I just went through this exact situation with my son at Cal Poly! You definitely need to submit a new Parent Plus application since you only applied for Fall initially. The process should be much smoother this time though. Here's what worked for me: - Your credit approval from Fall is still good for 180 days, so no need to stress about that part again - Make absolutely sure you select "Spring 2025" as the loan period - the form sometimes defaults to Fall - Apply for about 10-15% more than you think you need - there are always surprise charges - Start the application TODAY given your timeline My Fall application was a nightmare (denied twice, appeals, the whole mess), but Spring was approved in just 6 days. The key is using the exact same parent borrower information as your successful Fall application. Also, UCLA might allow you to submit a "loan pending" form to buy yourself some extra time while the application processes. Worth asking about through their online portal since phone lines are impossible. You've already survived the worst part of this process - the Spring approval should be a breeze in comparison!

I'm a current UCLA parent who just went through this exact process last month! You absolutely need to submit a new Parent Plus application for Spring since you only applied for Fall initially. But here's some good news - it should be SO much faster this time around. Since your Fall application was approved, your credit check is still valid for 180 days, which means you won't have to go through that stressful part again. Just make sure to: - Select "Spring 2025" as the loan period (not Fall!) - Use the exact same parent borrower info as your Fall application - Apply for a bit more than the minimum - UCLA always has surprise fees My Spring application was approved in just 5 days compared to the 6+ weeks the Fall one took. Start the application TODAY since you have that 3-week deadline approaching. Also, try contacting UCLA's financial aid office through the MyUCLA portal or email instead of calling - you'll actually get a response that way. They also have a "loan pending" form you can submit if you need extra time while waiting for approval. You've already survived the hardest part - this should be much smoother!

I went through this exact same situation two years ago! The key thing to remember is that tax dependency and FAFSA responsibility are completely separate. Even if your ex claims your son on taxes, YOU are still the parent who completes the FAFSA because your son lived with you the majority of the time. I'd recommend getting this clarified in writing from your son's college financial aid office or Federal Student Aid directly, so you have documentation if your ex tries to argue about it later. Also, make sure you and your ex are on the same page about who's filling out the FAFSA - you definitely don't want both of you submitting forms as that will cause major delays. The good news is that since your income is lower, having you complete the FAFSA will likely result in better financial aid for your son than if your ex's higher income was used. Don't panic - you've got this handled!

I'm going through something very similar right now! My ex also wants to claim our daughter for taxes this year even though she's lived with me 85% of the time. What I learned from talking to my daughter's college financial aid office is that you need to keep good records showing your son lived with you most of the time - things like school enrollment records, medical appointments, etc. The financial aid counselor told me that sometimes schools will ask for documentation if there's any question about which parent should complete the FAFSA, especially if the parents have different income levels. Since your income is lower, it's definitely in your son's best interest for you to be the one completing the FAFSA rather than your ex. I'd suggest reaching out to your son's college financial aid office proactively to let them know about the situation. They can put a note in his file and give you official guidance you can share with your ex if needed.

I'm dealing with this EXACT same issue right now! My daughter submitted her FAFSA on March 5th and 4 out of 5 schools received it perfectly, but UCLA (her dream school) shows absolutely no record of it. We've been going in circles for weeks and I was starting to panic about missing their priority deadline. This entire thread has been incredible - I had no idea so many families were experiencing this same problem with the new FAFSA system! Reading everyone's success stories has given me so much hope and a clear action plan. Based on all your experiences, I'm going to: 1. Call UCLA tomorrow and ask them to search by SSN instead of name (brilliant tip @Nalani Liu!) 2. Try the Claimyr service if that doesn't work - the consistent positive feedback here is really convincing 3. Have all my screenshots ready for the delete/re-add method as a last resort Thank you all SO much for sharing your solutions and supporting each other through this nightmare. This community has been more helpful than countless hours on hold with FSA! I'll definitely update everyone on what works for us. 🙏

I'm a current college student who went through this exact nightmare last year! My FAFSA was missing from 2 out of 6 schools despite successful submission, and I remember feeling so stressed about it affecting my financial aid packages. Here's what I wish someone had told me at the time: this is NOT your fault and it's WAY more common than you think. The new FAFSA system has serious transmission issues with certain schools, especially those still using older database systems. My advice based on what actually worked: 1. Try calling State University and ask them to search by your SSN instead of your name - sometimes it gets misfiled 2. If that doesn't work, the Claimyr service mentioned here is legit - I used it and got connected to an actual FSA agent in under 10 minutes who could see backend transmission errors 3. Document EVERYTHING before doing any delete/re-add actions (screenshots of your SAI, school list, etc.) The most important thing: your original submission date still counts for priority deadlines even if there are technical transmission issues. Schools are being flexible this year because they know the system has problems. Don't panic - every single person I know who had this issue eventually got it resolved! You just need to be persistent and try the right approaches. This thread has amazing advice from people who've been through it successfully.

Just wanted to update that I called our school's financial aid office (took three tries to get through), and they were super helpful! They confirmed they've adjusted all their timelines because of the FAFSA delay. The financial aid counselor I spoke with said they're still hoping to release aid packages by February, and she took my contact info to follow up personally once FAFSA opens. So much relief knowing they're on top of this!

As someone who went through this exact situation last year with my oldest, I can confirm that while the delays are incredibly stressful, everything does work out in the end. My daughter applied ED to her top choice school in November 2023, and despite the FAFSA chaos that followed, she still received her financial aid package in time to make an informed decision about her ED acceptance. The key things that helped us were: 1) Staying in regular contact with the school's financial aid office, 2) Completing the CSS Profile on time, and 3) gathering all our tax documents early so we could submit FAFSA the moment it opened. The schools really do understand this isn't families' fault, and they've gotten much better at managing these delays since last year's disaster. Hang in there - your daughter's dreams aren't derailed by this federal incompetence!

Just to clarify a few points: 1) Only the custodial parent completes the FAFSA (you, in this case), 2) Child support received DOES count as untaxed income on the FAFSA, but money your ex pays directly to the school is handled differently, 3) If you've remarried, your current spouse's information must be included regardless of their relationship to your son. The Direct2Student section of the FAFSA has a great worksheet specifically for divorced/separated parents that might help you organize the information before you start filling out the actual form.

I went through this exact situation two years ago! Since your son lives with you primarily and you're covering most expenses, you're definitely the custodial parent who should complete the FAFSA. One thing that helped me was keeping detailed records of all expenses I paid vs. what my ex contributed - made it much easier to determine the 50%+ support requirement and accurately report everything. The new FAFSA is actually much clearer about divorced parent situations than the old one was. Don't stress too much about it - sounds like you have a straightforward case where you're clearly the custodial parent.