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!

Yes, ideally all contributors should complete their sections within 14 days of receiving the invitation. While there's no strict deadline from FAFSA itself, many schools have priority filing deadlines for maximum aid consideration. The system will send automatic reminders to contributors who haven't completed their sections.

As someone who just went through this process with my stepdaughter, I can confirm what others have said - your husband definitely needs to complete his contributor section, but it's not a separate application. One thing I'd add is to make sure he has all his tax documents ready before he starts, especially his W-2s and 1099s if applicable. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool works best when you have everything organized beforehand. Also, don't panic if the system seems slow or glitchy - we had to log out and back in a few times, but it saved our progress each time. The whole process took us about 30 minutes once we had all the paperwork ready.

Based on the additional details you've shared in the comments, since you're a U.S. citizen and your parents are permanent residents (even with one renewing their green card), you should definitely stick with the FAFSA. The renewal process for a green card doesn't change their status as permanent residents. What you might want to do is provide documentation about the renewal process during verification if you're selected. Your financial aid office can accept this explanation and documentation. TASFA would actually give you LESS aid opportunity in your situation since you'd only be eligible for state aid rather than both federal and state aid through FAFSA.

Just wanted to add some reassurance here - you're definitely making the right choice by sticking with FAFSA! I went through a similar situation last year where my family was worried about documentation issues during the application process. One thing that really helped me was keeping a folder with copies of all our immigration documents (including renewal receipts and any correspondence) ready for verification. The financial aid office was actually very understanding when I explained the situation upfront. Also, since you're at UT Dallas, they have pretty good financial aid counselors once you get past the front desk staff. Try asking specifically to speak with a "financial aid counselor" rather than just general staff - they tend to be more knowledgeable about these complex situations. You've got this! The fact that you're asking the right questions and doing your research shows you're on the right track.

Wow, thank you Victoria for posting this detailed update! As someone who's been lurking here trying to figure out my own FAFSA issues, this thread has been incredibly helpful. I'm dealing with a similar SSN/DOB mismatch problem and have been getting nowhere with the regular FSA phone line. I'm definitely going to ask my financial aid office about the FSA-38 Database Override Request form - I had no idea that existed! And the Claimyr service sounds like a lifesaver for actually getting through to someone who can help. It's so frustrating that the new FAFSA system is causing all these problems for students who never had issues before. Really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and solutions here!

This thread has been such a lifesaver! I'm a junior dealing with the exact same SSN/DOB mismatch issue and was starting to panic about my financial aid. Like Victoria, I've never had problems with FAFSA before - got my aid processed smoothly for the past two years. Reading through everyone's experiences, it's clear this is a widespread problem with the new 2025-2026 system. I'm going to try both approaches that worked for Victoria: asking my financial aid office about the FSA-38 Database Override Request form AND using the Claimyr service to actually get through to FSA's database resolution team. It's honestly ridiculous that students have to jump through all these hoops when the issue is clearly on their end. But I'm grateful for this community sharing real solutions instead of the generic "resubmit your application" advice I keep getting from the regular FSA helpline. Will definitely update if either approach works for me. Thanks everyone for the detailed advice - this is exactly the kind of help students need right now! 🙏

For those still seeing this issue, Federal Student Aid just posted on their social media that they're aware of the problem and expect to have it resolved within 48 hours. They specifically stated: "We are aware that some FAFSA applicants are seeing incorrect 'correction submitted' messages when logging into their accounts. This is a display issue only and is not affecting your application data or processing times." So official confirmation that it's just a UI bug!

As someone who just went through this exact same panic this morning, I'm so relieved to see this thread! My FAFSA showed the same "correction submitted today" message when I literally just logged in to check my status. I was terrified I had accidentally messed something up since I'm already dealing with verification requirements. Thanks everyone for confirming it's just a system glitch - especially the financial aid administrator who explained that schools aren't receiving new data. This whole FAFSA cycle has been such a rollercoaster of technical issues, but at least this one seems harmless!