This is why I HATE the FAFSA system with a passion. Every year it's something new. Last year they couldn't verify my identity for THREE MONTHS. The year before that, they randomly selected us for verification after we'd already been approved. And now this year they completely redesigned everything and it's full of bugs. The government should be ashamed of how badly they've implemented this system that millions of students depend on. DISGUSTING!!!!!

Did you ever figure this out? I'm dealing with the same issue now with my son's application. We can see that it's been submitted but his SAI score isn't calculating because my income information isn't there. So frustrating!

I'm dealing with a very similar situation and wanted to share what I've learned through this frustrating process. When my mom remarried two years ago, our SAI jumped from around 7,000 to over 20,000 even though my stepdad's income was modest. What helped us was being very thorough with the Professional Judgment appeal. Beyond medical expenses, we included documentation showing: - My stepdad's existing debt obligations from before the marriage - Proof that he wasn't financially supporting me before they married (bank statements, etc.) - A letter explaining that their marriage was recent and household finances weren't fully integrated The financial aid office reduced our SAI by about 4,000, which brought back some Pell Grant eligibility. It wasn't perfect, but it made a real difference. The key was being persistent and providing lots of documentation. Also, don't overlook your state's grant programs - some have different income calculations than the federal FAFSA and might be more generous for blended families. Worth checking into!

I'm so sorry you're going through this - it's incredibly frustrating when a positive life change like getting married ends up hurting your daughter's financial aid eligibility! What you're experiencing is unfortunately very common with the new FAFSA formula. One thing that might be worth double-checking: did you include your husband's retirement account contributions (401k, IRA, etc.) as untaxed income? A lot of people accidentally report these twice - once as untaxed income and again when they're already factored into the AGI. This can artificially inflate your available income calculation. Also, since you mentioned your husband only makes $42k and you've been married just 6 months, you might have a strong case for a Professional Judgment appeal based on the timing. Many schools will consider that your household finances haven't had time to fully integrate, especially if you can show you're still maintaining separate accounts for most expenses. The medical expenses for your son's therapy that others mentioned are definitely worth including too. Keep all your receipts and get a letter from the provider if possible. Every bit of documentation helps!

New member here! I just want to echo what everyone else has said about how invaluable this thread has been. I've been lurking on various forums for weeks trying to find a solution to this exact looping issue, and this is the first place I've found with actual practical advice that works. I'm currently stuck trying to add my second school choice and have been dealing with the same endless financial page loop for about 10 days now. Like many others, I submitted early (late October) thinking I was being smart about deadlines, only to discover that might actually be contributing to the problem! Reading through everyone's experiences, I'm planning to try the early morning method (2-5am) first since that has the highest success rate, and I've already reached out to my target school's financial aid office to see if they can add themselves as Plan B. The Claimyr service also sounds like a solid backup option if needed. It's absolutely ridiculous that we need these workarounds for a basic government website function, but I'm so grateful this community exists to share real solutions. The fact that official FAFSA support keeps giving the same useless "clear cookies" advice while students are missing deadlines is infuriating. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share what worked for them - you're literally saving people's educational opportunities! Will definitely update with my results to keep the knowledge sharing going. 🙏

Just joined this community after finding this thread through a desperate Google search! I've been battling this exact same FAFSA loop issue for the past week trying to add my backup school, and I was starting to think I was losing my mind. It's both relieving and frustrating to see so many others dealing with this broken system. Like many of you, I submitted my FAFSA early (mid-October) thinking I was being proactive, but it sounds like that might actually be part of the problem based on what others have shared here. The fact that being responsible and submitting early creates more technical issues later is just backwards! I'm planning to try the early morning access method (2-5am) tomorrow since that seems to have the highest success rate from what I'm reading. I've also already contacted my target school's financial aid office to see if they can add themselves on their end, and I'm keeping that Claimyr service as a backup option if all else fails. The amount of practical, real-world solutions in this thread is incredible compared to the useless "clear your cache and try again" advice from official FAFSA support. You all are literally saving students' educational opportunities by sharing what actually works! Will definitely report back with my results to help keep this knowledge base growing. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their experiences - this community support means everything when you're feeling helpless against a broken government system! 🙏

As someone who works in financial aid, I can confirm that you absolutely did everything correctly! The Parent PLUS loan is designed as a single-borrower loan, which is actually different from how many families expect it to work. The confusion is totally understandable because the FAFSA considers both parents' financial information for dependency status and aid calculations, but the PLUS loan itself can only have one borrower. Your husband will be the sole legal borrower on this loan, and the approval will be based entirely on his creditworthiness. Even though you're married and may jointly contribute to payments, only he is legally obligated to repay the debt. This structure actually provides some benefits - if approved, you have the federal loan protections, and if he were to pass away or become permanently disabled, the loan could be discharged. You made the right choice having the parent with better credit apply!

This thread has been so helpful! I'm a first-generation college student parent and had no idea how any of this worked. When I saw the Parent PLUS application only asking for my information and not my spouse's, I was convinced I was filling it out wrong. I even started over twice thinking I had clicked the wrong link or something! It's such a relief to know that this is exactly how it's supposed to work. The single-borrower approach makes sense now that everyone has explained it, but coming into this process blind, it definitely felt like something was missing. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - it's made me feel so much more confident about moving forward with the application!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm so thankful for all the detailed information shared here! My daughter is also returning to college after a 4-year break, and I was completely lost about where we stood in the process after submitting our FAFSA last week. Reading through everyone's experiences has been incredibly reassuring, especially learning that we're not behind schedule and that the MPN/entrance counseling steps come after receiving the aid package. I was worried we were supposed to be doing something immediately after FAFSA submission. The tip about checking her FSA ID password is something I never would have thought of - definitely going to have her verify that's working before we need it. And I really appreciate all the timeline estimates people have shared. It helps so much to know what to expect and when. One quick question for the group - has anyone dealt with a situation where their student's previous loans were with a different servicer? I'm wondering if that affects the MPN process at all, or if it's all handled through the same federal system regardless of who serviced the previous loans. Thanks again to everyone for creating such a welcoming and informative discussion!

As a newcomer to this community, I wanted to add my perspective as someone currently going through this exact process! My son is returning to college after a 2-year break, and I've been navigating the same confusion about timing and requirements. One thing I discovered that might help others is that you can actually call your daughter's specific school financial aid office to get a more accurate timeline estimate. When I called my son's school, they told me their current processing time from FAFSA receipt to aid package is running about 5-6 weeks due to high volume, which was longer than the general 2-4 weeks I'd seen online. They also mentioned that they send email reminders about required next steps (like MPN and entrance counseling) once aid packages are available, which has helped reduce my anxiety about missing something important. For anyone else in a similar boat with returning students - the financial aid counselor I spoke with said they see this situation frequently and that schools are generally very understanding about helping families get back up to speed with the process. Don't hesitate to reach out directly to the school if you have specific questions about their timeline or requirements! Thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences here - it's been incredibly helpful to read real-world timelines and advice from other parents who've been through this recently.