Quick update based on information just released yesterday: The Department of Education announced they will be enabling the school list editing feature sooner than mid-April. No exact date yet, but they're aiming for early March. This is in response to the high volume of similar complaints. In the meantime, still contact your new schools as they may have workarounds in place.

After reading through all this I decided to try contacting one of my daughter's schools directly like others suggested. Just got off the phone with them and they were super helpful! They said this is happening to LOTS of people and they have a form we can fill out to verify our intent to apply for aid even though the FAFSA hasn't officially been sent to them yet. They said as long as we get that form in by their deadline, they'll hold our financial aid package until the FAFSA system allows the update in March/April. Might be worth asking if your new schools have something similar!

Why not just claim all 4 on your taxes next year? That's what my sister did lol

One additional point about the new FAFSA system: Make sure you list any child support you receive (if applicable) in the "Untaxed Income" section. This helps establish your financial responsibility for the children not claimed on your taxes. Also, if your divorce decree specifies who pays for college, have that document ready as some schools will want to see it during their professional judgment review process.

one more thing nobody mentioned - if ur working for government or non-profit u might qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness on Parent Plus Loans but only after consolidation and only on ICR. Its complicated but worth it if u qualify,

Based on the information you've shared, here's what I recommend: 1. First, consolidate your Parent Plus Loans through studentaid.gov into a Direct Consolidation Loan 2. Immediately apply for Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) 3. Consider whether filing taxes separately from your spouse would benefit you (run the numbers both ways) 4. Set up autopay for the 0.25% interest rate reduction 5. Mark your calendar to recertify your income annually With part-time income of $28k, your ICR payment could be significantly lower than the standard payment, possibly in the $200-300/month range if you file taxes separately. If you file jointly, it would be higher based on combined income. Remember that you'll need to recertify your income every year, and if your income increases, so will your payments. The loans would be eligible for forgiveness after 25 years of payments, though the forgiven amount would be taxable income. Do you know which loan servicer you have? That can sometimes affect the quality of service and information you receive.

Something to keep in mind - your daughter's financial aid package will likely improve after freshman year. The loan limits increase ($6,500 for sophomore year, $7,500 for junior/senior years). Additionally, once she's on campus and established, she'll have more opportunities for departmental scholarships and upper-level work opportunities that often pay better than first-year work study positions. Also, don't overlook outside scholarships! Local community organizations, parent employers, and industry associations often offer scholarships that have much less competition than national ones. Even small scholarships of $500-$1000 can add up quickly.

Based on your SAI, your family is expected to contribute about $31,422 per year toward college costs. Any college with a cost of attendance higher than that amount means your daughter would have demonstrated need. For example: If a college costs $50,000/year total (tuition, room, board, etc.): - Your demonstrated need would be $18,578 ($50,000 - $31,422) - This can be filled with various aid types (loans, work-study, grants) If a college costs $25,000/year: - You'd have no demonstrated need since your SAI exceeds the cost - You'd still get the unsubsidized Direct Loan ($5,500) since that's not need-based This is why you might see very different packages from different schools depending on their total cost.

not to go off topic but the whole fafsa system is RIGGED anyway. my parents make decent money on paper but have tons of debt so they can't help me at ALL with college, yet fafsa expects them to contribute like $20k/year?!? and you cant even get anyone on the phone to explain how they come up with these ridiculous numbers. the whole system is designed to force students into massive loan debt. good luck getting any actual help from them

UPDATE: You all were right about contacting the school directly! I finally spoke with my daughter's financial aid office this morning, and they were actually super helpful. They're sending us their Special Circumstances form where we can document our income change from last year. The counselor I spoke with said this happens all the time and they can likely adjust her aid package once we submit the documentation. I'm still annoyed that FAFSA's phone system is so terrible, but at least we have a path forward now. Thanks to everyone who helped point me in the right direction!