That's fantastic news! So glad you were able to get through and get everything sorted out. It's such a relief when the financial aid office actually responds and helps resolve these time-sensitive situations. Your daughter is lucky to have such a proactive parent advocating for her. Summer classes can be a great way to catch up, especially after dealing with health issues. Best of luck with her coursework!

This thread has been so helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation where my son needs to add summer courses for his engineering program. Reading through everyone's experiences, I'm realizing I need to act fast and call directly rather than relying on emails. The information about summer 2024 being part of the 2023-2024 aid year is crucial - I would have never known that! Also really appreciate the tip about checking remaining Pell Grant eligibility first before taking additional loans. Going to call his financial aid office first thing Monday morning with this new knowledge. Thanks everyone for sharing your real-world experiences!

Just wanted to add one more tip that helped us - when your husband creates his FSA ID, make sure he writes down his username and password somewhere safe! My spouse forgot his login info halfway through the process and had to go through account recovery, which added another 2 days to our timeline. Also, if he runs into any technical issues during the identity verification step, don't waste hours on hold with the regular FAFSA helpline. The third-party services mentioned earlier can really save time getting connected to someone who can actually help resolve account issues quickly.

I went through this exact same situation last year with my twins' FAFSA applications! Yes, both married parents absolutely need their own FSA IDs now - it's one of the most frustrating changes from the old system. What helped us was setting up a "FAFSA session" where I sat with my husband and walked him through creating his FSA ID step by step. It took about 30 minutes total, and once it was set up, his actual contributor section only took him about 15 minutes to complete since most of the tax info gets pulled automatically. Pro tip: have him use a simple, memorable password and write it down immediately - we learned this the hard way when he got locked out trying to remember what he'd chosen!

One more tip - if you decide to create a new application, take screenshots of all your current data first. That way you have a reference to make sure everything matches exactly. The FAFSA system can flag applications for verification if it sees discrepancies between multiple submissions from the same student.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue! My daughter's FAFSA has been locked since we started it in early December. The gender and ethnicity fields are completely frozen, and we can't add any schools to her list. I've called the FSA helpline four times now and keep getting the same "be patient with the new system" response. Reading through all these responses is so helpful - I had no idea this was such a widespread problem with applications started before the December update. I'm going to try calling tomorrow morning and specifically ask for a "data field unlock" like Malik suggested. If that doesn't work within a few days, I think we'll just bite the bullet and start a new application with screenshots of all our current data. The stress is real though - we've already missed one priority deadline and I'm terrified about missing more. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions!

UPDATE: I just wanted to thank everyone for their help! I logged in and made the correction to remove our retirement accounts from the investment section. The system accepted the change without any issues. I also called my daughter's financial aid office to let them know about the correction, and they made a note in her file. The advisor said they see this mistake frequently and it shouldn't cause any problems with her aid package. What a relief! I'm still nervously checking for the updated SAI calculation, but I feel much better now.

So glad you got it sorted out! This is exactly why I always recommend double-checking the FAFSA before submitting - those investment vs. retirement account distinctions can be really tricky. Your proactive approach of calling the financial aid office was smart too. Most schools are understanding about these common mistakes, especially when families communicate early. Hope your daughter's aid package works out well!

As someone new to this process, I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences here! I'm in a similar boat with my daughter's FAFSA and was panicking when I didn't see the asset section. It's reassuring to know this is actually intentional and not a technical glitch. The fact that they changed such a fundamental part of the process without making it crystal clear to families is pretty frustrating though. At least we have communities like this to help each other figure it out!

This is such a helpful thread! As someone who just started the FAFSA process for my youngest, I was completely caught off guard by how different everything looks compared to when my older kids applied. I actually called my accountant thinking I had made some mistake with our tax information when the asset questions never appeared. It's honestly pretty poor communication on their part to make such sweeping changes without clearly explaining what families should expect. I'm glad to see it worked out for you @Luis Johnson - gives me confidence to move forward with ours too!