One other tip - keep a spreadsheet of all the financial aid offers your daughter receives. Break down each offer into categories: grants/scholarships (free money), loans (must be repaid), work-study (must be earned). This makes it much easier to compare the true cost of each school. Sometimes the school with the highest "total aid offer" actually costs more because the package is mostly loans rather than grants. Look at the net cost after free money is applied.

As someone who just went through this process last year with my twin daughters, I can't stress enough how normal this is! We authorized disbursement forms for 8 different schools between the two of them. It's really just administrative housekeeping - think of it like giving them your banking info for direct deposit at a job you're interviewing for. You're not accepting the job, just making sure the paperwork is ready if you do get hired. The schools know students are comparing offers and this authorization is completely separate from actually enrolling. Don't let the financial aid process stress you out more than it already does - you're doing great by asking these questions early!

UPDATE: I finally figured it out! After checking with my parents, we realized they had put their email on the parent portion of the FAFSA, and somehow that became the primary email for GrantUs communications. The activation email was sitting in my dad's inbox since February 27th! He never checks that email account. I was able to use that activation link (it hadn't expired) and now I can see my SAI calculation is actually complete. The school should be able to process my aid package now. Thanks everyone for your help!

This is such a relief to read! I've been having the exact same issue - submitted my FAFSA in early February and still waiting for my GrantUs activation email. It's so stressful when everyone else seems to have their aid packages sorted out already. I'm definitely going to check with my parents to see if the email went to one of their accounts instead. I also didn't know about those delay verification forms that schools have - that could be a game changer while waiting for everything to get sorted out. Thanks for sharing your solution, it gives me hope that mine will work out too!

I think you're missing the important part of the equation - with parent plus loans, the debt is ENTIRELY in your name. With private parent loans, some lenders allow cosigning with the student, which lets them take over payments after graduation. That's what we did, and my son is now making the payments while building his credit.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is tax implications - the interest on both Parent PLUS and private parent loans may be tax deductible up to $2,500 per year (subject to income limits), so that could help offset some of the cost difference. Also, some private lenders offer interest rate reductions for autopay (usually 0.25%) which can add up over time. I'm leaning toward doing a mix like Sean suggested - maybe taking a smaller Parent PLUS loan to keep some federal protections while using private loans for the bulk to save on interest. Has anyone here actually done that split approach? I'm curious how complicated it makes the paperwork and repayment process.

UPDATE: We finally got through the ID verification!! Using the Claimyr service that someone suggested above, I got through to an agent in about 15 minutes instead of hours on hold. The agent said there was a mismatch between how my daughter's name appeared on her ID (with a middle initial) versus the FSA account (with full middle name). They fixed it on the spot and the verification cleared immediately. Now we're racing to complete the actual FAFSA before the priority deadline. THANK YOU everyone for your help and suggestions!

Congratulations on getting through the verification! This thread has been incredibly helpful - I've been lurking here while dealing with my own son's verification issues. Just wanted to add that after reading everyone's suggestions, I tried the mobile app approach mentioned by Matthew and it worked! Uploaded his passport through the FSA mobile app with a .edu email address and got verified in 3 days. For anyone still stuck: definitely try multiple approaches (different browsers, mobile app, different ID types) and document everything with screenshots. The system seems really finicky but persistence pays off. Good luck everyone!

Wow, what a journey! I'm dealing with a similar nightmare right now - my daughter and I have been stuck for weeks with invitation issues. Reading through all these responses is both reassuring (we're not alone!) and terrifying (this system is truly broken). @Aisha Mahmood so glad you finally got the invitation part working! The email mismatch issue seems to be super common. I'm going to try your exact steps tonight. One thing I learned from calling the financial aid office at my daughter's school - they said to document EVERYTHING with screenshots and dates because if you miss deadlines due to system errors, they can sometimes work with you on appeals if you have proof you were trying to complete it on time. Might be worth doing for anyone still struggling. Also, has anyone had luck with the live chat feature on the FSA website? I've seen it pop up randomly but when I click it, it just says "currently unavailable.

This thread is so helpful! I'm a parent dealing with similar FAFSA issues and it's reassuring to know these problems are widespread (though frustrating that the system is this broken). One additional tip I learned from my college's financial aid office: if you're still having trouble after trying all these solutions, reach out directly to the financial aid offices at your son's schools. Many of them are aware of these technical issues and some have been extending their priority deadlines or working with families on a case-by-case basis when there's documented proof of system errors. Also, I've found that sometimes the FAFSA system works better during off-peak hours - like early morning (5-7 AM) or late evening (after 10 PM). The servers seem less overloaded then. Worth trying if you're still stuck! Good luck to everyone navigating this mess. The fact that we have to become tech support specialists just to apply for financial aid is absolutely ridiculous.