Just to give you some peace of mind: the FAFSA processing timeline for 2025-2026 applications has been significantly delayed compared to previous years. The Department of Education is currently estimating 3-4 weeks for processing compared to the typical 3-5 days from previous years. If your application shows as "processing" without specific error messages, your best course of action is to wait. You can also check if your data has been sent to schools by looking at the "School Receipt" section. If schools have received your information, the red exclamation mark is likely just a UI issue rather than an actual problem with your application.

I'm dealing with the exact same thing right now! My son's FAFSA has had that red exclamation mark for about 2 weeks now, and like you, I can't find any actual error messages anywhere. The status just says "processing" and I've been driving myself crazy checking it multiple times a day. It's so frustrating that they don't make it clearer what these symbols actually mean. Reading through everyone's responses here is really helpful though - sounds like this is just how their poorly designed system works and we just have to wait it out. The new FAFSA portal is definitely not user-friendly at all!

UPDATE: I finally got through to FSA after trying for hours! The agent confirmed it's a known issue and said my application data is still in their system. They're manually resetting something on their end and said it should be visible again in 24-48 hours. They gave me a case number to reference if I have further problems. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

Wow, what a relief to see you got it resolved! I'm dealing with the exact same issue right now - my FAFSA disappeared but I get the "existing application" error when trying to start over. This thread has been SO helpful! I was panicking about my March deadline but now I know it's a known system glitch and not something I did wrong. Going to call FSA first thing tomorrow morning and ask for that manual reset. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is amazing! 🙏

Just to clarify some misinformation in this thread: The 2025-26 FAFSA will still use the Student Aid Index (SAI), but contrary to what some believe, it's not designed to be confusing to reduce applicants. The changes were actually implemented to simplify the process and make more students eligible for aid. The FAFSA was reduced from over 100 questions to about 36 questions for most applicants. And for many families, information is directly imported from the IRS, reducing errors. The system isn't perfect, but the 2025-26 form should be more stable than last year's problematic rollout. Just remember these key differences from the old system: 1. More students qualify for Pell Grants now 2. The SAI can be negative (down to -1500) unlike the old EFC 3. Family size affects calculations differently 4. Different treatment of multiple students in college If you file in early January, you should be in good shape for most deadlines.

Hey Ethan! I'm also dealing with FAFSA for my daughter (she's a junior this year). One thing that really helped us was creating a shared Google doc with all the required documents and deadlines. I listed out her school's priority deadline, our state deadline, and the federal deadline, then worked backwards to set reminder dates. Also, if you're worried about the complexity, many public libraries now offer free FAFSA help sessions during the application period. Might be closer than driving 2 hours to campus! Our local library had a financial aid counselor come in every Saturday in January and February last year. The SAI calculation is definitely confusing at first, but once you understand that it's basically replacing the EFC with a slightly different formula, it makes more sense. The key thing is that a lower SAI means more aid eligibility, and like someone mentioned, it can even go negative now which actually helps some families qualify for more aid than before. Good luck with the process! At least you're planning ahead this time - that's already a huge step up from last year!

One more thing - make sure to keep track of which email addresses you used for each FSA ID. I got locked out of my account because I couldn't remember which email I used for which child's application. It's the little organizational details that make the FAFSA process smoother.

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this process last year! You definitely use the same parent FSA ID for both kids - that part everyone got right. But here's something that might save you time: when you start the second FAFSA application, the system will ask if you want to transfer information from a previous application. Say YES to this! It'll pull over most of your parent financial info automatically, so you won't have to re-enter everything from scratch. Just double-check all the numbers since tax info might have changed between applications. Also, don't forget that having two kids in college at the same time can actually help with your Expected Family Contribution, so make sure that's reflected correctly on both forms!

UPDATE: My tax info FINALLY imported this morning! Took exactly 7 days. Now working on finishing the rest of my application. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

This is such a relief to read! I'm currently on day 4 of waiting for my tax data to import and was starting to panic. Seeing that it took Diego 7 days and others have experienced similar delays makes me feel better about waiting it out instead of rushing to manual entry. The verification risk that Sean mentioned is definitely something I want to avoid if possible. Thanks for sharing your experience - it really helps to know this is more common than the official timelines suggest!