I'm going through something very similar right now! My ex also wants to claim our daughter for taxes this year even though she's lived with me 85% of the time. What I learned from talking to my daughter's college financial aid office is that you need to keep good records showing your son lived with you most of the time - things like school enrollment records, medical appointments, etc. The financial aid counselor told me that sometimes schools will ask for documentation if there's any question about which parent should complete the FAFSA, especially if the parents have different income levels. Since your income is lower, it's definitely in your son's best interest for you to be the one completing the FAFSA rather than your ex. I'd suggest reaching out to your son's college financial aid office proactively to let them know about the situation. They can put a note in his file and give you official guidance you can share with your ex if needed.

I'm so glad you posted about this - I've been stressing about the exact same thing with my ex! Reading through everyone's responses has been incredibly helpful. It's such a relief to know that tax dependency and FAFSA responsibility are separate things. What really struck me is how many people emphasized keeping good documentation about where your son lives. I'm going to start gathering things like school records, doctor visits, etc. just in case. Also, the suggestion about having your son fill out the FAFSA himself while you provide your information seems like a great way to avoid any potential conflicts. Thank you for asking this question - you've helped more people than just yourself! I hope everything works out smoothly for your son's financial aid.

UPDATE: We got it fixed!! After following the advice here, my dad did the identity verification on studentaid.gov, then called FSA again. This time he got through to someone who knew exactly what the problem was. They had to merge his accounts and it took about 48 hours to process, but now he can see the parent section and we're finishing the FAFSA today! I also contacted my school's financial aid office and they gave me a deadline extension because of the technical issues. THANK YOU everyone for your help!!

So glad to see this got resolved! As someone who just went through FAFSA hell myself, I wanted to add that if anyone else runs into this issue, it's worth trying the identity verification step FIRST before spending hours on hold with customer service. My mom had the same duplicate account problem and the verification process at studentaid.gov fixed it automatically without needing to call anyone. Seems like the system migration really messed things up for a lot of parents this year, but at least there are workarounds now that people have figured them out!

I'm currently going through my own SAP appeal process and wanted to add something that really helped me - if your school has a financial aid workshop or counseling appointments available, definitely try to schedule one before submitting your appeal. At my school, they had a financial aid counselor review my draft appeal letter and documentation before I officially submitted it. She caught a few things I missed and helped me strengthen my explanation. Some schools also have writing centers that can help with appeal letters if you're not sure how to structure it. Also, since you mentioned you're in nursing school - many nursing programs have their own student success coordinators who are familiar with SAP issues. They might be able to provide a letter of support or connect you with resources specific to nursing students. Your situation sounds very promising given your GPA and proximity to graduation. The fact that you've been successful since returning to the nursing program is exactly what they want to see. Best of luck with your appeal!

I went through a SAP appeal last year and it was approved! One thing that really helped me was creating a timeline showing my academic journey - including the reasons for my major changes and how my grades improved once I found the right program. For your appeal, I'd definitely include: - Your current nursing program GPA (if it's different/higher than your overall GPA) - A letter from your nursing advisor confirming you're in good standing and on track for May graduation - Documentation showing you've been successful since re-entering the nursing program in fall 2023 The fact that you're so close to graduation with a solid GPA works strongly in your favor. Financial aid offices generally want to help students cross the finish line when they can demonstrate they're on the right track. Just be thorough with your documentation and honest about your journey - they've seen it all before and understand that students sometimes need time to find their path. You've got this! Being one semester away with a 3.4 GPA puts you in a much better position than many SAP appeals they review.

Update: It went back to "processed" today! That was much faster than I expected after reading some of your comments. All 3 new schools now show up in his account too. Thanks everyone for the help and reassurance!

That's awesome that it resolved so quickly! This thread has been really helpful - I'm bookmarking it in case I run into the same issue when my daughter applies next year. It's so reassuring to see how the community comes together to help each other navigate this confusing process. Thanks for sharing the update!

This entire thread is gold! As someone who works in a high school guidance office, I see this DRT issue constantly during FAFSA season. I'm definitely going to compile these troubleshooting steps into a handout for our students. The incognito browser trick, clearing cache/cookies, checking parent FSA ID login status, and that Claimyr service for getting through to FSA - these are all solutions I wish I had known about sooner. It's ridiculous that the official FAFSA help resources don't clearly outline these common fixes. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - you're helping way more students than you probably realize!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm currently a college freshman and went through this exact same nightmare last year. The FAFSA system really needs better error messaging - it's crazy that students have to play detective just to figure out why a basic feature isn't working. I ended up having to manually enter everything because I couldn't get the DRT to work no matter what I tried. One thing I'd add for future students reading this - if you do have to enter tax info manually, triple check every number because any mistakes can delay your aid processing for weeks. Also, keep copies of all the tax documents you reference so if you get selected for verification later, you have everything ready. The whole process is stressful enough without these technical glitches making it worse!