I'm so glad you posted this question because I was literally dealing with the same worry last month! My daughter's dad claimed her on his 2023 taxes even though she lives with me 90% of the time and I pay for her housing, food, medical expenses, etc. I called the financial aid office at her college and they said this happens ALL the time - like multiple times per day they get calls about this exact situation. The person I spoke with explained that FAFSA dependency has absolutely nothing to do with tax dependency. What matters is who provides the most financial support and where your daughter actually lives. Since you're clearly the custodial parent providing the majority of support, you're 100% supposed to be the one filling out the FAFSA. Don't stress about it - the system is designed to handle these common custody arrangements!

I just want to add my voice to all the reassurance you're getting here! I'm a parent who went through this exact situation two years ago with my daughter. Her father claimed her on his taxes due to our divorce agreement, but she lived with me full-time and I covered all her living expenses. I was absolutely panicking thinking I'd somehow mess up her financial aid eligibility. But everyone here is right - tax dependency and FAFSA dependency are completely separate! The financial aid counselor at my daughter's school told me they see this scenario constantly and it's built into how the system works. Just answer all the questions honestly about where she lives and who provides her support. Since you're clearly the custodial parent, you're doing everything correctly. My daughter got excellent aid and we never had any issues with the application. Trust me, you're not alone in this situation and you're handling it exactly right!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now and this thread has been incredibly helpful! My daughter's FAFSA has been showing the "couldn't calculate SAI" message for 6 days now and I was starting to panic about all the upcoming deadlines. Reading everyone's experiences has been so reassuring - it sounds like 8-12 days is pretty typical this year, which gives me hope that ours will resolve soon too. I had no idea about checking both the parent and student portals separately - that's such a useful tip! Also definitely going to contact her school's financial aid office tomorrow to explain the situation and see if they can extend any deadlines or provide a preliminary aid estimate while we wait. The advice about being proactive with the schools instead of just waiting helplessly has been a game changer for my stress level. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and timeline - it's so comforting to know we're not alone in this mess and that it does eventually work out!

I'm so glad I found this thread! We're currently on day 4 of the "couldn't calculate SAI" error and I was starting to really worry. My son's first choice school has a housing deposit deadline in 2 weeks and I've been losing sleep over not knowing what our aid package will look like. Reading everyone's experiences here has been incredibly reassuring - it sounds like 5-12 days is pretty normal this year, which gives me hope that we'll get resolution soon. I'm definitely going to try the suggestions about checking his student portal separately from my parent portal, and I think I'll call the school tomorrow to explain the FAFSA delay and ask about possibly extending the housing deposit deadline. It's such a relief to know this is a widespread processing issue and not something wrong with our application specifically. Thank you to everyone who shared their timelines and advice - this community has been a lifesaver during such a stressful time!

As a complete newcomer to both this community and the FAFSA process, I can't thank everyone enough for this incredibly detailed discussion! I'm the parent of a 2026 graduate and was feeling completely overwhelmed about when and how to start the financial aid process until I found this thread. The timeline breakdown from @Kara Yoshida is exactly what I needed - I'm copying it into my planning documents right now. And the real-world experiences from parents like @Mateusius Townsend about missing deadlines really drives home how important it is to file early rather than waiting. I'm especially grateful for the professional insights from @QuantumQuasar and @Selena Bautista about verification processes, CSS Profile requirements, and dependency status - these are things I never would have known to research on my own. My biggest takeaway is that this really is like a part-time job that requires starting the research and organization phase NOW, even though we won't actually file until October 2025. I'm already creating a tracking spreadsheet for school deadlines and starting to research our state aid programs (found two I didn't know existed just from this conversation!). One question for those who've been through this - did you find it beneficial to create FSA IDs for both parent and student well in advance, or is a few weeks before the FAFSA opens sufficient? I want to make sure we don't hit any unexpected delays when the application goes live. Thanks again to everyone for making this complex process feel so much more manageable!

As a newcomer to this community and someone who's completely new to the FAFSA process, I wanted to express my gratitude for this incredibly informative thread! My son is also graduating in 2026, and I was feeling totally lost about the timeline until I found this discussion. The detailed breakdown from @Kara Yoshida has been a lifesaver - I'm already setting up calendar reminders based on that timeline. And hearing about real experiences like @Mateusius Townsend's situation with missing priority deadlines really emphasizes how crucial timing is in this process. I'm particularly appreciative of the professional insights from @QuantumQuasar about the verification process and Net Price Calculators. I had no idea these tools were federally mandated or that verification affects about 1/3 of applicants - that's exactly the kind of insider knowledge that's so hard to find elsewhere. Based on everything I've learned here, I'm starting my preparation now by researching each potential college's specific deadlines, looking into our state aid programs (already found one grant I didn't know existed!), and planning to create FSA IDs well before October 2025. One question for the group - for those dealing with small business income, did you find any particular resources or professionals especially helpful in navigating how that affects FAFSA calculations? This seems like an area where the standard advice might not apply, and I want to make sure we handle it correctly. Thanks again to everyone for creating such a supportive and informative community for parents like me who are figuring this out for the first time!

As someone who works in financial aid, I want to emphasize a few critical points that haven't been fully covered: 1) For Parent Plus loans, make sure your parent understands they are personally liable for the full amount - it's not forgiven if something happens to the student. 2) If you're considering declining work-study now but might want it later, you usually CAN'T add it back mid-year once you decline it. 3) Keep copies of ALL financial aid communications - not just acceptance confirmations but also the original award letter and any correspondence about deadlines. Schools sometimes have system glitches or policy changes, and having your own records can be crucial for resolving disputes. Also, since you mentioned being first-gen, definitely attend any "financial literacy" or "managing college costs" workshops your school offers - they're incredibly valuable for understanding the long-term impact of your borrowing decisions.

Hey Dylan! I went through this exact same confusion last year as a first-gen student. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier is to create a checklist of all the steps you need to complete - it really helped me stay organized. Based on what everyone's shared here, your checklist should include: 1) Accept each aid component in the financial aid portal, 2) Have your mom complete the Parent Plus application with credit check, 3) Submit Professional Judgment request with documentation of your dad's job loss, 4) Take screenshots of all acceptances, 5) Check for any institutional deadlines that might be earlier than federal ones, and 6) Contact housing about aid disbursement timing. Don't forget to also complete entrance counseling for any loans you accept - that's a federal requirement that sometimes gets overlooked. You've got this! The fact that you're asking these questions now shows you're on the right track.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this incredibly frustrating situation! I'm new to this community but felt compelled to share something that worked for my family after we struggled with a similar FAFSA technical issue. One approach I haven't seen mentioned yet is reaching out to your U.S. Senator's office (not just your House representative). Senate offices often have more specialized staff for federal agency issues, and they can sometimes get faster responses from the Department of Education. When I contacted our Senator's caseworker, they were able to get a direct contact at FSA who manually reviewed our case within 48 hours. Also, have you tried accessing the site using a mobile hotspot instead of your regular internet? Sometimes ISPs have caching issues with government sites that can cause persistent errors. It sounds silly, but using my phone's hotspot with a tablet got me past an error that had been blocking me for weeks on my home internet. The fact that this has been going on for months with no resolution from their support team is completely unacceptable. Your daughter's education shouldn't be held hostage by their technical failures. Document everything and don't be afraid to escalate this as high as you need to go - you're dealing with a legitimate system failure that's affecting your family's financial future. Hang in there - between all the great suggestions in this thread, something is going to work!

I'm brand new to this community but had to join after reading your post because this exact situation happened to my family last year and it was absolutely infuriating! The "Confirm Your Information" error is a known bug that FAFSA has been ignoring for way too long. What finally worked for us after 6 weeks of the same nightmare was a combination approach I haven't seen mentioned here yet: **The "Nuclear Option" - Complete Fresh Start:** 1. Have your daughter contact her school's financial aid office and request they send a "Parent PLUS Loan Request" directly to you via email (this bypasses the broken confirmation page entirely) 2. When you get that email, use a completely different device you've never used for FAFSA before - like a friend's computer or a library computer in a different town 3. Access it using a VPN set to a different state AND during off-peak hours (I did mine at 2 AM on a Sunday) **The Administrative Pressure Route:** Call FAFSA and specifically say: "I need to file a formal complaint about a persistent technical error that has prevented my Parent PLUS loan application for [X] months." This gets you transferred to a different department that actually has power to override system errors. Also, contact your state's Attorney General's consumer protection division - they can put pressure on federal agencies for unresolved technical issues that affect consumers. This is absolutely unacceptable that you've been dealing with this since May! Your daughter's education shouldn't be held hostage by their broken system. Keep fighting and don't let them brush you off anymore!