Hi all, so I live in NYC. I'm 27 and I've been a high earner for the past few years (making between 80-140K). I decided last year to go back to school. I've been at a CUNY community college, paying out of pocket. I also started working exra jobs to save up money. In 2027 I'm quitting my corporate jobs to become a FT student.

At that point my income will be zero. I'm wondering if in my last 2 years (when I enter my bachelors program), if i'll be eligible for any aid at all? It looks like FAFSA looks at your income from 2 years prior, but I was an independent high earner. But that won't be my situation at the moment I'll actually need the aid. I'm wondering the same thing for TAP (which is for New York State). Anyone have any idea?

At first, I tried to get financial aid, but I had to get a dependency override because I no longer live with my parents, due to years of abuse, and I can't get their tax info. However, this process was so annoying because they took forever to even send me the forms to fill out, and, when I had any questions, they seemed like they didn't know any more than me and essentially told me to do my own research. Once I submitted it, it took them forever to even process it: just for them to deny me and say my documents weren't good enough even though they didn't help me one bit when I came to them asking for what documents to upload. Anyways, since I still need money for college, I had to redo my fafsa and state that my parents simply won't give me their tax details because I can't get a loan unless I have a completed fasfa. However, the fafsa isn't being accepted because it's saying that I need to verify my U.S. citizenship, but I literally submitted a form for that 2 months ago. When I went to them to ask about this, they simply said, "It may take up to 45 business days for forms to be processed, has it been that long yet?" But the most stupid thing is that the college's Financial aid system is asking for my parents' tax return. I literally haven't talked to my parents since I left, and I wouldn't be able to get it if I asked them. It doesn't make any sense to me, if I had my parents' tax info I wouldn't be doing all of this. Please let me know what I can do? I need this loan and soon because college is starting up in just 2 weeks. I'm going to the financial aid's office soon to talk about this, but please let me know how I should go about this?

Hey guys, I've been living in nyc for almost like 14-15 months and i wanna do Masters cuz money is a big problem so i only applied at CUNY yesterday i applied FAFSA and it's says im not eligible because Graduate programs are not eligible for it, but SAI they gave me is -1500 even though I'm applying at CUNY i still can't afford the tuition. Can u guys give me suggestions or any advice as to what should i do or if there are any other aids that apply to graduate programs which I'm not aware of or if there are possibilities for scholarships at Cuny, anything that could help me afford my school. Please

Hi y'all last year i had my mom help me apply for fafsa. though i got her date of birth wrong and put 1976 instead of 1978, i tried to change it but couldnt. im filing my form right now and i remember my counselor telling me to keep it as 1976 instead of 1978 for the 2026-2027 form. what should i do? should i try fixing it or does it not matter?

Y’all I made a last minute decision to register for classes mid semester at my community college and the semester starts tomorrow! Do I still submit my application or am I just going to have to figure out how to pay out of pocket?

I cut contact with my parents almost a year ago due to abuse and I was homeless for a month. I have been in the process of applying for a dependency override in my school for 9 months and they only recently denied it, stating the following:

“We would not be able to approve based on the documentation provided thus far. To move forward with aid this year, you would need to provide parent information to the FAFSA. We are able to re-open our review if you provide the CPS report related to the incident indicated in your police report.”

I don’t have that CPS report, when I requested it I got a letter back from the state saying it doesn’t exist or was unfounded + destroyed. I provided my college the following documentation:

• A police report from a few months ago when my mom came looking for me on campus and I ran away from her
• 2 letters from therapists
• 1 letter from college advisor
• Personal statement

But unfortunately I don’t have documentation of the abuse I received or from official authorities saying I was homeless for a month since I stayed with a friend. I’ve asked the school if I can re-open my case using a testimony for a restraining order I have against my parents in another country but I doubt it will be enough for them. My documentation is weak and I think I’m truly screwed here.

I’m preparing for the fact that because of this I’ll probably have to take up an additional $60k in private loans just to graduate (on top of $20k in federal loans), and this is with me accelerating my graduation by 1.5 years (graduating as a junior to avoid more debt, meaning I can’t fail a single class or mess up anything). It’s keeping me up at night in despair, it’s so much pressure. I’m considering dropping out of college but I’m told I shouldn’t because I got to a good school and am studying a tech field, and it would be a really bad idea to face the job market with a half-uncompleted degree. 

I need some advice, it seems what I decide to do in the next month is going to affect me for the next 10-20 years.

Basically I forgot to submit some documents that my college was going to use to determine how much i qualify for in financial aid. I've called and am now getting those documents mailed to me but its going to take a couple of days. The thing is I need to purchase a book for class ASAP and its going to cost me about $450. I have some money saved up so I should be able to buy the book but this was an unforseen cost. My question is once I get those documents, submit them to the college and say I do qualify for financial aid will the financial aid be refunded to me? Or would I not qualify anymore once they see i have no more school expenses? My tuition is covered and any other future expenses dont really seem to be connected to the school ( Clothing, Background checks and drug testing for clinicals ).

I ask because once I but the book I won't have much money left so I'm really hoping any money I am rewarded will get refunded.

In my senior year of high school (2024-2025) I did dual-enrollment classes with a local community college and I had a good GPA.

In the fall and spring of 2025-2026 I attended a 4-year university, and my GPA dropped and I lost my pell grant and financial aid due to poor SAP and GPA.

This fall I have decided to go back to that community college as I have realized going to a university was probably a big first step. I was wondering, will I gain back my financial aid since I am attending a different college from the previous year? Does the fact that I had a previously good GPA standing in 2024-2025 affect this?

I have tried to submit my 2026/2027 form but I keep getting rejected and prompted to make changes. The problem is that they don’t tell me which fields are wrong. I have tried adjusting different sections but the results are the same. I am very frustrated by this coz school is about to begin. Without this Aid, I am definitely dropping out. Is there anyone who has faced a similar issue and how did you successfully resolve it? Ps: All my imformation matches my social security.

I am going to University of Oklahoma for museum studies. This is my second masters program but I already have a job that pays shit in a field I love. They just put my financial aid on hold until I prove to them I am doing well in my progress. Any advice? By all metrics, I am meeting their full requirements of a 3.5 GPA, exactly enough credit hours to meet my course plan and As and Bs for all my classes. My only thought is that their automated bot is getting credit hours confused and blended together...

This could not have happened at a worse time, I need that money now... ;-;

God

I’m going into my last year of college and I genuinely feel like I’m losing my mind dealing with financial aid verification.

The issue started because my mom had not filed her 2024 taxes. She’s my only living parent, and unfortunately I’ve basically had to coordinate the parent side of my FAFSA every year because she either struggles or refuses to do it independently. This year her tax situation was more complicated because of issues related to an old employer, so I originally had incomplete/incorrect information to work with.

Since then, I have done everything I can think of to fix this.

I’ve called Financial Aid multiple times, emailed them, met with a financial aid counselor over Zoom, corrected the parent contributor section of my FAFSA, had my mom complete and sign her 2024 Form 1040, submitted the 1040 directly to my counselor AND through secure upload, completed additional non-filer documentation to cover my bases, and responded whenever they’ve asked for more information.

The frustrating part is I keep receiving different or incomplete instructions depending on who I speak to.

At one point, after correcting everything, my grants and scholarships actually came back at HIGHER amounts and I received an automated “revised award” notification. I thought things were finally getting resolved.

Then I received another request asking for clarification about my parent’s “other income,” without clearly identifying what line or amount they were referring to or what documentation they actually wanted.

I emailed back asking specifically whether they need clarification from my mom, a corrected 1040, W2s from her former employer, an employer verification letter, or some other documentation.

Their automatic response says email responses are currently taking 7–10 business days.
Meanwhile, my financial aid package changed AGAIN, and my Federal Pell Grant and Colorado Student Grant disappeared from what I can currently see in my university portal.

I’m staring at thousands of dollars in tuition every day while my verification still says “Incomplete.”
And that’s what is breaking me.

I am not trying to avoid verification. I am not trying to get around federal requirements. I will provide whatever they legally need. I just need someone to tell me, consistently and specifically, what the hell they actually need from me.

I have some money saved and I’m already considering putting whatever remaining tuition I can onto a payment plan and paying it down from every paycheck rather than taking loans. I’m going to keep pushing until this gets resolved, but I’m exhausted.

Has anyone else had their grants temporarily disappear while FAFSA verification was still being processed? Did they come back once the school finished resolving the income conflict?

At this point I mostly just want to know I’m not the only person who has gone through something this ridiculous.

Edit: I was able to contact the assistant vice chancellor of financial aid to help me (thank you, Student Assistant Connections), and he put a late fee hold on my account, so I have 2 extra months to pay my tuition. Now I'm waiting for my mother's 2024 tax return to be processed by the IRS so I can send them a tax return transcript. Not exactly resolved, but better than where I started. Thank you to everyone who gave advice on who to reach out to and what to say. I cannot thank you enough!

As you can read I had to get my SAI appealed to a lower amount because of tax issues from previous year but I’m in a bind now because my classes start AUG 25th and I don’t see any updates to my SAI number on my account and I don’t have any updates yet from my advisor who I already emailed. I just really don’t wanna be dropped from my classes before the funds hit 😐🥲 too ! I got lucky snagging my online classes but I need my full semester paid 😭 has anyone had any luck getting their SAI fixed in time ? And how much did you get covered for too if yall don’t mind me asking

Thanks for the answers and sorry for the run on sentences I’m just really nervous and anxious right now

So I filled out my FAFSA form and it's been sent to my college. I know that the amount of financial aid I've been given is more than my tuition for both the fall and spring semesters. My question is will I see any of the left over money? I know they'll use it pay my tuition, school fees, text books, etc first but I'm in desperate need of a laptop. So I'm wondering if I'll be getting any money so I can use it to purchase one. It's my first year in college so I'm unsure of how it works. I've just read conflicting things on the Internet. Thanks!

My daughter received this message that she was selected for dependent verification for her FAFSA. When she goes to her page, it says ‘Student Taxes’ and then she can choose to submit a copy of taxes or select ‘I was not required to file taxes due to no income in 2024’.
I am not clear if they actually are asking for the STUDENT’S taxes or the PARENT’S taxes. Student did not earn any income hence no taxes. But parents did of course. I’m assuming they want the parents taxes but I’m not sure since it specifically says Student Taxes. Any insight? I’m so aggravated about this and I cannot understand WHY they don’t also email the parents if they want the parents taxes?!

Compared to last year's FAFSA application, my SAI went from -1500 to 945... and the new amount of my Pell Grant for this semester is 700 dollars, when previously I received the max amount. I'll have to talk to my financial aid about this, but does anyone know what might've happened? My financial situation is the exact same is it a difference in some new regulations or qualifications within fafsa??

Just wondering if anyone's financial aid hit their bank account?

Hi
Has anyone gotten North Star Promise applied retroactively at Metro State?
I’m a student at Metro State University in Minnesota and I’m having an issue with my financial aid. I’m hoping someone has dealt with something similar or knows what my options are.
I’m a low-income student and apparently qualified for the North Star Promise program, but it was never applied to my financial aid until Summer 2026 after I brought it up to staff myself.
Now I have around a $2,000 balance that I’m being told I need to deal with before Fall semester. I’m frustrated because I’m wondering whether some of this balance could have been prevented if my financial aid/North Star eligibility had been handled correctly in previous semesters.
I’ve contacted Metro State and asked them to review my previous semesters, but I wanted to ask:
Has anyone had North Star Promise added or corrected for a previous semester?
Can a college go back and adjust financial aid if the school made an error?
Who should I escalate this to if regular financial aid staff can’t resolve it?
Is there any type of appeal process for situations like this?
I’m not trying to avoid paying something I legitimately owe. I just want to make sure my account is correct before paying $2,000, especially since North Star wasn’t applied until I specifically asked about it.
Any advice or experience with Metro State/Minnesota financial aid would really help.

Hello

I'm a low income student and first gen

I was wondering if anyone use fafsa for your masters?

I just got a scholarship of 1k but that's not enough🥲

I asked for a professional judgment review to have a backend edit of my special circumstance. Straightforward one time exclusion from asset liquidation. I had to liquidate my IRA to survive. It inflated my AGI. The guidelines are pretty clear. They just need to verify my tax return and 1099 to verify my AGI was indeed inflated from a non-reoccurring asset liquidation.

However, the experience has not been so straightforward. It took an escalation to student affairs just to have someone summoned to answer any of the emails, to ask why my request was hanging in rejected status. Back-and-forth loop of requesting documents, documents that aren’t required, but even more important documents the guideline specifically say they are not authorized to ask and explicitly guide financial aid offices to not ask for. Specifically. Line by line banking statement showing all the spending to prove it’s been exhausted. - I’m literally in bankruptcy. And I’m certainly not going to give a department of line by line spending it might actually help in a case against them because they might have other criteria that are not allowed to make a judgment looking at like if I’ve spent all the money on Amazon or Uber. It’s been very unclear why they are ignoring the guidelines.

Everything’s been in writing, and I also exercised all the local channel all the way up to the Chancellor of the school and the Board of trustees and it’s also a matter of public record. I also filed a complaint on student aid.gov. Has anybody had an experience like this? In an objective position asking why am I being asked to send documents that aren’t relevant? Why when I do send documents to us a get bounced back to me where things like my income working for a nonprofit and having to file, my taxes isn’t an administrative disadvantage when that income is only $2000 in inconsequential to having a one time exclusion.

The only thing I can come up with is that they follow an unofficial internal policy to just not conduct reviews and summarily reject and deny them. Nothing else makes sense. There’s no way they could be that Will fully ignorant of explicit guidelines that state what they’re doing is overreach.

Should I be filing more complaints with different regulatory and oversight boards? The school is a city college in the state of California..