r/FAFSA

Im wondering if once you pass the federal $57k limit and then pay some of that off will it make you eligible for financial aid again? im receiving conflicting information from chatgpt and google, chatgpt says i can’t while google says i can.

Bc I know there’s a cap for new borrowers so I’ve definitely already reached that cat but since I’ve been borrowing before the bill was passed, I’ve still been able to borrow. If I take a research here and come back to my fourth year, would I have to take loans from somewhere else?

I’m currently attending a university this spring and got fafsa for it as well. I wanted to take a couple classes at a cc over the summer can I still get fafsa for the community college for the summer even if it’s in the same aid year? Or would I have to pay out of pocket thanks in advance

I wasnt sure if id be accepted because i was told on this forum before that theres no way it would and that others in the same situation as me werent able to..

BUT I DID ‼️ this is a GAME CHANGER for me. I get to go to school. I couldnt afford anything before and being kicked out of the house didnt help whatsoever

Anyway. Shoot your shot. Make your goals and GET THEM. Its worth trying to shoot for success. I promise.

I have a -1500 SAI and will be eligible for state grants and loans 🐎🐎🐎🐎 and other stuff i think, im not sure im the first in my family to go to college so everything is happening with no warnings. Im so happy

last month my dad went to the doctor with right shoulder pain that was so bad he couldn’t sleep he has something wrong with his right shoulder and it progressed really quick he is barely able to use his right shoulder with much of any range of motion as of now and has been in a sling 24/7 for the last couple weeks. He hasn’t worked in 4 weeks and as I need to make my college decision in the next week what can I do? There’s no guarantee he won’t be able to return to work, as of right now the doctors don’t know what’s wrong and have referred him to another orthopedic specialist. But for the foreseeable future he cannot work and isn’t making money. Is there anything I can do or do I just have to wait it out, As he has only gone 1 month with no income.

Hello everyone I had a question on appeals, so I applied for school in march I got my Pell grant offer already but when I checked my cal grant it said incomplete so I called them they let me know I had to submit my GPA I recently submitted but the deadline was march 2nd … to cut to the chase has anyone had to do a cal grant appeal and what was the outcome of it?

Thanks in advanced :-)

Ok so I finished and turned in my fafsa form last October. However I noticed that I didnt add the school I wanted to go to (uci). I've been waiting for financial aid however haven't gotten it yet. So I edited my fafsa form to add uci to the list of colleges. It changed my financial aid portal of uci from processing to taking it off my page, but also made it to where my fafsa needs to be processed again. Please lmk if this was the right thing I need to do because I dont think I can go back.

I'm locked out of the Fafsa website and now in account recovery.. Submitted my id but now they are asking for my passport and ss card which I don't have!! Any suggestions? I've been dealing with this for weeks and it's so stressful as this is my only form of income.. about to be homeless and have to drop out of school if I can't log into FAFSA

I heard about the Fidelity / Schwab Youth Brokerage accounts and am considering opening one for our teen to learn about saving, investing, and spending.

For those with this type of accounts, how does it affect your child's FAFSA? My understanding is that this has a greater impact on financial aid because the assets are in the child's name rather than the parent’s.

Is it better to stay away from these type of accounts?

I’m also considering the Capital One MONEY Teen Checking account. Does this type of account affect financial aid eligibility?

Any information is appreciated.

I have a freshman in college and I am wondering if we need to file FAFSA again this year? I make too much for us to get any aid, and I have a serious distrust in providing the federal government our information if there is no benefit for us. He’s on full tuition scholarship and I pay his room and board with cash. Do we have to file?

My relationship with my mom is very complicated but I don't want to really talk about that here. Last year when I filled out fasfa she did not have her taxes from 2023 done. I had to wait for her to complete her taxes to do fafsa and when I did I had to self report them. I had no clue what I was doing and I tried asking my financial aid office for help but they wouldn't help me. I just ended up trying to do them the best I could but I'm worried I did it wrong because I went from paying one price for school to 10 times that price and our finanical situation has not changed all that much. I have no clue how to see if I did something wrong or how I would go about fixing it if I did. I am now trying to do my fasfa for this year and I am running into the same situation because my mom has not done her taxes for 2024 either. I am unsure of what to do anymore. I feel like giving up and not even pursuing a degree.

Nobody in my family went to college so I had zero guidance on FAFSA. Made a lot of expensive mistakes. Sharing them here so someone else doesn't go through the same thing.

Mistake 1 — I didn't know FAFSA had to be renewed every single year. I thought once you did it you were done. Almost missed my school's priority deadline junior year and came three days away from losing thousands in grants I never have to pay back.

Mistake 2 — I didn't know each school has its own priority deadline that's earlier than the federal deadline. Always check your specific school's financial aid page for their exact date — don't just go by the federal deadline.

Mistake 3 — I didn't know I could appeal my financial aid. My family's situation changed and I had no idea I could submit documentation and request a review. I just accepted whatever number they gave me for two years.

Mistake 4 — I didn't know emergency aid existed. My college had funds specifically for students in financial hardship — rent, food, laptops, utilities — that you never pay back. Nobody told me. I found out by accident junior year.

Mistake 5 — I didn't know the SAI score on FAFSA determines your aid package. A negative SAI means you qualify for maximum aid. Understanding your SAI helps you know what to expect and what to ask for.

Hope this helps someone starting out. Happy to answer any questions.

So I (20M) have recently moved across the country to live with my brother and go to school. I got a part time retail job that pays me barely enough for my current bills so I wouldn't be able to pay for school myself while i'm in it. My mother who I used to live with is financially out of the picture of my life, she is unable to help me with anything as well. So does my situation count as unaccompanied and "at risk of homelessness"?

I already applied for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 Fafsa forms and the financial aid and pell grants are barely 7k combined and my tuition is 21k total. MY mother makes roughly 70k yearly and that is barely enough for her to get by, yet I was told that is why my financial aid and pell grants are low. Im wondering if my situation applies for "At risk of homelessness" because then it would allow me to apply as a independent.

Hello,

I'm coming on here because I don't know where else to go for answers.

SO I just got my FAFSA submission summary back, and it's telling me that my SAI is literally around 11000.

I'm going into my third year of college, and in the previous years, my SAI has been pretty low. I was eligible for the maximum Pell grant my freshman year of college. What's really confusing me about this is that my parents' income has quite literally lowered since then. We filed taxes late this year, so I initially thought it might be a mistake, but once I saw I was ineligible for a Pell grant, I was concerned. I rely heavily on Pell grants and don't want to take out additional loans for the next 2/3 years. I also transferred to a 4-year institution this past 25/26 year, and I had to fight tooth and nail with the financial aid office here to give me my Pell grant. I keep checking FAFSA to see if a mistake was made but nothing has changed.

I don't really know what to do at this point. If anyone could provide any insight, that would be great.

So, I accidentally waited until the last minute to accept my financial aid. I was looking at the wrong email. I was going over it, and it appears that the 25-26 FAFSA is covering classes in August. My understanding was that it would stop on June 30th, and anything after is 26-27. I did submit my 26-27, so I had assumed they were giving aid for those that way, but I have two classes in October that are not listed in the disbursment. I am attending CSU Global for an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity, if that info helps. I'm not sure whether to accept and hope I'm overthinking it, or drop the classes because there's no way I can afford them without aid.

Hello, I'm a student who is qualified for the Maryland Guaranteed Access Grant. The first-round award period ended on April 17th, but I have yet to see any award funds in my MDCAPS account. It is April 20th. Why is this? I want to determine my amount by the end of April, but that doesn't appear to be possible at the moment.

Hey all,

I don't know how these circumstances came about but I just filed my fafsa because I was suggested to take cc courses and after completing it I had a -1500 sai. I don't think I did anything wrong and I did file taxes but I feel this is going to get me inspected or investigated because apparently from what I read it is the lowest score possible. I am just wanting to take courses at my community college now but I am planning to transfer in the future to a univeristy, I'm in CA so anyone with knowledge about how this works would be appreciated thank you.

The Maryland Guaranteed Access Grant was calculated today, I warned to ask if anybody has the same issue as me where their status say's 'qualified' but they've been rewarded zero dollars. Thank you

I just found out about FAFSA and was about to fill out a form and apply but it turns out i missed SMC’ priority deadline. I assumed the deadline was June 30th 2027 as that is what it says on the website but I didn’t realize schools had a different deadline than the federal. Is it too late or can i still apply for aid for SMC? Also I feel i should mention that I am currently applying to SMC and plan on attending SMC in fall of 2026 also do i qualify to be an independent? My parents died when i was 3 and 12 so i’ve been an orphan since i was 12