One of my family members submitted a FASFA application for me a few weeks ago, But they made a mistake on it. They had said on my dependency that i’m expecting a child or have a child already. They say it was on accident and had no intention of lying. However, it has already been processed and i have been offered scholarships but have received no money from any. I’m afraid that they will get into legal trouble for this mistake since its already been processed and everything. Is it too late to change it without getting them in legal trouble or do we still have time to correct it?
The FAFSA is yours, not theirs. Get it fixed.
The FAFSA is YOURS. Did you give that person your FSA log in information?
You need to correct this mistake ASAP. Go into that submitted FAFSA, and see if you can correct that field. If you can…correct the info, and resubmit the form.
If you can’t…call each college and tell them this was a mistake…and ask if they can change it.
Remember…the FAFSA is YOURS. Your FSA ID was used to sign it verifying that all information was accurate. I know that sometimes parents do these forms, but frankly, I think since you are signing…you need to read it and make sure the info about you is accurate.
This isn’t a little mistake…it’s a big one…because having a child makes you independent for financial aid purposes…and you are not.
You call the schools and let them know it was a mistake, you check with Fafsa and you do a new Fafsa. Do not ignore this it will come back to bite you in the butt. Deal with it and learn a great lesson read everything that you sign your name on.
You don’t do a new FAFSA. You amend the one you already submitted.
We are able to still re-submit the form and are fixing it right away. I’m just worried about any legal trouble we may get because of this. Would we get any of the penalties or would we get pardoned since it was a mistake?
@ChrisGM I would think if you have not taken any of the money you would be fine with the law, but be prepared for a major loss of aid. The loss of aid is not a penalty just what you should have gotten in the first place.
There won’t be legal trouble…but your fin aid package(s) are going to change, perhaps significantly. Did any of your schools require the CSS Profile for fin aid? Did you complete that form correctly?
No, none of my colleges required the CSS profile
Mistakes that result in the student incorrectly being classified as independent are relatively common. There are no legal repercussions to this mistake…you have made the necessary corrections. Call the school (or schools) to tell them you made a mistake & corrected it, and you want to make sure you can get an updated award letter based on the changes.
You fixed it. You found the mistake and fixed it. No one is going to do anything to you. It’s not as if you collected/spent the Pell Grant. If you had, they likely would have just demanded you return the money.
This actually happens a lot. Parents often fill out the form for students and they accidentally answer the question about having any dependent from their own point of view. My son’s GF’s parents did that when she was in college and she was awarded a Pell Grant. They had to fix that. They brought it to the school’s attention and corrected their FAFSA.
I have submitted a corrections FAFSA form and have emailed my school and outside scholarships informing them of the correction. Thank you all for your help. I can’t tell you how much i appreciate it in this time where i thought we were going to get into serious legal trouble over a mistake.
You do understand though, that your whole financial package will change?
Yes i do and we are expecting it as well