My brother went thru this exact thing & ended up having to appeal directly to the college financial aid office. The FAFSA people weren't able to fix it in the system but the college could override it manually. He had to provide proof of disability & income but they fixed it pretty quick once he talked to the right person.

UPDATE: I finally got this resolved! For anyone dealing with similar issues: 1. I corrected the FAFSA by manually entering my spouse as a non-tax filer 2. I used Claimyr to reach an actual FSA agent who added notes to our application 3. I gathered documentation (benefit award letters, bank statements, IRS non-filing verification) 4. I contacted my son's school financial aid office with all documentation It took about 2 weeks, but they recalculated our SAI and my son IS eligible for a Pell Grant after all! The financial aid officer told me they're seeing this issue a lot with disability income and the new FAFSA. Thanks everyone for your help! This community saved us literally thousands in financial aid!

Have you tried reaching out to ASU's financial aid office directly about an extension? When my son had FAFSA technical issues, Ohio State gave him a 2-week extension on their priority deadline since he could document that he'd been trying to resolve the issue. Worth asking about!

What a nightmare situation! This is exactly why I decided to do my FAFSA alone without parents. I declared myself independent (I'm 24 so I qualify) even though it probably meant less aid. The system is SO confusing when you have to deal with parent contributors! If I were you, I'd start over with a completely fresh application using a new email for your ex-husband's account. Yes, it's annoying to redo it all, but it's better than losing out on thousands in aid. ASU *might* be understanding about the deadline, but don't count on it - some schools are super strict.

Has anyone actually had this resolved yet? My son's FAFSA data FINALLY showed up at his school yesterday - almost 7 weeks after getting his SAI. No rhyme or reason to it, just suddenly appeared. The financial aid office is now scrambling to put together aid packages before the May 1 decision deadline.

Nope, did absolutely nothing special. It just showed up out of nowhere. The financial aid officer told my son they received a huge batch of FAFSA data all at once yesterday, so it looks like the Department of Education is slowly working through the backlog. Hang in there!

my daughter had something similar, not with ssn but they said her date of birth was wrong 🙄 so ridiculous. anyway we got it fixed by going in person with her birth certificate. also make sure to keep checking both studentaid.gov AND your daughter's student portal at her university. sometimes the school processes things temporarily while waiting for the official correction

Quick follow-up question - did the email about the SSN error come directly from Federal Student Aid (studentaid.gov) or from the university? If it came from the university, they may already have procedures in place to help with this situation. Many schools have contingency processes specifically for FAFSA issues that arise right before classes start. Also, when you visit the financial aid office tomorrow, ask about a "conditional financial aid clearance" - this is a temporary approval some schools provide while FAFSA corrections are being processed.

Has anyone actually gotten their SAI back from the new form yet? We submitted two weeks ago and still waiting...

For the CSS Profile deadlines question - yes, private schools typically have their own deadlines for the CSS Profile, often earlier than the federal FAFSA deadlines. Some are as early as November 1 for early decision applicants, while regular decision is often February 1, but it varies by school. I'd recommend checking each school's financial aid website immediately or calling their financial aid offices directly. Regarding how they calculate home equity and investments now - the federal methodology (FAFSA) is still not considering home equity in your primary residence (this hasn't changed). The FAFSA is using tax data to identify investment income, which then factors into the SAI calculation. They're essentially working backward from the income your investments generate rather than asking for the value directly. If you're concerned about accurate representation of your financial situation, remember you can always submit additional documentation directly to schools after completing the FAFSA.