As someone who just went through this nightmare with my own daughter's FAFSA, I can't believe how broken this new system is! I had the exact same editing issue and was pulling my hair out. The mobile app trick saved me too - it's ridiculous that basic functionality only works on certain platforms. What really gets me is that they had years to get this right and we're all basically beta testing a broken system during one of the most stressful times for families. At least this community has been more helpful than any official support channel! For anyone still struggling, definitely try the mobile app and document everything as you go.

Just wanted to jump in as another newcomer who's been lurking and following this thread - this is exactly the kind of community support that makes all the difference! I'm dealing with FAFSA issues for my twin daughters and this mobile app workaround is a game changer. It's honestly shocking how much more helpful this discussion has been than hours spent with official support. The fact that basic editing functionality varies by platform is mind-boggling for such an important federal system. Thank you to everyone who shared their solutions and experiences - you're helping so many families navigate this broken rollout!

Just wanted to add my voice to this thread as another parent who went through the exact same confusion! I literally spent 20 minutes clicking around trying to find where to enter our income information before finally calling the help line. The representative confirmed what everyone here is saying - it's all done automatically through the IRS now. What really helped me feel confident about the process was when I received the email confirmation after submitting. It specifically mentioned that tax information had been "successfully retrieved" from the IRS, which was reassuring. For anyone still waiting on their results, that confirmation email is a good sign that the automatic data transfer worked. The whole experience definitely feels weird after years of manually entering every single number from our tax returns. But honestly, once you get used to it, it's SO much faster. My biggest advice: save screenshots of every page as you go through it, just in case you need to reference something later!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a parent of a college junior and was dreading having to fill out the FAFSA again this year after all the horror stories I'd heard about the "new and improved" system. But reading through everyone's experiences here - especially the detailed explanations about how the IRS data retrieval actually works - has made me feel so much more prepared. I love that they've simplified it to just assets and automatic tax info, even though it does feel almost too easy after years of the old system. The screenshot tip is genius - definitely doing that! And I'm bookmarking this thread to reference when checking our SAI calculation. It's amazing how this community comes together to help each other navigate these confusing processes. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences, both positive and negative. Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to financial aid!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is to make sure your daughter knows she can use the excess Pell Grant funds for room and board expenses even if she's living at home! A lot of families don't realize that the government allows a "reasonable" amount for housing costs to be covered by financial aid, even for students who live with their parents. This means she could help contribute to household expenses like utilities or groceries without any tax implications, as long as it's a reasonable amount. My daughter's financial aid office said they use the same room and board allowance for commuter students as they do for students living on campus when determining what counts as qualified educational expenses. It's worth asking about since $2,300 could help with family expenses while she's in school and still be considered appropriate use of the funds.

This thread has been incredibly informative! As someone who's helping my nephew navigate his first year of college finances, I wanted to add one more tip that saved us a lot of headaches. Before the excess funds are disbursed, make sure your daughter has downloaded and set up her school's mobile app if they have one. Many colleges now send push notifications through their apps when refunds are processed, which is much faster than waiting for emails that might go to spam. Also, some schools allow you to track the status of your refund right in the app - you can see when it moves from "pending" to "processing" to "disbursed" in real time. It's such a relief to know exactly where things stand rather than just hoping the money shows up eventually! My nephew's community college had this feature and it made the whole process much less stressful for our family.

I'm a high school senior just starting my FAFSA and this thread has been absolutely invaluable! I was getting the same "records don't match" error and was starting to freak out thinking I'd somehow messed up my application before even beginning. Reading through everyone's experiences has been so reassuring - it's clear this is a really common technical issue rather than something I did wrong. I'm going to follow the advice here and try the username recovery tool first to see if I already have an FSA ID from some college prep activity I might have forgotten about. If that doesn't work, I'll definitely call early morning with all my documents ready. It's really comforting to see that pretty much everyone got this resolved eventually, even though the process can be frustrating. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories and solutions - this community support is amazing, especially for those of us who are navigating this whole financial aid process for the first time! 🙏

I'm a college sophomore and went through this exact same nightmare two years ago! The "records don't match" error is incredibly common and usually means there's already an FSA ID tied to your daughter's SSN that she forgot about. Here's what I'd recommend trying in order: 1. Use the "Forgot Username" tool on studentaid.gov with her SSN - this will tell you if an account already exists 2. Check every email address she's ever used (especially school ones) for old FSA communications 3. Make sure her name matches her Social Security card EXACTLY - no nicknames, middle names, or variations If none of that works, definitely call 1-800-433-3243 first thing in the morning (8am EST sharp for shortest wait times). The agents can usually resolve identity verification issues in 10-15 minutes once you actually get through. Don't panic about the deadline - this is so common that most schools are understanding about technical delays, especially if you document your attempts to resolve it. You've still got 3 weeks which is plenty of time to get this sorted! The hardest part is just getting past this initial login hurdle.

I'm also dealing with this same confusion right now! My daughter is 19 and we didn't claim her on our 2023 taxes because she worked and filed independently. I was really hoping this would make her independent for FAFSA purposes, but after reading all these responses it's clear I was totally wrong about how this works. It's frustrating because we're also in that middle-income situation where we make too much according to the formula but definitely can't afford what they think we can pay. The distinction between tax dependency and FAFSA dependency seems like something they should explain better in the FAFSA materials - I bet tons of families make this same assumption. The advice about professional judgment appeals and merit scholarships is really helpful though. My daughter has good grades so maybe we can find some merit-based opportunities that don't consider our income. And we did have some unusual expenses in 2023 (major car repairs after an accident) so maybe that's worth mentioning in an appeal. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - this thread has been way more helpful than trying to navigate the official websites!

I'm going through this exact same situation with my daughter right now! We also didn't claim her on our 2023 taxes because she worked part-time and filed independently, and I was really hoping this would help her qualify as an independent student for FAFSA purposes. Reading through all these responses has been such an eye-opener - I had no idea that tax dependency and FAFSA dependency were completely separate things! It's disappointing but at least now I understand what we're actually dealing with. The information about professional judgment appeals is really valuable. We had some unexpected home repairs in 2023 that required us to dip into savings, so maybe that's something we can discuss with the financial aid offices. And I'm definitely going to have my daughter start applying for merit-based scholarships since those don't consider family income. It's frustrating being in that middle-income bracket where you make "too much" on paper but can't actually afford what the formula thinks you can pay. But this thread has shown me there are still multiple paths to getting aid beyond just the FAFSA dependency status. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this has been way more helpful than any of the official websites!