This thread has been super helpful! I'm in a similar situation with divorced parents but thankfully not 50/50 custody - I live with my mom about 70% of the time, so it's clear she's the FAFSA parent. One thing I learned from my school counselor that might help others: if you're unsure about who provides more financial support in a true 50/50 situation, try adding up the dollar amounts for a few months. Include things like health insurance premiums, copays, clothes, school supplies, extracurriculars, car insurance if applicable, etc. Sometimes it's not as obvious as you think which parent actually spends more. Also, don't stress too much about getting it "perfect" - as long as you make a good faith effort to determine the correct parent based on the rules, you should be fine. The financial aid offices understand these situations are complicated!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm actually dealing with something similar but my parents have been arguing about this for weeks. My custody is pretty much 50/50 (alternate weeks) but my mom definitely provides more financial support - she covers my health insurance, school fees, clothes, and most of my college prep expenses while my dad mainly covers food and utilities when I'm at his place. Reading through everyone's responses, it sounds like I should use my mom's information on the FAFSA. I'm going to start documenting who pays for what like some of you suggested, especially since I'll be filing renewal FAFSAs for the next few years. One question though - if the financial aid office ever asks for verification of the support situation, do they typically want receipts going back a full year or just a few months to establish the pattern?

I'm a newcomer here but dealing with this exact same situation! My mom has a small freelance writing business - just her working from home with clients, no employees or physical assets besides her computer. She has about $9,500 in her business checking account and I've been absolutely panicking about how to handle this on FAFSA. Reading through all these responses has been such a huge relief! It sounds like the consensus is crystal clear - just report the business checking account balance under cash/savings and don't try to calculate any kind of "business value" for service-only sole proprietorships. The FAFSA instructions really are terribly written for these situations! Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences, especially hearing from the financial aid counselor who confirmed this is the standard approach. I was literally losing sleep over this but now I feel confident about how to proceed. This community is amazing!

I'm new to this community but going through the exact same stress right now! My stepmom has a small home-based pet grooming business - just her, some basic equipment, and about $13,200 in her business checking account. I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to "value" her grooming skills and regular client base for FAFSA purposes. This entire thread has been like finding gold! It's so reassuring to see that multiple people, including an actual financial aid counselor, have confirmed that service-based sole proprietorships don't need complicated business valuations. I was going down the same rabbit hole as everyone else, researching business appraisal methods and getting more confused by the minute. Now I understand I should just report that $13,200 under cash/savings and not worry about trying to put a dollar amount on her grooming expertise or loyal customers. The FAFSA instructions really need a complete rewrite for these situations - they make it sound impossibly complex when it's actually straightforward for service businesses. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and saving my sanity!

This is such a lifesaver - thank you for sharing! I'm currently going through the same nightmare with my spouse's FSA ID creation for our daughter's 2025-2026 FAFSA. We've been getting that exact "limited account" error for almost two weeks now and I was starting to think there was something fundamentally wrong with our information. It's incredible how such a simple solution like incognito mode can fix what seems like a major technical issue. I'm definitely going to try this tonight. The frustrating part is that nowhere on the FSA website do they mention browser compatibility issues or suggest basic troubleshooting steps like this. Instead, you get these cryptic error messages that send you down rabbit holes of thinking your SSN is compromised or there's some identity issue. The new contributor requirements have definitely made this process more complex for families like ours where the non-custodial parent never had to be involved before. Between learning the new rules and dealing with these technical glitches, it feels like they've made what was already a complicated process even more difficult. Really appreciate you taking the time to document your solution here - I'm sure this thread is going to help so many other families who are stuck in the same boat!

This is exactly what I needed to see! I've been dealing with the same FSA ID creation nightmare for my wife who needs to be a contributor for our son's 2025-2026 FAFSA. We kept getting that mysterious "limited account" error and I was starting to think we'd never get through the application process. Just tried the incognito mode solution and it worked like magic! After three weeks of frustration, multiple calls to FSA that went nowhere, and trying every browser troubleshooting step I could find online, it was literally as simple as opening an incognito window. It's honestly shocking how poor the user experience is on the FSA website. They could save thousands of families so much stress by just adding a simple note about browser compatibility issues or including incognito mode as a troubleshooting step in their help section. Instead, we all have to stumble around in the dark until someone like you figures it out and shares it with the community. The 2025-2026 FAFSA changes have been challenging enough without these technical roadblocks. Thank you so much for taking the time to document your solution - you're literally helping families get access to financial aid that their kids need for college!

I'm a junior studying finance and went through this same process with my parents two years ago! One thing I wish someone had told us earlier is that you can actually view your loan servicer information and track interest accrual in real-time through your FSA account once the loans are disbursed. For the unsubsidized loan, I was shocked to see how quickly the interest adds up - even though it's the same 4.99% rate, watching it compound daily while I'm in classes really motivated me to make small interest payments when I can (like $20-30 from my part-time job). You're not required to make payments while in school, but even tiny payments toward the interest can save you hundreds over the life of the loan. Also, if your son is planning to go to graduate school eventually, be aware that subsidized loans are much more limited for grad students, so taking advantage of them now while he can get them is smart. The borrowing limits increase each year too - freshman can only get $3,500 subsidized vs $5,500 for juniors/seniors. Hope this helps from a student perspective! The learning curve is steep but you'll get through it.

I'm in a very similar situation as a single parent with my daughter starting college this fall! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful. One thing I wanted to add that I learned from our high school guidance counselor is to also check if your state has any loan forgiveness programs for residents who stay and work in-state after graduation. In my state, they have a program where if my daughter works in certain high-need fields (like teaching or healthcare) for 5+ years after graduation, up to $5,000 of her federal loans can be forgiven per year. It's not huge amounts, but every bit helps! The requirements vary by state, but it might be worth looking into for your son's intended career path. Also, I found that some schools have "preferred lender" lists that might offer slightly better terms or benefits, though federal loans are usually still the best option. Just another thing to ask about when you finally get through to that financial aid office!

One more thing to be aware of - if the correction process takes longer than expected, make sure your son's college financial aid offices are aware of the situation. They can often place a hold on his financial aid package until the corrected information comes through, rather than issuing an initial package based on incorrect data. Just have him email the financial aid offices explaining the FAFSA glitch and that corrected information is forthcoming.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! Just went through the contributor process yesterday and it only asked about government benefits - nothing about income, assets, or taxes. So frustrating to see this is a widespread problem. Reading through everyone's experiences here, it sounds like calling FSA and getting them to acknowledge the glitch is the key step. Has anyone had luck with specific phone numbers or times of day that work better for getting through? I'm dreading spending hours on hold but it seems like that's what it's going to take to get this fixed.