Would our SAI be different using the old FAFSA formula vs. new 2024-2025 system?

The short answer is no, your outcomes would NOT be the same. The new FAFSA makes fundamental changes to the formula itself, not just the application process. The biggest differences: 1. The old formula used Expected Family Contribution (EFC), new one uses Student Aid Index (SAI) 2. The new formula eliminated the sibling discount (multiple children in college) 3. Income protection allowances were adjusted 4. Business assets are now treated differently 5. The new formula eliminated certain deductions and expenses that used to reduce your EFC These aren't just cosmetic changes - they literally changed the math behind how financial need is calculated. Many families, especially middle-income families with multiple kids in college, are seeing significantly higher SAIs because of these formula changes.

Great question. I've been working with families on FAFSA applications for over 15 years, and I can definitively say this is the most significant overhaul of the federal aid formula I've seen. If they plugged your information into the old formula: - Families with multiple students in college would see dramatically lower numbers (the old formula divided your contribution among all college students) - Small business owners would likely see lower numbers (different asset protection) - Families with significant medical expenses or other unusual circumstances would see more adjustment opportunities The new system was meant to simplify things, but it's created winners and losers. Some lower-income families are seeing better results, while middle-income families (especially with multiple college students) are getting hit hard. Previous years had their issues, but changes were typically incremental, not revolutionary like this year's overhaul.

The FAFSA "simplification" is anything but simple for many families. I've been helping students with financial aid applications for years, and this is absolutely the most chaotic rollout I've seen. Even though they said the new formula would be "more generous" for many families, what I'm seeing is: 1. Middle-income families with multiple students in college are getting CRUSHED by the elimination of the sibling discount 2. Small business and farm owners are seeing wildly different asset calculations 3. The increase in income protection allowance isn't offsetting the other negative changes If you're seeing big discrepancies, you're definitely not alone. And yes, if they used the old formula, many families would be getting substantially more aid.

im so frustratted with this hole thing!! my son was suppose to get a decent pell grant based on our income according to all the old calculators, but with this new sai thing he barely qualifys for anything!!! our house hold income is same as last year (about 52k for family of 4) but somehow now we're expected to pay almost 15k??? how is that even possible????

I've spent HOURS trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid to explain the massive increase in our SAI calculation. My twins are starting college this fall, and according to last year's formula, we would have qualified for significant aid. Now we're expected to pay almost $14k more per year! I finally found a solution for reaching a real person - I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get a callback from FSA instead of waiting on hold. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent explained that the elimination of the sibling discount is creating these huge disparities for families with multiple students. She said they're getting thousands of calls about this exact issue. Unfortunately, there's no "adjustment" possible since this is how the new formula was designed to work. It's not an error - it's a feature, not a bug!

To directly answer your question about previous years - no, they weren't this chaotic. There were occasionally minor formula tweaks that might change an EFC by a few hundred dollars, but nothing like what we're seeing now. The FAFSA Simplification Act made fundamental changes to how need is calculated. The Department of Education did publish some estimates that showed approximately how different income levels would be affected, but many families are finding the real-world impact more severe than predicted. One important thing to remember: while your federal aid might be affected by these formula changes, you can still appeal directly to individual colleges for more institutional aid. Many financial aid offices have discretionary funds they can use to help bridge gaps created by the new formula. It's worth contacting each school's financial aid office directly with a well-documented appeal letter.

Quick clarification on something important: The Pell Grant tables were also adjusted for this year, specifically to compensate for some of the formula changes. So even with a higher SAI, you might still qualify for similar Pell Grant amounts as before. For example, the maximum SAI to receive Pell increased from $0-$6,206 (old EFC range) to $0-$7,395 (new SAI range). The maximum Pell Grant amount also increased to $7,395 for 2024-2025. However, this doesn't help families who are well beyond these thresholds due to the elimination of the sibling discount or other formula changes. And it doesn't help with institutional aid that uses the federal methodology as a starting point. Bottom line: Using the old formula would absolutely produce different results for many families, especially those with multiple children in college.

Something else worth mentioning - many schools are scrambling to adjust their institutional aid formulas to account for these FAFSA changes. I've heard from several college financial aid directors that they're trying to create supplemental aid programs specifically to help families hit hard by the elimination of the sibling discount. If you're seeing a dramatically higher SAI than expected, don't give up hope completely. Contact each college's financial aid office directly and explain your situation. Ask specifically about any adjustments they're making to account for the new FAFSA formula changes. Some schools have more flexibility than others, but many recognize this is creating hardships and are trying to adapt. Unfortunately, these institutional solutions are piecemeal and vary widely. There's no systematic fix for the formula changes at the federal level.

ya know whats crazy is they had all this time to work on the new formula and still released it late and with a million glitches!!! if they knew it would hurt so many families why not phase it in or give ppl more notice??? my son got into his dream school but now we cant afford it bc of this stupid new formula that didnt count my other kid in college!!!!

I spoke with my daughter's financial aid counselor yesterday, and she gave me some interesting insight. According to her, the Department of Education had an internal analysis showing how the formula changes would affect different demographic groups. They knew the elimination of the sibling discount would hit middle-income families hard, but they believed the increased income protection allowance would offset it. Clearly, that offset isn't happening for many families. She also mentioned that they're seeing unprecedented numbers of appeals this year specifically citing the formula change impacts. Her advice was to be extremely specific in appeals - don't just say "the new formula hurt us" but instead say "we have multiple students in college, which the new formula doesn't account for, creating an additional financial burden of $X per year compared to last year's methodology.

I'm new to this whole FAFSA process (my oldest is a high school senior), but reading through all these comments is absolutely terrifying! I've been using online EFC calculators for the past year to estimate what we'd need to pay, and now I'm realizing those are all based on the OLD formula? Can someone help me understand - if I'm a single parent with an income of about $75k and will have just one child in college next year, am I likely to see a big difference between what the old calculators predicted and what the new SAI will be? Or are the major impacts mostly hitting families with multiple kids in college simultaneously? I'm trying to figure out if I need to completely redo my college savings expectations or if families like mine might not see dramatic changes. This whole thread has me second-guessing everything I thought I knew about financial aid!