Worth updating FAFSA after roof emergency depleted our savings?

Yes, absolutely file a correction to your FAFSA AND contact the financial aid offices directly! This is exactly what professional judgment reviews are for. You need to: 1. Submit the FAFSA correction showing your updated savings amount 2. Contact each school's financial aid office and ask about their "professional judgment" or "special circumstances" appeal process 3. Provide documentation of the roof expense (invoices, insurance claim info, bank statements showing the withdrawal) Many schools have a specific form for these situations. Don't wait - the best financial aid is often first-come, first-served, especially for school-based grants.

we had the same thing but it was medical bills not a roof. colleges DO care but u have to be LOUD about it lol. call them daily!!! the regular fin aid ppl probably wont help much but ask for a supervisor or the director

Just wondering - did you check if your college savings account was a protected asset? Some 529 plans don't count toward your EFC calculation or only count a percentage. You might have been reporting assets that didn't even matter for your SAI score calculation!

I can share some facts about updating your FAFSA after financial changes: 1. You can submit corrections to your FAFSA at any time 2. Schools are required to use the most current FAFSA information 3. For the 2025-2026 application, asset information is reported as of the date you file 4. Major financial changes like yours often qualify for professional judgment reviews The key is to contact each school's financial aid office DIRECTLY after submitting the FAFSA correction. Each school handles these situations differently, and some have specific forms for reporting special circumstances. I'd recommend updating your FAFSA within the next week, then immediately contacting the financial aid offices with documentation of your emergency expense.

This is why the FAFSA system is completely broken. They look at a single snapshot in time and make huge decisions that affect your child's entire future. One emergency expense shouldn't destroy years of careful saving. The whole system is ridiculous.

When I needed to reach FSA about updating our application last year, I spent days trying to get through on their phone lines. Total nightmare. I eventually used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual human at FSA in like 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Def worth it when you need to talk to someone directly about your specific situation. FSA agents can also guide you through the correction process on the phone.

Financial aid counselor here. Just to add some nuance: updating your FAFSA asset information is important, but the professional judgment process is separate. For your specific situation: 1. Update the FAFSA to reflect current asset values 2. Request a professional judgment review at each school where your daughter was accepted 3. Prepare a detailed letter explaining the emergency nature of the expense 4. Gather documentation (paid invoices, bank statements, insurance claim details) Schools have considerable discretion in professional judgment cases. Some will be more generous than others. Consider reaching out to your top-choice school first to see what additional aid they might offer.

wait u can just change ur fafsa whenever u want?? i thought once u submit its done

No one's mentioned this but you should also look into whether you can claim a casualty loss on your taxes for the portion of the roof replacement not covered by insurance. Might help offset some of the financial impact. Talk to your tax professional about it.

As someone who went through a similar situation two years ago (major medical expenses wiped out our college savings), I want to emphasize that timing is crucial here. Don't wait - some schools have earlier deadlines for professional judgment appeals than others, and available funds can run out. When you contact the financial aid offices, be prepared to explain not just what happened, but also how it impacts your ability to contribute to college costs going forward. In our case, we had to explain that we couldn't rebuild our savings before our daughter started college, which helped them understand the ongoing impact. Also, keep copies of everything you submit - some schools lost our documentation and we had to resubmit. The whole process took about 3-4 weeks from start to finish, but we ended up getting an additional $8,000 per year in grants. Definitely worth the effort!