As a newcomer to this community and the FAFSA process, I'm so grateful to have found this discussion! My son is a junior and I was just starting to panic about understanding all the FAFSA requirements when I came across this thread. Like so many others here, I had absolutely no idea about the contributor selection process and definitely would have assumed both parents needed to fill out everything since we're married and file taxes jointly. It's honestly both reassuring and concerning to see how many experienced families have run into this exact same confusion - it really shows how unclear the FAFSA system must be about this important distinction. Reading everyone's experiences, especially learning that accidentally adding yourself as a contributor doesn't actually affect the aid calculation, has given me so much peace of mind for when we start our application next year. I'm definitely going to save this thread and share it with other parents in our community who will be facing this process soon. Thank you all for being so generous with sharing your knowledge and experiences - this kind of community support is exactly what families like mine need when navigating such a confusing system!

As a complete newcomer to this FAFSA process, this entire thread has been such an eye-opener! My daughter is a senior and we're literally in the middle of filling out her application right now. I was about to add myself as a contributor alongside my husband because I thought that's what married couples were supposed to do. Thank goodness I found this discussion! It's honestly pretty alarming how many families seem to stumble into this same confusion - you'd think after all the "simplification" efforts, the FAFSA would have much clearer guidance about contributor selection right upfront. The fact that you can accidentally add yourself but it won't affect the calculation is both a relief and incredibly frustrating from a user experience standpoint. Why even allow it if it doesn't matter? Anyway, I'm so grateful to everyone who shared their experiences here. This community has been way more helpful than any official FAFSA resource I've tried to navigate. I'll definitely be sharing this thread with other parents at our school who are just starting this journey!

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I've collected the info and talked it through with my parents. We're going to start the consolidation process next month and then apply for ICR. It's disappointing that Parent Plus loans don't qualify for the better income-driven plans, but at least there's some option to make the payments more manageable as they approach retirement. I'll make sure they complete both steps correctly so we don't waste time getting denied.

Just wanted to add one more consideration that hasn't been mentioned yet - the timing of consolidation matters if your parents have made any payments already. When you consolidate Parent Plus loans, you lose credit for any payments made toward potential forgiveness programs, but you also get a "fresh start" on the repayment timeline. Also, while ICR isn't as generous as other income-driven plans, it's worth calculating whether the 25-year forgiveness timeline might actually work in your parents' favor if they're approaching retirement. Sometimes the math works out better than trying to pay off the full balance, especially if their post-retirement income will be lower. Make sure to use the Federal Student Aid repayment estimator tool before making the final decision - it can help compare what they'd pay under standard repayment vs. ICR over the life of the loan.

i had this problem too but for my associate's degree. the website is garbage. i ended up going to my schools financial aid office in person and they helped me fill out a paper form to fix it. took like 2 weeks to process tho

Just wanted to update everyone - I finally got my correction processed! Used the Claimyr service that @Dmitry Kuznetsov mentioned and it was a lifesaver. Got through to FSA in about 20 minutes instead of waiting hours. The agent confirmed this is happening to tons of students right now because of bugs in the new FAFSA system. She fixed my high school diploma status manually and said it would update within 48 hours. For anyone still dealing with this - definitely call FSA directly and ask for a "manual override correction" like @Ava Thompson suggested. Don't waste time trying to fix it online, the system just can't handle these education section corrections right now. My financial aid office was super understanding once I explained it was a known system issue too. Thanks everyone for the help!

As someone who just went through this process with my own daughter last year, I can confirm everything others have said is spot on! One additional tip - if your daughter is working part-time or has summer income, even making small payments of $50-100/month during the grace period can make a huge difference. My daughter made $75/month payments for 6 months and it saved her about $800 in interest over the life of her loans. She used a budgeting app to set aside the money automatically so she wouldn't even miss it. The psychological benefit was huge too - she felt like she was being proactive about her debt instead of just watching it grow. Also, Great Lakes has a pretty user-friendly online portal where she can see exactly how payments are being applied. Much better than some of the other servicers I've heard horror stories about!

Just wanted to chime in as another parent who's navigating this territory! Your daughter sounds incredibly smart for thinking about this early - most new grads don't even think about payments until they get that first bill in the mail. One thing I learned when my son was in a similar situation is to have her check if Great Lakes offers any online calculators or payment simulators. These tools can show her exactly how much she'll save in total interest by making early payments of different amounts. Seeing the actual dollar savings really motivated my son to prioritize loan payments over some other expenses. Also, since she's graduating in May and starting a new job, she might want to consider making whatever payments she can during the summer when she's earning but doesn't have other major expenses yet. Once she moves out on her own (if she hasn't already), rent and other living expenses will eat up more of her budget. The grace period is actually a great time to get ahead on this! Best of luck to your daughter - sounds like she's got a great head start on adulting! 🎓

As a newcomer here, I just want to echo what everyone else has said - this thread has been incredibly valuable! I'm currently on day 6 of "Under Review" status and was starting to spiral into anxiety mode before finding this discussion. The range of experiences shared here really helps set realistic expectations. It seems like 1-3 weeks is the typical range for most people, with the "Under Review" phase often being the longest part. I'm definitely going to follow everyone's advice and call my financial aid office first thing tomorrow morning to give them a heads up about my submission. One thing I'm curious about - for those who had their FAFSA processed successfully, did you notice any particular time of day when status updates typically happened? I've been checking randomly throughout the day but wondering if there's an optimal time to look for changes. Also wanted to mention that I took screenshots of my submission confirmation and current status after reading @Jungleboo Soletrain's advice - such a smart precaution to have that documentation! Thanks to everyone for creating such a supportive space to navigate this stressful process together! 🙏

As someone who just joined this community and is currently on day 7 of "Under Review" status, I can't express how helpful this entire thread has been! The anxiety of not knowing how long this process would take was really getting to me, but reading everyone's real experiences and timelines has been so reassuring. I'm planning to call my financial aid office tomorrow morning based on all the great advice here - it's such a relief to know they can see submission status even during federal review. I had no idea that was possible! I've also set up text notifications and taken screenshots of my status for documentation. The ID verification process was absolutely brutal for me too (took 8 attempts over 4 days!), so I'm really hoping the rest goes more smoothly. Based on the timelines shared here, it sounds like I might be getting close to moving into "Processing" phase soon, which is encouraging. Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed experiences and practical tips. This community support makes such a stressful process so much more manageable! I'll definitely update with my timeline once I get through it to help future stressed-out FAFSA filers 🤞