You're definitely not alone in feeling confused about this! I went through the exact same thing with my daughter two years ago. She was working part-time, living off-campus, and I kept thinking there had to be a way to get her classified as independent since she was barely scraping by on her own income. But like everyone else has explained, the federal rules are really strict - it's basically age 24, marriage, military service, or having your own dependents. One thing that helped us was meeting with the financial aid office at her school. They walked us through exactly how our EFC was calculated and explained some school-specific aid programs we hadn't heard about. Also, don't forget about work-study programs if his school offers them - the income from those jobs doesn't count against financial aid eligibility the same way regular employment does. It's not a huge game-changer, but every little bit helps when you're trying to minimize loans!

Work-study positions can be competitive depending on your school, but they're definitely worth applying for! Most schools have an online portal where students can browse and apply for work-study jobs - everything from library assistants to research help to campus tour guides. The key is to apply early once the positions are posted (usually right before each semester starts). The income advantage is real - work-study earnings don't count toward your student income assessment on next year's FAFSA, which means they won't reduce your aid eligibility like regular job income might. Plus most work-study supervisors are really understanding about class schedules and exam periods. I'd definitely encourage your son to check with his school's financial aid office about what positions might be available for next semester!

Final update: Success! After a LOT of emails and phone calls, all 5 schools have granted us extensions until May 15th. One even said they can give us until June 1st if our FAFSA is still processing by mid-May. I'm still furious that we had to fight so hard for this when the problem isn't our fault, but at least we have some breathing room now. Thanks everyone for your advice!

So glad to see this worked out for you! This thread has been incredibly helpful - I'm bookmarking it because I suspect we're going to see this same scenario play out again next year if the Department of Education doesn't get their act together. The fact that families had to fight tooth and nail for extensions when the delays were completely outside their control is just unacceptable. Your persistence really paid off though, and hopefully other parents in similar situations can use your strategies. Best of luck to your daughter with her final decision!

I'm a current college student who went through the TEACH Grant application process last year, and I want to add a few practical tips that might help! First, if you're still having trouble finding the teaching certification question, try logging in from a completely different device (like a tablet or different computer) rather than just switching browsers. Sometimes the FAFSA system seems to "remember" incomplete sessions and gets stuck in loops. Second, when the question does appear, make sure to read it carefully - it asks specifically about pursuing teacher certification/licensure, not just majoring in education. Some education majors don't actually pursue certification (like those going into educational administration or curriculum design), so the system is trying to identify students who will actually become classroom teachers. Lastly, I learned the hard way that even after you answer yes to the teaching certification question, you'll need to complete additional TEACH Grant paperwork through your school's financial aid office. The FAFSA question just flags you as potentially eligible - there's a whole separate application process with agreements to sign about the service commitment. Hope this helps, and don't give up! That $4,000 per year really does make a difference, especially for education majors who often have lower starting salaries after graduation.

I just wanted to jump in as someone who's helped several students navigate this exact issue! The disappearing TEACH Grant question is unfortunately a really common problem that seems to be getting worse each year. Based on what I've seen work consistently, here's my recommended troubleshooting order: 1. **Double-check the major field** - Make sure it says something specific like "Elementary Education" or "Secondary Education - [Subject]" rather than just "Education" or anything generic 2. **Review school list** - Temporarily remove any schools that don't have teacher preparation programs, answer the question when it appears, then add them back 3. **Clear browser data completely** - Not just cache, but cookies and stored data too, then log back in 4. **Try the mobile app** - Sometimes the question flow is different there and easier to navigate The good news is that even if you submit without finding it, you have plenty of time to add it through corrections. The TEACH Grant is definitely worth the effort - just remember it comes with a 4-year teaching commitment in high-need schools, so make sure your son understands those requirements before applying. Don't let the technical glitches discourage you! This community has clearly figured out multiple workarounds, and the financial aid offices are used to dealing with these FAFSA system issues.

Congratulations on getting it resolved! This is such valuable information for others dealing with the same issue. The birthdate format bug is something I hadn't heard about before - it's crazy how these seemingly minor technical glitches can cause such major headaches for families trying to secure financial aid. Your persistence really paid off, and I'm sure your experience will help other parents who find this thread when they're going through the same nightmare. Fingers crossed your son's aid package comes through quickly now!

This is such a helpful thread! As someone who works with families navigating financial aid, I see these SSA verification issues constantly with the new FAFSA system. Emma's experience really highlights how important it is to check the student's FSA inbox for those specialized contact numbers - that's definitely not common knowledge! For future reference for anyone reading this, I'd also recommend keeping detailed notes of every call you make (date, time, agent name if possible, and what they tell you). Sometimes you get conflicting information from different agents, and having that paper trail can help when you finally get someone who knows what they're doing. The birthdate format bug Emma mentioned is particularly frustrating because it's completely invisible to families - everything looks correct on their end! Really glad you got it sorted out and hopefully this helps the next parent who's pulling their hair out over this exact issue.

One more important detail: If your daughter is applying to any schools that require the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA, she should complete that application separately. Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS Profile process is different - she completes one application and includes information about both parents within it. There's no contributor system for CSS Profile.

Just wanted to add one more tip that helped us - have your daughter create a shared document (Google Doc or similar) with all the important dates and deadlines for her schools before starting the FAFSA. That way everyone knows when contributor sections need to be completed and when the final submission is due. We also included a checklist of required documents so we could all gather our information beforehand. Made the whole process much smoother when we weren't scrambling to find tax documents or bank statements while trying to complete our sections!