<p>Wanted to know if anyone else out there had the same experience as I have had in the last day. I was notified by FAFSA last night that they made changes to my SAR and EFC. Basically, the EFC went up almost 60% with a note that all of our schools would be notified. This came all after I have received FA packages from my S's school choices. The worse part is that prior to April 17th, we were eligible for Fed Pell Grants and subsidized loans, now we are not eligible. This puts us in a very difficult situation. I had completed the FAFSA and CSS Profile all by Feb. 4 with my 2007 tax returns (real, not estimates). </p>
<p>What experiences with this has anyone encountered?</p>
<p>The only thing you can do is go look at your SAR and see what the changes are (when you go to FAFSA to check there will be your original and the changed one - look at the changed one - or print them both off and compare). If you think the change is in error or do not understand what the change is then contact FAFSA and ask. The change would be made because they think you made an error - I have seen people on CC say that they omitted something like a 1099 and FAFSA has been corrected to include that. This is not uncommon. We had ours adjusted by the school because i put my daughters SS payments (her dad is retired & on his SS pension so she was getting some money) under parent benefits because that is what I thought the FAFSA instructions said. They were moved to student benefits. I am still not sure who was wrong or right but it did not make a difference to our EFC so I never pursued it any further. If there had been other income that put us over income allowances it could have made a considerable difference.</p>
<p>If the correction is in error you should be able to get it recorrected. If the error was yours and the FAFSA is now correct there is not anything you can do.</p>
<p>If your EFC is now over 4042 you will not be eligible for the Pell grant (or other grants such as ACG which require pell eligibility). You may still be eligible for subsidized loans. They are dependent on their being 'need' so if you still have need you may still get those.</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom...thanks for the info. My S just told me that his email from FAFSA stated that one of the schools made the change. By process of elimination, it had to be UNC-Chapel Hill, since all others excepted our profile as previously processed.</p>
<p>So I guess I will have to take this on with UNC. The problem is that if UNC changed this, then FAFSA will notify all the other schools. Not right, I wish they would have asked before doing this.</p>
<p>Well they don't have to ask - they are obliged to make a change if they think you made an error. We were not asked either - were just told they were making a change then spent a few days worrying about what it could possibly be and what affect it might have(fortunately non as it turned out). But you should be able to find out why and what. </p>
<p>I hope it is a mistake on their part. Let us know.</p>
<p>Me too since all of the other schools that we received FA packages had accepted our FAFSA and Profile as processed. So I can only assume that there was some mistake from their side and follow up with them to see what can be done. By the way, our EFC went from $3100 to $4955.</p>
<p>That is a fairly big change - implying a change to some input figure of several thousand. Have you looked at the SAR to see if you can figure out what the change was made to?</p>
<p>Just to add to what SWM said, this change in EFC will most likely not eliminate subsidized loans. Our EFC was much higher than yours, but because there was still need, S got the subsidized loans.</p>
<p>If you can identify the school that has made the change, protest immediately ... and vigorously. If it it's UNC, you may consider asking for a meeting in person that includes a review of the changes. Notify them at once that you plan to appeal the change. </p>
<p>This said, you may want to run your figures again on a FAFSA calculator and verify if you did not omit anything. </p>
<p>If you're positive that your numbers are correct, contact the school your son is planning to attend and ask them to make an additional change to your FAFSA. It's not unusual for eager officers at large schools to jump the gun and make mistakes. </p>
<p>The good news is that you're entitled to the correct calculation of your EFC.</p>
<p>It has happened to me -- in my case I incorrectly left off something on one of the worksheets. It was corrected by my school.</p>
<p>It shouldn't be a big deal to contact UNC and ask what figures were adjusted (and why, if it isn't obvious). From there you will know whether or not you made the error or the school did. The calculations are pretty clear cut -- not much room for protesting or negotiation.</p>
<p>I know it is last minute but here is the final (hopefully) results of all this. </p>
<p>OK, so it was UNC that made the changes to the FAFSA and thusly changed my SAR. It was, without going into too much detail, regarding how an IRA disbursement was treated. Bottom line with UNC is that they offered my S a Johnston Scholarship that covers everything but the revised EFC. I can deal with that.</p>
<p>Another school told us that they have verified all our documents and decided to leave the numbers as was originally sent. I asked about to make certain that there were no surprises coming in July or August and a FA director told me that schools have discretion on what numbers to accept and how to treat special considerations. They did their due diligence with our tax returns and chose to accept the numbers using our original EFC. They told me that the FA package offered is valid and they only needed the certification form that my S did not have to file for 2007.</p>
<p>atg - thanks for the update. It is always interesting to hear how things turn out. And how differently the schools treat the information. I am glad everything turned out so well :)</p>
<p>Well, nothing is done until it is done, but I guess we can take a breath now. I did have some conflicting information from the second school. An FA director told me all was OK, but I just started receiving responses from emails I had sent this morning prior to speaking with the FA director. The person answering emails after 5PM just told me that I would have to wait until after May 1 to know of the final results since they will not be generated until July or August. I guess I will have to get my battle plan together.</p>
<p>My S thinks we should just accept offers to both schools and see how it pans out come this summer.</p>
<p>Forward the e-mail to the FA director and ask for his confirmation of your conversation that your FA package is final. The person answering the e-mails may just be giving a stock answer that no longer applies to you.</p>
<p>All done. The second school was GWU and they confirmed everything with us. Made us feel very good about them. In the end, S chose UNC. We are extremely happy for him and with their Johnston Scholarship, makes our financial situation so much easier. It is nice to know that he will graduate from a top institution with no-debt. At least those are the plans.</p>