That's really helpful - thank you! My SS card has my full middle name spelled out, so I'll make sure to include that exactly in my FSA ID update. I'll update here once I get this resolved in case it helps someone else with the same problem.

I went through this exact same nightmare last year! The FSA ID/SS card name mismatch is so common but the system makes it feel impossible to fix. Here's what finally worked for me: 1. Updated my FSA ID to match my SS card EXACTLY (including middle name spelled out completely) 2. Waited the full 3 business days (don't try to rush this step!) 3. Called the school's financial aid office while waiting - they were able to put a note on my file about the delay so I wouldn't miss priority consideration 4. After the waiting period, the FAFSA corrections went through smoothly The waiting is agonizing when deadlines are looming, but skipping the wait time just makes it fail again. Also definitely contact your school's aid office - they deal with this constantly and can often work with you on deadlines when it's a known FAFSA system issue, not student procrastination. Good luck! You're so close to getting this resolved.

i finally gave up and just filled the calculation worksheet from the fafsa website and took it directly to my kids college financial aid office. they said they could use the info to give us an estimated package while we wait for the system to work. might try that if ur school allows it

I'm dealing with this exact same issue! My son's FAFSA has been stuck on the parent demographics screen for over 6 weeks now. We've tried every browser, cleared cache multiple times, and even tried different devices. The "Unable to Complete This Action" error appears every single time we try to continue past my spouse's information section. It's incredibly frustrating because we're missing out on priority deadlines at several schools. I'm going to try the Edge browser suggestion and the new application approach mentioned in the recent comments. Has anyone had success with contacting their school's financial aid office directly about this issue? I'm wondering if they have any additional workarounds or can provide temporary estimates while we wait for this glitch to be resolved.

One additional piece of advice: keep a detailed communication log of everyone you speak with, what they told you, and when. In the verification process, it's not uncommon to get conflicting instructions from different staff members. If your son has a student email through the college, make sure he's checking it daily. Many schools communicate exclusively through their internal systems rather than personal email. Finally, don't hesitate to ask for a timeline once you've submitted everything. A simple "When can we expect verification to be completed?" can help manage expectations. Most schools have internal processing timelines they can share with you.

I went through verification with my twins last year and it was stressful but manageable. A few things that helped us get through it quickly: 1. Create a checklist of every document they request and check them off as you gather them 2. Make copies of everything before you submit - seriously, documents can get lost 3. If possible, submit everything electronically through the student portal rather than mailing The 2022 tax transcript request is definitely unusual for a 2025-26 FAFSA. When I called about a similar issue, it turned out they had flagged our application because of a large difference in income between years (my husband changed jobs). They wanted to verify the income change was legitimate. Don't let your son stress too much - verification is super common and rarely results in aid being denied if you provided accurate information originally. Just respond promptly with everything they ask for. Good luck!

UPDATE: Just wanted to let everyone know what happened! I finally got through to the financial aid office and explained the situation. They scheduled me with a financial aid counselor who specialized in honors college packages. It turns out they have a specific policy for honors scholarships that wasn't initially applied to our case. The counselor did a review and adjusted our package so that the honors scholarship reduced our loans instead of our grants! We're keeping $6,200 of the original grants, and our expected contribution only went up by about $1,600 instead of $7,400. This makes it affordable for us again. Thank you all for your advice and support - I would never have known to ask specifically about scholarship displacement policies or to request a specialized review. We're back to being excited about Rutgers again!

This is such an inspiring update! As someone who's been navigating financial aid for my own kids, stories like this give me hope that the system can work when you know how to advocate for yourself. Your experience is going to help so many other families who find themselves in similar situations. The key takeaway here is that financial aid offices often have policies and flexibility that aren't immediately obvious - you just have to know what to ask for. Congratulations to your son on his honors college acceptance, and kudos to you for not giving up when the first answer wasn't acceptable!

Update: I emailed all my schools about the SAI change. Two have already responded saying the difference was too small to affect my aid package (phew!). Still waiting to hear from the other three. I also tried calling FSA to understand why they made these changes but couldn't get through after waiting 45 minutes. Might try that Claimyr service somebody mentioned if I don't have any luck tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your help!

This is so frustrating but unfortunately becoming more common this year! I'm a college senior and this exact same thing happened to me in February. My SAI went up by about $200 and I only found out because I randomly logged in to check something else. No email, no notification - nothing! What's really annoying is that some schools have already started disbursing aid for next semester based on the original numbers. I ended up having to contact 4 different financial aid offices and one of them actually had to recall and reprocess my entire aid package because they have strict SAI thresholds for their need-based grants. Pro tip: Set a calendar reminder to check your FAFSA account at least once a month. I learned this the hard way but it's apparently necessary now with all these "background verification" processes they're doing.