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 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!

This is such a valuable thread! I'm new to this community and currently helping my nephew navigate his first FAFSA application. Reading about all these common errors (retirement accounts, home values, business assets) is eye-opening - I had no idea these mistakes were so frequent or could cause such massive SAI discrepancies. The fact that you went from 160K+ down to 36.5K shows how critical it is to double-check everything. I'm definitely going to use this as a checklist when we submit his form. Thanks for sharing your journey from panic to resolution - it's reassuring to know that even major errors can be corrected with persistence and the right resources!

As a newcomer to this community, I have to say this thread is absolutely invaluable! I'm currently preparing to help my daughter with her FAFSA application for next year, and I had no idea these types of calculation errors were so common. The step-by-step breakdown of what went wrong (retirement accounts in investments, home value included) and how it got resolved is exactly the kind of real-world guidance I was looking for. It's also really encouraging to see how supportive this community is - from identifying potential causes to sharing practical solutions like the Claimyr service for getting through to FSA. I'm definitely bookmarking this entire thread as my FAFSA reference guide. Thank you to everyone who contributed their experiences and expertise!

As someone who just went through this exact same situation last month, I can't stress enough how important it is to get that detailed SAI breakdown from Federal Student Aid! My family's SAI was initially calculated at $24,000 on an $82,000 income, which was completely unrealistic for us. After reading through similar experiences in this community, I discovered we had made two major errors: 1. We accidentally included our home equity as a reportable asset (primary residence should NOT be included) 2. My wife's 403(b) contributions were somehow counted twice in the calculation It took about 6 phone calls over two weeks to finally get through to FSA and get the corrections processed, but our SAI dropped by over $11,000! The school then revised our daughter's aid package accordingly. For anyone starting this process - I'd highly recommend doing a "dry run" of the FAFSA before you actually submit it. Print out the questions and go through them with your tax documents in hand to catch potential mistakes early. Also, don't be afraid to call both FSA and your school's financial aid office multiple times if needed - persistence really pays off with this system. The new FAFSA formula is definitely less forgiving than the old EFC system, but many of these shocking SAI calculations are due to reporting errors that can be fixed. Keep advocating for yourselves!

This entire thread has been incredibly enlightening! As a parent preparing for my twins' first year of college applications next year, I'm both grateful for all this information and terrified about how complicated the FAFSA process seems to be. What really strikes me from reading everyone's experiences is how many different ways the SAI calculation can go wrong - from including home values incorrectly to double-counting retirement contributions to misreporting rental property income. It sounds like even well-intentioned families can easily make mistakes that dramatically inflate their expected contribution. I'm definitely going to bookmark this thread and create a checklist based on all the common errors mentioned here. The "dry run" approach that Libby suggested sounds like a must-do strategy, and I'm already planning to call our high school guidance counselor to see if they have any resources about FAFSA best practices. One thing I'm wondering about - has anyone found it helpful to work with a financial aid consultant or advisor to review their FAFSA before submitting? With twins going to college simultaneously (though I now know that doesn't help as much with the new formula), I'm worried about making costly mistakes that could affect both their aid packages. Thank you all for being so generous in sharing your experiences and advice. This community is proving to be an invaluable resource for navigating what feels like an unnecessarily complex system!