That's good news! Please keep us posted on what happens. I'm going to try the same approach with our schools tomorrow.

This is such a frustrating situation that so many families are facing right now. I'm a financial aid counselor and I've been seeing this exact scenario play out for dozens of families this year. The elimination of the sibling discount in the new FAFSA formula has created a real crisis for middle-income families with multiple college students. A few things that might help while you're working on appeals: 1. Ask each school about their "professional judgment" policies specifically for multiple-student families - many have developed these in response to the formula changes 2. Check if any of your kids' schools participate in institutional aid programs that still consider multiple students (some do this independently of FAFSA) 3. Look into state-specific aid programs - some states have created supplemental grants to help bridge this gap The good news is that colleges are very aware this is happening and many are actively working on solutions. Your update about the first school's response is encouraging - it shows they're taking this seriously. Don't give up on those appeals, and definitely don't make any drastic decisions like gap years until you've exhausted all options. The squeaky wheel often gets the grease in financial aid offices right now.

dont let anyone shame u!!! my neighbor remortgaged their house for their son's college and then he dropped out after 2 years and now they might lose their house. these kids have NO IDEA the sacrifices were being asked to make!!

You're absolutely doing the right thing by protecting your retirement! I'm a recent college grad who went through a similar situation with my parents 4 years ago. They had a modest retirement fund and FAFSA expected them to contribute way more than they could afford without jeopardizing their future. I was initially disappointed about not going to my "dream school" but ended up at our state university with merit scholarships. Here's what worked for us: I applied to 12 schools where my stats put me in the top 25% of applicants for merit aid. Ended up with a full tuition scholarship at a great state school. Now I'm debt-free, have a good job, and my parents can actually retire someday. Meanwhile, friends from high school are drowning in loan payments for degrees that aren't any better than mine. Your daughter might be upset now, but you're teaching her an invaluable lesson about financial responsibility. There are SO many paths to success that don't involve crushing debt. Stand your ground!

UPDATE: We logged in tonight and re-signed the FAFSA. It seems to have worked! The status now shows "Processing" instead of "Action Required." According to the site, it should take 3-5 days for processing, and then schools will receive our information. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! This new system has been such a headache.

So glad to see you got it resolved! This same thing happened to my family last month and it was incredibly stressful. For anyone else dealing with this issue, I found that clearing browser cache and cookies before attempting to re-sign can help avoid some of the technical glitches. Also, if you're still having trouble, try logging in during off-peak hours (early morning or late night) when there's less traffic on the system. The whole FAFSA rollout has been a nightmare this year, but at least there are workarounds for most of these issues.

To summarize what everyone's said and add a final recommendation: 1. There's no universal right answer - it depends on your daughter's specific situation and the policies of her chosen school(s) 2. Contact each school's financial aid office for their gap year policies 3. If she's already been accepted and is deferring enrollment, completing both FAFSAs is the safest approach 4. If she hasn't applied/been accepted yet and will be applying during her gap year, you likely only need the 2026-2027 FAFSA 5. Remember that the 2025-2026 FAFSA uses 2023 tax data, while the 2026-2027 FAFSA uses 2024 tax data 6. Document all advice you receive from schools and FSA representatives Finally, make sure your daughter follows any formal gap year deferral processes required by her school(s), as this can affect both admission status and financial aid packaging.

Just wanted to add one more thing that helped us - keep track of all the deadlines! Even if you decide to file both FAFSAs, the deadlines can be different for each academic year. Some state grants and institutional aid have earlier deadlines than the federal ones, and these can vary between the gap year and enrollment year. We almost missed a state grant deadline because we assumed they were the same. Also, if your daughter ends up changing her mind about which school to attend during her gap year, you might need to update her FAFSA with the new school code. Good luck navigating this process!

UPDATE: We fixed it! Thanks everyone for your help. What worked was having my dad log in and complete his ENTIRE contributor section. After he submitted his part, I waited about 2 hours, then I tried the tip from @profile4 about using the "Start a New FAFSA" link, and it worked! I was able to access my application again and continue where we left off. No data was lost thankfully. For anyone else with this issue, make sure your contributor completes their ENTIRE section before you try to continue.

Wow, this thread is incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with the exact same issue right now - added my mom as a contributor yesterday and now I'm completely locked out of my FAFSA. Reading through all these responses, it sounds like the key is making sure the parent contributor completes their ENTIRE section first. I'm going to have my mom log in tonight and finish everything on her end, then try the "Start a New FAFSA" workaround tomorrow. It's so frustrating that this is such a common problem with the new system - you'd think they would have fixed these bugs by now! Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions.