My kid just started college last fall, and I was so confused by this whole FAFSA thing! We did ours last October, and yes, she did hers first then I did mine. What I didn't realize is that you have to do this EVERY YEAR! I thought once we were in the system we'd be set for all four years. But I guess we're about to start all over again for year two...

One important tip for your second year: make sure your daughter uses her existing FSA ID rather than creating a new one. A common mistake is students forgetting their FSA ID credentials and creating new ones, which can cause issues with linking to previous applications and sometimes delays processing. If she's forgotten her FSA ID information, there's a recovery process on the studentaid.gov website. And yes, as others have confirmed, the student still initiates the FAFSA and then adds parent contributors who complete their sections afterward.

i did mine in january and still havent gotten my sai sent to my school yet. this new system is terrible!

does anyone know if the october deadline is coming back next year? or is december the new normal?

This is a known issue with the redesigned FAFSA. Here's what you need to understand: 1. Yes, both parents' information is required for an accurate SAI calculation if both provide significant support, regardless of marital status. 2. The system should not have automatically submitted after just one contributor completed their portion - this is a technical error affecting many families. 3. The correction function should be available to your daughter 3-7 days after initial submission. She needs to login, select "Correct Your FAFSA" and then add you as an additional contributor. 4. Most important: While waiting for the correction ability to become available, contact all the financial aid offices at schools your daughter is applying to and explain the situation. They may provide temporary deadline extensions while you resolve this issue. 5. Once both contributors' information is included, her SAI will be recalculated, potentially changing her aid eligibility significantly. Documentation is critical - save screenshots showing the technical error, keep the invitation emails, and document all communication attempts with FSA.

Just wanted to add that if your daughter can't access the correction function after a week, and you can't reach FSA by phone, have her visit her school's financial aid office in person. They have dedicated channels to help resolve FAFSA issues that aren't available to the general public. They can sometimes initiate a correction request through their institutional portal.

has anyone else noticed that the parent contribution calculator seems WAY off this year?? our family income didn't change much but our expected contribution nearly doubled with this new SAI system 😩

just tried the diff browser trick and IT WORKED!!!! chrome kept freezing but edge let me get all the way through my parent corrections! THANK U!!!!!

One more thing to be aware of - if your SAI is below a certain threshold, your application might be selected for verification, which is like an audit of your financial information. This is separate from the signature issue and could happen even after the corrected FAFSA is processed. If this happens, don't panic - it's random and doesn't mean you did anything wrong. Just be ready to provide additional documentation if requested.

So for the 2025-2026 FAFSA they're supposed to be sending rejection notices directly to the student email too now right? Did your daughter get an email or just the text from her advisor?