Why are my twins getting wildly different SAI scores on their FAFSA?
I'm totally confused and starting to panic a bit. My twins (boy/girl) are both heading to college this fall as freshmen, and I just got their FAFSA results back with COMPLETELY different SAI scores. We're talking about a $7,500 difference between them! How is this even possible? They're the same age, living in the same household, with the same parent financial information. I double-checked that I entered the same income and asset information for both applications. The only differences are their personal info (names, SSNs, etc.) and that my daughter had about $2,100 in summer job income while my son had none. Could that small amount of income really cause such a huge SAI difference? Has anyone else experienced this with multiple kids? I'm worried I made a major mistake somewhere but can't figure out where to look.
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Tony Brooks
There's definitely something wrong there. A $2,100 difference in student income shouldn't create a $7,500 SAI gap for dependent students. The most common causes for this type of discrepancy are: 1) Different dependency status accidentally selected 2) One application included a step-parent's income and the other didn't 3) Asset information entered differently 4) One FAFSA counted a 529 plan and the other didn't. I'd recommend carefully reviewing both SAI breakdowns side-by-side and looking for these differences. If you can't spot the issue, call Federal Student Aid directly to have them explain the calculation difference.
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Jade Lopez
•Thank you, that's really helpful. I'll check the dependency status first - I'm pretty sure I selected "dependent" for both, but maybe I clicked something wrong? I'm also wondering about the 529 plans. We have separate accounts for each kid, but they have almost identical balances (within $500 of each other). Would the system somehow count one and not the other?
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Ella rollingthunder87
same thing happened with my kids last year!!! turned out i accidentally put one of them as independent even tho they're both dependents. check that first!!!
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Jade Lopez
•Really? That's scary because I was pretty careful... but maybe I did make that mistake. Did you have to submit a correction to fix it?
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Ella rollingthunder87
•yea had to do a correction it was a HUGE pain took forever to process but eventually got fixed. good luck!!!!
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Yara Campbell
This is exactly why I HATE the FAFSA process! The system is designed to be confusing and catch people in stupid technical errors. I had three kids go through college and each time the financial aid system found new ways to mess with our family. They make these forms deliberately complicated so they can give out less money. Check everything twice and be prepared to fight for corrections. The whole system is rigged against middle class families!!
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Isaac Wright
Have you checked if maybe one application had household size entered differently? Or maybe number of college students? Sometimes it's just a simple data entry error. Like maybe one FAFSA shows 4 people in household and the other shows 5? That alone could cause a pretty big SAI difference.
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Jade Lopez
•I *think* I put the same household size (4) and college students (2 - the twins) on both applications. But I'll double check because that's a good point. It's possible I accidentally hit a different number on one of them.
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Maya Diaz
when i was doing my fafsa last year i noticed that sometimes the system itself glitches and doesn't save all your information correctly. maybe try logging in and out and checking each section carefully?
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Tami Morgan
This is definitely an error that needs correcting. I've worked with hundreds of families on FAFSA issues, and twin siblings with identical household circumstances should have nearly identical SAI scores (small differences for student income are normal, but not $7,500). Here's what I recommend: 1. Log into both studentaid.gov accounts and download the full SAI calculation worksheets for each student 2. Compare every line item side by side 3. Look specifically at parent income, parent assets, household size, and number in college 4. If you find the discrepancy, submit a correction immediately If you're still stuck after that, calling FSA directly is your best option - but be prepared for extremely long wait times (often 2+ hours) or getting disconnected. Many families are struggling with the new FAFSA rollout this year.
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Jade Lopez
•Thank you so much for these detailed steps. I'm going to try this tonight. Where exactly do I find the SAI calculation worksheets? Is that in the confirmation section?
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Tami Morgan
•You'll find the SAI worksheet by logging into studentaid.gov, going to your FAFSA application, and looking for "View Student Aid Index (SAI) Details" - this should show the full breakdown of all factors in the calculation. Compare these line by line between both students. If you still can't figure it out, don't waste hours on hold with FSA. I recommend using Claimyr.com to get through to an agent quickly - they have a service that holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is ready. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Given the current FAFSA issues this year, it's worth it to avoid the frustration of waiting for hours.
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Rami Samuels
Wait, is your daughter by chance a few minutes older than your son? Could she possibly be classified as 19 in the system while he's still 18 based on exact birthdates? The FAFSA age cutoffs can sometimes affect calculations in strange ways.
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Jade Lopez
•That's interesting! She actually is 7 minutes older lol, but they're both 18 (turning 19 in September). Would that really matter for the calculation?
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Rami Samuels
•Probably not then, since they're both the same age in years. Just thought I'd check since the FAFSA can be weirdly specific about birthdate cutoffs sometimes! Definitely follow the advice about comparing the SAI worksheets line by line.
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Haley Bennett
I had a similar issue last year with my kids and turned out I entered different retirement account values on each application by mistake. Look at ALL the numbers you entered, including parent assets and investments. Sometimes it's easy to transpose numbers when you're filling out multiple forms!
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Jade Lopez
Update: I spent all evening comparing the applications side by side and found the problem! Somehow on my son's application, I accidentally entered our home value and mortgage in the "investments" section, which added about $150,000 in assets that shouldn't have been counted. No wonder his SAI was so much higher! I submitted a correction request and hopefully it will be processed soon. Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions - you saved us potentially thousands in financial aid!
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Tami Morgan
•I'm so glad you found the issue! That's a very common mistake and explains the large SAI difference. One tip: corrections are taking 3-4 weeks to process currently, so follow up directly with the financial aid offices at the schools your children are considering. Many schools have procedures to review corrected information while waiting for the official update.
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Jade Lopez
•Thank you for that suggestion! I'll definitely reach out to their schools tomorrow to let them know about the correction so they don't make financial aid decisions based on the wrong information.
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Eli Wang
Wow, I'm so relieved you found the error! That's exactly the kind of mistake that would drive me crazy - accidentally putting home equity in the wrong section. The FAFSA interface can be really confusing about where different assets should go. Your story is a perfect example of why it's so important to double-check everything before submitting. I'm bookmarking this thread because I have twins who will be applying next year and this gives me a great checklist of things to watch out for. Thanks for sharing the solution!
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Amina Bah
•This is such a helpful thread! As someone new to the FAFSA process (my oldest is just starting high school), I'm already feeling overwhelmed by how complex it seems. Reading about all the different places where mistakes can happen - dependency status, household size, asset categories - makes me realize I need to start learning about this stuff way before my kid is ready to apply. @Jade Lopez, I'm so glad you shared your experience and the solution! It really shows how important it is to go through everything line by line. I'm definitely going to save this thread for reference when my time comes.
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