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Quick update based on recent Department of Education guidance: They've acknowledged the "parent information not processed" display issue and confirmed it's affecting many applicants. They stated that if you received a confirmation number and can see that confirmation in your FAFSA history, your application IS being processed correctly despite what the status shows. They're working on a fix for the display issue, but have advised schools to accept these applications as complete. As long as you have that confirmation, you should be fine for meeting priority deadlines.
I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My daughter's FAFSA shows the parent section as "not submitted" even though we completed everything two weeks ago. It's so stressful when you don't know if there's actually a problem or if it's just the system being glitchy. Reading through these responses is really reassuring though - it sounds like this is happening to a lot of families and most applications are actually processing correctly behind the scenes. I'm going to check for an SAI number like someone suggested and contact her school's financial aid office tomorrow. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!
You're definitely not alone in this! I went through the same panic when I saw that status. What really helped me was taking a screenshot of our confirmation page and keeping that confirmation email handy when I called the school. The financial aid officer was able to reassure me that they were seeing FAFSA data come through on their end even when the parent portal wasn't updating properly. It's such a relief when you realize it's just a display glitch and not an actual problem with your application!
DONT DO IT!!!! The government is trying to trick parents into giving up our rights!!! My cousin consolidated her Parent PLUS loans and now they're garnishing her wages because the new loan didn't have the same protections!!! They're all LIARS
This information is incorrect. Federal Direct Consolidation Loans have the same wage garnishment policies as Parent PLUS loans - both require you to default first, and both offer rehabilitation options. Your cousin likely defaulted on the loan for other reasons. Consolidation doesn't remove protections against wage garnishment.
I just wanted to update everyone - I did more research and spoke with a financial aid counselor at my daughter's university. I've decided to go ahead with the consolidation for these reasons: 1. The payment under ICR will be about $320 lower than my standard repayment plan 2. I'm planning to retire in 12 years, and ICR will adjust to my lower retirement income 3. The slight interest rate increase (0.125%) is worth it for the payment flexibility The application was pretty straightforward on StudentAid.gov. They said it will take about 45 days to process. I'll update again once it goes through! Thanks everyone for your help!
Smart decision! One thing to remember: set a calendar reminder for your annual income recertification. If you miss it, you'll automatically go back to the standard plan, which causes payment shock for many borrowers.
Thanks for sharing your decision process! As someone new to this community and dealing with similar Parent PLUS loan questions, this is really helpful. Can I ask - did the university financial aid counselor have any insights about how the retirement income adjustment works with ICR? I'm also wondering about retirement planning with these loans and whether there are any tax implications when the remaining balance gets forgiven after 25 years.
has anyone actually had success calling FSA directly? i tried three different times about my verification issue and couldn't get thru
I only got through using that Claimyr service I mentioned. Before that, I tried calling directly about 5 times and either got disconnected or was on hold forever. The phone system is completely overwhelmed.
I went through this exact situation two years ago! Had to correct my parent's retirement distribution that they initially forgot to report. Here's my timeline and what I learned: My correction took exactly 18 days to process, which was nerve-wracking but still gave me time before my school's deadline. The key things that helped me: 1. I submitted the correction on a Tuesday morning (avoid Fridays/weekends) 2. I called my school's financial aid office the SAME DAY I submitted the correction to give them a heads up 3. I checked my FSA account every 2-3 days for status updates The waiting was honestly the worst part, but most corrections do process within 2-4 weeks. Since you're being proactive about it now, you should be fine for May 1st. The financial aid offices are used to dealing with this - they won't penalize you for an honest mistake that you're fixing promptly. One tip: when you call your school, ask them to put a note in your file about the pending correction so they know to expect an updated SAI. Some schools will even prepare a preliminary aid package and just update it once the correction processes. You got this! The stress is temporary but getting it fixed properly is worth it.
My daughter goes to UCSC and we had a similar issue last fall. They sent us a package with just loans first, then about 3 weeks later they updated it with her grants. Something about their system processing federal aid after initial packages go out. So annoying but it worked out eventually!
I'm a current UCSC student and went through almost the exact same situation two years ago! My initial financial aid package showed only loans despite qualifying for both Pell Grant and Cal Grant A. Here's what I learned: UCSC sends out "preliminary" packages in waves, and federal grants often get added in later updates. The key is that if your FAFSA shows an SAI of 1506 and it's been successfully processed, the Pell Grant WILL come through - it's federally guaranteed. For immediate action, I'd recommend: 1. Call UCSC financial aid at 831-459-2963 (try calling right when they open at 8am for shorter wait times) 2. Ask specifically if this is a "preliminary package" and when they expect grant updates 3. Request they check for any verification flags or missing documents The Cal Grant/UC Davis mix-up is separate but fixable - log into your WebGrants account and submit a school change request. It took about 10 business days to process when I did it. Don't panic - with your daughter's SAI, she should ultimately receive around $16,000+ in combined grants. UCSC's financial aid office is slow but they do eventually get it right!
This is exactly the kind of detailed, firsthand experience I was hoping to find! Thank you so much for sharing your story and the specific phone number. I'll definitely try calling right at 8am tomorrow. It's such a relief to hear from someone who went through the same thing and had it work out. Did you find that once the grants were added, the total package was close to what you were expecting based on your SAI? I'm trying to get a sense of whether we should expect the full $6k Pell Grant plus Cal Grant A or if there might be other factors that could reduce those amounts.
Asher Levin
As someone who just went through this process for my son's freshman year, I wanted to add a few practical tips that really helped us: 1. **Create a repayment plan BEFORE you borrow** - We calculated exactly how much we could afford to pay monthly while he's in school and set up automatic payments immediately. Even $100/month makes a difference! 2. **Track your disbursements carefully** - The money doesn't all go out at once. Our school split it between fall and spring semesters, so we had to make sure we had enough for both. 3. **Consider borrowing slightly less than the full gap** - We left about $1,000 that we covered with a payment plan directly to the school. The payment plan was interest-free for 10 months, which saved us money compared to borrowing that portion. 4. **Download the Federal Student Aid app** - It makes tracking your loan balances and making payments so much easier than the website. The interest really does add up fast, so definitely start making payments during school if you can swing it. We're paying $250/month and it's helping keep the balance from growing too much. Good luck with your daughter's college journey!
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Zoey Bianchi
•This is incredibly helpful, thank you! I love the idea of creating a repayment plan before borrowing - that's something I hadn't thought about but makes total sense. The tip about borrowing slightly less and using the school's payment plan is brilliant too. I'm definitely going to look into what payment plan options her school offers. One quick question - when you set up those automatic payments, did you do it through the loan servicer or is there a way to do it directly through the Federal Student Aid app you mentioned?
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Drew Hathaway
•The automatic payments are set up through your loan servicer, not the Federal Student Aid app. Once your loan is disbursed, you'll be assigned a servicer (like Great Lakes, Nelnet, etc.) and you'll create an account with them. That's where you set up autopay. The FSA app is great for seeing all your federal loans in one place and making one-time payments, but for recurring payments you'll go through the servicer's website. Just a heads up - autopay usually gives you a small interest rate reduction too (usually 0.25%), so it's worth setting up even if you can only do small payments!
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Reina Salazar
Just want to echo what everyone's saying about making payments during school - it's SO important! We're in our second year of Parent PLUS loans and I wish we'd started payments immediately. The first year we thought we'd wait, and watching that balance grow with interest was painful. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you're considering making payments while your daughter is in school, try to pay more than just the interest if possible. Even an extra $50-100 toward principal each month adds up. We use a loan calculator to see how different payment amounts affect the total we'll pay over time, and it really motivates us to squeeze out a bit more each month. Also, definitely shop around and see if your daughter's school offers any institutional payment plans before committing to borrowing the full gap amount. Some schools have really generous terms on their payment plans that can be better than taking the loan for smaller amounts.
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