The FAFSA system is imperfect but there are some practical reasons for its design: 1) On debt consideration: It would be extremely complex and costly to verify and evaluate all types of debt. How would they distinguish between a mortgage on a modest home versus a luxury mansion? Or medical debt versus optional cosmetic procedures? The administrative burden would be enormous. 2) On 529 plans: While it seems unfair, remember that the FAFSA formula only counts about 5.64% of parent-owned assets in the calculation. So if you have $50,000 in a 529, only about $2,820 of that is affecting your SAI. Plus, grandparent-owned 529s no longer impact FAFSA eligibility at all under the new rules. If your medical debt is substantial, definitely contact each school's financial aid office for a professional judgment review. They have the authority to make adjustments that the standard FAFSA cannot.

I completely understand your frustration - I'm going through the same thing as a first-time FAFSA filer! What really helped me was learning that there are actually some newer changes that work in our favor. The 2024-25 FAFSA simplified the formula and reduced the asset assessment rate. Also, I discovered that if you have significant medical expenses (sounds like you definitely do), you can submit documentation directly to each college's financial aid office for what's called a "special circumstances review" - they can actually override the FAFSA calculation. One thing that gave me some peace of mind: I talked to a financial aid counselor who explained that families who saved in 529s typically end up in a much better financial position overall, even with the slightly higher SAI. The small percentage they assess on your savings is usually way less than the loans you'd otherwise need. Hang in there - the system isn't perfect but there are people at the schools who can help with situations like yours!

I feel your pain - I went through something very similar with my daughter's FAFSA last year. The SSN error created a cascade of problems that took months to resolve. Here's what I learned that might help you: 1. When you call tomorrow, ask IMMEDIATELY for the "Federal Student Aid Technical Resolution Department" - not just customer service. Tell them you have a "parent SSN correction case with signature authentication failure." 2. Have your mom gather ALL her identity documents before the call - Social Security card, driver's license, tax returns. Sometimes there are tiny discrepancies (like Jr. vs Junior, or missing middle initials) that cause the system to reject everything. 3. Get a case escalation number and ask for it to be flagged as "urgent due to approaching college deadline." This actually moves you up in their queue. 4. Most importantly - call your college's financial aid office TODAY if possible. Many schools have emergency procedures for FAFSA technical issues and can either extend your deadline or work with provisional aid calculations. Don't give up! This exact situation is more common than you think, and it IS fixable once you get to someone with the right system access. The key is persistence and using the right terminology so they route you to the technical specialists instead of general customer service. Keep us posted on how it goes!

I'm so sorry you're going through this FAFSA nightmare! I had a very similar issue with my parent's SSN being entered incorrectly, and it created this endless loop of signature problems. Here's what finally worked for me: The key breakthrough was when I got connected to what they call a "Federal Student Aid ID Resolution Specialist" (not regular customer service). When you call, say exactly this: "I need a Federal Student Aid ID Resolution Specialist for a parent SSN correction with duplicate account conflicts." Don't let them transfer you to general help. Also, I discovered that when they say your application was "processed," it doesn't mean approved - it just means they received the data. The signature issue is still blocking everything from moving forward. Two immediate things to do: 1. Contact your college's financial aid office ASAP and explain the situation - many have emergency extension procedures for technical FAFSA issues 2. Have your mom check if there are ANY tiny differences in how her name appears on different documents (hyphens, middle initials, Jr/Junior, etc.) - these small discrepancies cause major system conflicts I ended up having to get both accounts completely deleted and start fresh with new FSA IDs, but once I got to the right specialist, they resolved it in about 20 minutes after months of frustration. Don't give up - this is fixable! Keep pushing until you reach someone with actual system access to merge/delete the conflicting accounts.

As someone who just went through this with my daughter last year, I completely understand your confusion! The FAFSA website is really misleading about what "Processed" actually means. Here's what I learned the hard way: The FAFSA site will NEVER show you actual financial aid offers. It only calculates your son's SAI (Student Aid Index) and sends that number to his colleges. Think of FAFSA as just the application that determines eligibility - the actual money comes from each school individually. What you need to do now: 1. Have your son check his email (including spam!) for award letters 2. Log into each college's student portal and look for a "Financial Aid" section 3. Check physical mail - some schools still send paper letters The timing varies wildly by school. Some send offers within 2-3 weeks of getting the FAFSA data, others take 2+ months. If it's been over a month since "Processed" status and he hasn't heard from a school, definitely have him call their financial aid office. Also - make sure verification is complete if he was selected for it. That can delay everything! Pro tip: Create a spreadsheet to track which schools he's heard from and their deadlines. This process is overwhelming but you'll get through it!

I went through this exact same confusion with my oldest child two years ago! The "Processed" status on FAFSA is honestly so misleading - I spent weeks refreshing that page expecting to see actual dollar amounts pop up. What helped me was understanding that FAFSA is basically just a calculator that spits out your SAI number, which then gets sent to schools. Each college uses that number differently based on their own funds and policies. Some schools are super quick with offers (we got one within 10 days), while others took almost 2 months. One thing I'd add that others haven't mentioned - have your son set up text/email notifications in each school's portal if they offer it. That way he'll get pinged immediately when aid info is posted instead of having to constantly check. Also, if any of his schools use their own financial aid forms in addition to FAFSA, those might need to be completed before they'll release offers. The waiting is the worst part, but once those first few offers start rolling in, you'll feel so much more confident about the process!

UPDATE: We solved it! Thank you all for your help. It turned out to be exactly what @financial_aid_advisor suggested - we were both using the same email address for our FSA IDs. My husband updated his FSA ID with his work email, we waited 24 hours, then my daughter removed us both and added us again with our separate emails. His contributor link worked perfectly after that! Such a simple fix but nowhere in the FAFSA help documents. Now we're finally able to complete her application before the priority deadline!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm bookmarking this for future reference. The same email address issue seems so obvious in hindsight but I never would have thought of it. It's frustrating that the FAFSA system doesn't give clearer error messages when this happens - a blank page tells you nothing! Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions, especially @Naila Gordon for the insider knowledge. Stories like this really show how valuable this community is for navigating these confusing processes.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Applied for Parent PLUS loan last week and still showing "processing" - it's so nerve-wracking not knowing what's happening. My son's SAI also came back much higher than we expected ($11,800) and we're scrambling to figure out the gap funding. From what I've been reading here, it sounds like 5-7 business days is pretty normal for approval, so hopefully we'll both hear something soon. The credit requirements seem less scary than I initially thought based on what others have shared. Fingers crossed for both of us! This whole financial aid process is way more stressful than anyone warned me about.

Just wanted to share my recent experience to hopefully ease some anxiety! I submitted my Parent PLUS application for my daughter's junior year about 2 weeks ago and got approved in 6 business days. Like you, I had some concerns about credit issues - I had a couple 30-day late payments on a credit card from early 2023 when I was going through a job transition. The "processing" status really doesn't give you any useful information, which is so frustrating! Mine showed processing right up until the day it switched to approved. I found that logging into the FSA website early in the morning (around 6-7 AM) seemed to show updates faster than checking during peak hours. Your SAI being higher than expected is unfortunately becoming the norm with the new FAFSA formula. We're dealing with similar sticker shock. The good news is that based on what others have shared here about the credit requirements, your 2023 late payments probably won't be an issue if they weren't 90+ days delinquent. Hang in there - the waiting is definitely the hardest part of this whole process!