I'm also considering online college and this thread has been super helpful! One thing I'm wondering about - do online students still get access to things like emergency aid or hardship grants that traditional students might get? I know COVID created some special programs, but I'm not sure if those apply to online-only students or if schools have different policies for distance learners when it comes to emergency financial assistance.

I just wanted to add something that might be helpful - when you're comparing financial aid packages between online schools, make sure to look at the net price calculators on each school's website. These tools will give you a personalized estimate of what you'll actually pay after grants and scholarships, which can vary quite a bit between institutions even if your FAFSA eligibility is the same. Also, don't forget that some online programs qualify for state grants too, depending on where you live and where the school is located. I know California has some programs that work with certain out-of-state online schools. It's worth checking with your state's higher education agency to see what's available!

Hi everyone! I'm new to this community and unfortunately dealing with this exact same issue. My FAFSA has been stuck at "In Progress" for about 10 days now despite my mom and I completing all sections and signing electronically. The status tracker shows we're still on step 1 even though everything appears complete on our end. Reading through this thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about the "submission verification" glitch that Victoria discovered! It's so frustrating that the system can fail silently like this while still showing signatures as complete. How are students supposed to know there's even a backend problem? Victoria, thank you so much for sharing your resolution story - it gives me hope that this can actually be fixed! I'm definitely going to try calling FSA tomorrow morning around 8 AM like Sofia suggested, and I'll make sure to specifically mention the "submission verification" issue. If I can't get through after a few tries, I might look into that Claimyr service too. With scholarship deadlines approaching, it seems worth the cost to avoid those endless hold times. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - it's such a relief to know this is a widespread system bug with a known solution!

Hi everyone! I'm new to this community and unfortunately dealing with this exact same frustrating issue. My FAFSA has been stuck at "In Progress" for about a week now even though my parent and I both completed all sections and signed electronically. The status tracker won't budge from step 1 despite everything appearing complete. This thread has been absolutely invaluable - I had no idea about the "submission verification" glitch that Victoria discovered! It's infuriating that the system can fail silently like this while displaying signatures as complete. How are families supposed to know there's a backend issue when everything looks fine on the surface? Victoria, thank you so much for sharing your resolution and update - it gives me real hope that this can be fixed quickly once you reach the right person! I'm planning to call FSA tomorrow morning around 8 AM based on Sofia's timing advice, and I'll definitely mention the specific "submission verification" issue so they know exactly what to look for. If the phone route doesn't work out after a few attempts, I might also consider that Claimyr service that Ryan and Mason mentioned. It's frustrating to potentially pay extra for their system bug, but with scholarship deadlines looming, sometimes you just need to do whatever it takes to get things moving. Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences and creating such a helpful resource for those of us dealing with this nightmare!

As someone who works at a financial aid office, I want to emphasize how common this confusion has been this year! The FAFSA Simplification Act was supposed to make things easier, but the lack of clear communication about the Direct Data Exchange is causing so much unnecessary stress for families. What you experienced - the system automatically pulling tax data without explicitly telling you - is exactly how it's designed to work now. I'm glad you were able to verify everything transferred correctly! For future reference, if anyone encounters issues where the IRS data retrieval fails, you can always go back and make corrections to manually enter the tax information. The new system is generally much faster once you understand how it works.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My son is applying for 2025-2026 and when we got to the parent section, it completely skipped asking for our tax information too. Reading through all these responses has been such a lifesaver - I had no idea about the Direct Data Exchange system. I'm going to log back in and check for that "IRS Data Retrieved" status everyone mentioned. It's so frustrating that they don't explain this new process clearly during the application. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and the verification steps!

As a parent who just completed this process for my college junior and high school senior, I can confirm the new system works much better! One additional tip I haven't seen mentioned - if you're using a tax preparer or accountant, give them a heads up that you'll need your tax information earlier than usual for FAFSA purposes. We usually don't get our taxes done until late March, but both kids' schools had FAFSA deadlines in early March. I had to get our tax documents organized much earlier this year to meet the deadlines. Also, if you have any complex financial situations (like owning a business or rental property), it's worth reviewing the FAFSA questions ahead of time so you're not scrambling to figure out what information you need when you're actually filling it out.

I'm a parent going through this exact situation right now! My oldest is a junior and my youngest is applying as a senior. One thing I learned that might help - make sure you have all your financial documents ready before either kid starts their application. The new system is much better but it still requires the same tax and asset information. I created a checklist with our AGI, taxes paid, asset values, etc. so when it came time to fill out my contributor section I wasn't hunting around for paperwork. Also, if your kids are at different schools, double-check that each school is listed correctly on their respective applications - I almost forgot to add a safety school my senior was considering to her list. The shared parent information is great but the school selections are still individual to each student's application.

As a newcomer to this community, I want to say how incredibly helpful this entire discussion has been! I'm a parent of three kids - my oldest will be a college sophomore next year, my middle child starts as a freshman in fall 2025, and my youngest will follow in 2027. I was completely overwhelmed thinking about managing multiple FAFSA applications, but reading through everyone's experiences here has made it so much clearer. The fact that I can use my single parent FSA ID for all three kids while they each maintain their own student FSA IDs is such a relief! I especially appreciate the practical tips like using different email addresses for each child and the heads up about monitoring their individual application statuses. It's also encouraging to know that having multiple kids in college simultaneously can actually help with aid eligibility through the SAI calculation. This community seems like such a valuable resource for navigating these complex processes - thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences and making this less intimidating for us newcomers!

As someone completely new to the FAFSA process, this thread has been absolutely invaluable! I have two kids who will both be in college starting in 2026 (one will be a freshman, the other transferring from community college), and I was honestly panicking about how to manage two separate financial aid applications. Reading through everyone's experiences has been such a relief - knowing that I only need one parent FSA ID that can be used for both of my children's applications makes this seem so much more manageable! I love the practical tips everyone has shared, especially about using different email addresses for each child's FSA ID and keeping track of their individual application statuses. The insight about having multiple students potentially helping with aid eligibility is also really encouraging. I'm definitely going to create my parent FSA ID soon so I'm prepared when the time comes, and I'll be bookmarking this thread to reference throughout the process. Thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences and making this intimidating process feel much more approachable for newcomers like me!