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 🤞

Welcome to the FAFSA correction club - unfortunately it's a bigger club than any of us would like! I went through this exact scenario with my twins last year (yes, double the fun). We had to correct both of their FAFSAs for the same income reporting error and I was absolutely beside myself about missing deadlines. Here's what I learned: the 3-5 day estimate you'll see online is outdated. With the new FAFSA system rollout, corrections are taking closer to 10-14 business days on average. BUT the silver lining is that schools really do understand this is happening system-wide and are being flexible. One thing that saved my sanity was creating a shared Google doc with my husband that tracked: each school's financial aid office contact info, when we called them, who we spoke with, and what they told us about their correction policies. Most schools told us they'd hold our applications and review them once corrections processed, even if it was past their "priority" deadline. Also pro tip: when you call the schools, ask specifically about their correction grace period policy. Many have unofficial policies where they'll still consider you for priority aid if your correction was submitted within 2 weeks of the deadline, even if processing takes longer. You're being such a proactive parent - your daughter is lucky to have someone staying on top of this!

First-time FAFSA parent here too, and reading through all these experiences is giving me so much hope! We submitted our FAFSA last month but just realized we forgot to include some 1099-INT income from a savings account. Not a huge amount, but enough that I'm worried about accuracy. I submitted our correction yesterday after seeing this thread and all the advice about acting quickly. The confirmation number tip from @Zoe Gonzalez was super helpful - I screenshot everything this time! One question for the group: has anyone dealt with corrections for missing investment income specifically? I'm trying to figure out if this type of error typically changes the SAI significantly or if small amounts don't move the needle much. Our total adjusted gross income was around $75K, so I'm hoping a few hundred in interest income won't dramatically affect my daughter's aid eligibility. Also planning to use the Claimyr suggestion to actually talk to someone at FSA - the regular phone line has been impossible. Thank you all for sharing your stories and making this whole process feel less scary!