Just wanted to share another solution that worked for my nephew after he was stuck for over a month! We discovered that sometimes the issue is with browser compatibility - specifically if you have certain browser extensions enabled. Try this: 1. Open an incognito/private browsing window 2. Make sure all ad blockers and browser extensions are disabled 3. Log into FAFSA and go straight to the Summary tab 4. Look for any tiny warning icons or incomplete indicators that might not show up in regular browsing mode The incognito window seemed to bypass whatever caching issues were preventing the submit button from appearing. We also found that switching between the desktop site and mobile version can sometimes "refresh" the system's recognition of completion status. It's absolutely ridiculous that we're all having to become IT specialists just to submit a financial aid form, but I'm so grateful for this community sharing solutions! The Department of Education should be paying us for doing their troubleshooting work. Keep fighting - there IS a way through this broken system!

As someone who just successfully submitted my FAFSA after being stuck in this exact same loop for 5 weeks, I want to add one more potential solution that hasn't been mentioned yet! After trying literally every suggestion in this thread (thank you all SO much!), what finally worked for me was logging in using Microsoft Edge with ALL cookies and site data cleared, then immediately going to the "Review Your FAFSA" section instead of trying to navigate through the normal flow. From there, I clicked on each contributor's name individually and made sure their signature status showed as "Signed" with a green checkmark. Even though everything appeared complete on the main pages, one of the parent signatures wasn't properly registered in the system. After re-signing that section, the "Submit FAFSA" button magically appeared on the final review page. I also want to echo what others have said about trying during off-peak hours - I finally got through at 6:30 AM on a Sunday when the servers were probably less busy. This whole rollout has been an absolute disaster, but seeing everyone help each other here has been amazing. Don't give up - there really is a way through this mess! The Summary tab trick and incognito mode suggestions from others in this thread are also lifesavers!

This entire discussion has been so enlightening! As someone who's 19 and just getting started with FAFSA, I was completely overwhelmed by all the asset reporting requirements. I have a small Roth IRA that I've been contributing to from my campus job earnings, and I was absolutely convinced I needed to report it as an investment. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been like taking a masterclass in FAFSA strategy! The key insight that retirement accounts are considered "unavailable" for current education expenses really helped me understand the logic behind excluding them. And having multiple financial aid professionals confirm this guidance gives me complete peace of mind. What's really impressed me is all the strategic thinking people have shared about timing FAFSA submissions around education expenses and considering how asset allocation affects future aid eligibility. I had no idea there was so much strategy involved in optimizing your financial aid while still maintaining good financial habits. Nathan, thank you for asking such a thoughtful question - you've helped countless students avoid a potentially costly mistake! And to everyone who shared their personal experiences, corrections, and professional expertise: this community is absolutely incredible. You've transformed what felt like an intimidating bureaucratic process into something much more manageable with clear, actionable guidance. I'm bookmarking this thread as my go-to reference for FAFSA renewals. The collective wisdom here is better than any official guide I've found!

This thread has been absolutely incredible to read! As someone who's 18 and just starting my FAFSA journey, I was completely confused about asset reporting rules. I have a small Roth IRA from my part-time job at Target, and I was 100% planning to include it as an investment until I stumbled across this discussion. The clarity everyone has provided here is amazing - especially the explanation that retirement accounts are considered "unavailable" for current educational expenses due to withdrawal restrictions and penalties. That logic makes perfect sense now! Having actual financial aid professionals jump in to confirm the community advice gives me total confidence in excluding my Roth IRA from my FAFSA. What's really blown my mind is all the strategic insights about timing your FAFSA filing around education payments and thinking strategically about asset allocation between regular savings vs retirement accounts. I had no clue there was this much strategy involved in optimizing for financial aid while building good long-term financial habits. Nathan, thank you so much for asking this question - you've literally saved me and probably hundreds of other students from making a costly mistake! The collective wisdom in this thread is better than any official guide I've found. This community is absolutely amazing for helping navigate these complex rules that honestly seem designed to confuse people. I'm definitely bookmarking this as my go-to FAFSA reference!

This entire discussion has been absolutely invaluable! I'm a junior in college helping my younger brother with his first FAFSA application, and we hit this exact same roadblock. I distinctly remember using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool for my own applications in previous years, so when we couldn't find it anywhere in the new system, I was convinced we were missing something major. After reading through everyone's experiences here, I immediately went back to check our consent status in the "You & Your Finances" section - thankfully we did give consent, though it was definitely buried in that wall of acknowledgment text that's easy to rush through. The fact that the Direct Data Exchange now happens automatically behind the scenes is such a relief to understand, but it's honestly ridiculous that this wasn't communicated clearly by the Department of Education. They completely overhauled a critical part of the application process and left students and families to figure it out on their own. Thank you especially to Eve Freeman for the insider perspective from a financial aid office - that information about when manual entry vs. IRS data is used has probably prevented so many unnecessary application restarts. This thread should honestly be pinned as required reading for anyone doing FAFSA this year!

This thread has been an absolute godsend! I'm a transfer student applying for financial aid at my new school, and I was completely lost when I couldn't find the IRS Data Retrieval Tool that I've used in previous years. I spent literally hours clicking through every section of the new FAFSA thinking there was some hidden button I was missing. The anxiety was real - I kept worrying that without that tool, my application would be incomplete or ineligible. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been such a huge relief, especially learning that the Direct Data Exchange happens automatically in the background once you give consent. I just went back and confirmed I did check the consent box (buried in those acknowledgments as everyone mentioned). It's incredible how much clearer this community discussion is compared to any official FSA documentation I could find. The Department of Education really dropped the ball on communicating this major system change - they should have had clear transition guides explaining the switch from IRS DRT to DDX. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories and solutions, especially the financial aid office insights that explained exactly how the verification process works now!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a new community member who just discovered this forum while desperately searching for solutions to my own FAFSA login nightmare. I've been locked out for about 5 days now and was starting to panic about my upcoming financial aid deadlines. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been such a relief - I had no idea this was such a widespread issue with the SAI migration. The middle initial inconsistency problem really resonates with me because I just realized I've probably used different name formats across various college applications and forms over the past year. I'm definitely going to try that Claimyr callback service everyone keeps mentioning instead of wasting more hours on hold. Based on all the advice here, I'll make sure to specifically ask about "identity verification flags" and "SAI migration issues" when I get through to an agent. Thanks Lorenzo for starting this thread and to everyone who shared their actual solutions! This community has been way more helpful than the official FAFSA support pages. It's reassuring to know there's light at the end of this frustrating tunnel.

I'm a new member here but had to jump in because I'm going through this EXACT same nightmare right now! Been locked out for about a week and found this thread while desperately searching for solutions. Reading through everyone's experiences has been such a huge relief - I was starting to think I had completely broken my FAFSA somehow. The middle initial inconsistency issue that so many people mentioned really opened my eyes. I just realized I've probably been super inconsistent with my name formatting across different college applications, scholarship forms, and when I originally created my FSA ID. Sometimes I use my full middle name "Catherine," sometimes just "C," and sometimes I skip it entirely depending on character limits. I also had to update my address twice this year (moved for senior year, then again when my family relocated), so that's probably creating even more verification flags in their system during this whole SAI migration mess. Definitely trying that Claimyr callback service tomorrow instead of wasting another day on hold. Based on all the great advice here, I'll make sure to specifically ask about "identity verification flags" and "SAI migration database issues" rather than just treating it like a password problem. Thank you Lorenzo for starting this thread and everyone else for sharing your real solutions! This community has been infinitely more helpful than the official FAFSA help resources. It gives me hope that this is actually fixable before my aid deadline next week!

I'm new to this community and just discovered this thread while dealing with the exact same asset screen loop issue! My son and I have been stuck on this for almost a week now and I was starting to panic about missing deadlines. Reading through everyone's experiences and solutions has been such a huge relief - knowing this is a widespread technical bug and not something we're doing wrong. The whole dollar amounts fix seems to be the most consistent solution based on all the success stories shared here. We're going to try that first thing tomorrow, along with clearing our browser cache and double-checking that all our verification steps are actually complete. It's incredible how supportive this community is in sharing real, practical solutions instead of just complaining about the problems. Thank you to everyone who took the time to document their experiences - this thread is going to save so many families from the same frustrating loop we've been stuck in!

I'm new to this community and currently experiencing this exact same asset screen loop nightmare! My daughter and I have been stuck on this for the past five days and I was honestly starting to lose hope. Reading through this entire thread has been absolutely invaluable - it's such a relief to discover this is a known technical bug affecting so many families rather than something we're doing wrong. The whole dollar amounts solution seems to be the golden fix based on all the success stories shared here. We're going to try entering just $892 instead of $892.47 for her savings account first thing tomorrow morning, along with completely clearing our browser cache and logging out fresh. I'm also going to double-check that all our family verification steps show as complete since several people mentioned hidden incomplete flags can trigger these loops. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to share their real experiences and practical solutions - this community support is making such a stressful situation feel manageable. Will definitely update everyone on whether the whole dollar fix works for us too!