34,700 (missing a zero). The agent said this single digit error caused the entire calculation difference. They're correcting it now and said both twins should have nearly identical SAIs within 5-7 business days.\n\nThank you everyone for your help and suggestions! I would've never caught this without your advice to compare the applications line by line.

omg one missing zero caused all that trouble?? the new fafsa system is so sensitive! glad u got it fixed tho!

I'm glad you found the issue! This is a perfect example of why it's so important to review all FAFSA data carefully. For anyone else reading this thread with multiple students, I recommend printing out both SAI calculations and comparing them line by line before submission. Even small data entry errors can have huge impacts on financial aid eligibility.

This is such a great example of why the FAFSA system needs better error checking! A single missing digit shouldn't be able to cause such a massive difference in SAI calculations. I'm dealing with something similar right now - my daughter's SAI seems way too high compared to what the calculators predicted. Going to double-check every single field on her application now. Thanks for sharing your resolution - it gives me hope that there's probably just a simple data entry error somewhere in mine too!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm a parent going through the FAFSA process for the first time with my oldest, and reading about these kinds of data entry errors is both terrifying and reassuring. Terrifying because one small mistake can mess everything up, but reassuring because it sounds like these issues can actually be fixed once you identify them. I'm definitely going to be extra careful when I fill out my second child's application next year. It's crazy that a single missing digit could cause such a huge difference in financial aid eligibility. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - this is exactly the kind of real-world advice that makes navigating this process so much easier!

Wow, what a rollercoaster! As someone who just went through the FAFSA process with my daughter, this thread is both eye-opening and nerve-wracking. The fact that one missing digit could cause such a dramatic difference in SAI calculations really highlights how sensitive the system is. I'm so glad you were able to get it resolved, Bethany! Your experience definitely makes me want to go back and double-check my daughter's application one more time. It's concerning that the FAFSA system doesn't have better built-in validation to catch these obvious errors before they cause such major discrepancies. Thanks for sharing your solution - the tip about using Claimyr to actually get through to an FSA agent sounds like a game-changer for anyone dealing with similar issues!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm currently dealing with a similar situation with my son's FAFSA - his SAI came back way higher than expected compared to the online estimators. After reading about Bethany's experience with the missing digit in the home value, I went back and checked our application line by line. Sure enough, I found that I accidentally entered our savings account balance as $15,000 instead of $1,500. It's scary how easy it is to make these kinds of errors and how dramatically they can impact the calculations. I'm going to try using that Claimyr service to get through to FSA and get this corrected. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - it's so reassuring to know that these issues can be fixed once you identify them!

This entire thread is such a valuable resource for families dealing with FAFSA issues! As a financial aid counselor at a community college, I see these kinds of data entry errors all the time, and they're unfortunately becoming more common with the new FAFSA system. The home value error that caused Bethany's twins to have such different SAIs is a perfect example of how sensitive these calculations are. I always tell families to print out their FAFSA summary and review it carefully before submitting - look for any numbers that seem obviously wrong or out of place. Another tip: if you have multiple children, complete their applications back-to-back so the information is fresh in your mind and you're less likely to make different errors on each one. It's also worth noting that schools can often help resolve these discrepancies faster than FSA, so don't hesitate to contact their financial aid offices directly with documentation showing the error.

As someone new to the FAFSA process, this thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I had no idea that such small data entry errors could cause such massive differences in SAI calculations. The fact that a single missing digit in the home value caused nearly a 1200-point difference between twins is both shocking and educational. I'm definitely going to be extra paranoid about double-checking every single field when I fill out my daughter's FAFSA next year. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - especially the tip about using Claimyr to actually get through to FSA. The wait times have been brutal this year! It's reassuring to know that these errors can be fixed once identified, even though it's frustrating that the system doesn't have better validation to catch them in the first place.