Has anyone heard if this will affect current college students too? My son is already enrolled and relies on his financial aid package for sophomore year. Will this delay his fall aid disbursement??

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with my daughter's first-choice school. They're extending their decision deadline to June 1st and are creating estimated aid packages based on our CSS Profile and tax info we submitted directly. They hope to have those out next week, with final packages once the FAFSA data issue is resolved. They also said they're establishing an emergency grant fund for students who commit without full aid info and then discover a gap once official packages come through. I'm still frustrated with the whole situation, but at least schools seem to be trying to adapt.

ur lucky shes even getting the fafsa processed. ive been stuck with the stupid contributor section error for WEEKS and cant get anyone on the phone!!! my daughters apps are all due soon and we still cant submit!!!

To address your specific concern about appeals: The financial aid appeals process doesn't typically deplete funding for initial aid offers. Schools budget separately for initial aid offers and for successful appeals. Also, for an in-state student who qualifies for a full Pell Grant, most public universities have specialized programs with guaranteed funding. These programs usually consider all eligible students regardless of when they applied, as long as it's before certain priority deadlines (which are typically much later than now). Your best approach is to have your daughter contact both the Federal Student Aid office to expedite adding the school, and the university's financial aid office to alert them of the incoming application and inquire about any state-specific programs she might qualify for.

Also important for the 2025-2026 FAFSA: you need to make sure you're using the right tax year information. They're looking for 2023 tax data, so make sure that's what you're accessing through the IRS tool. I've seen people accidentally try to pull the wrong year's data and get confused when it fails.

omg i had this same problem!!! what fixed it for me was using my EIN instead of SSN. im self employed and didnt realize that made a difference until someone at my school's financial aid office told me

im having the exact same problem but mine started after i needed to make a correction to my parents tax info. it keeps saying submitted in emails but shows incomplete on the site. so frustrating!!!

UPDATE: It worked!!! I followed the advice from @profile1 exactly (logged out, cleared cache, waited 30 mins, then tried again without changing anything) and it FINALLY submitted properly! Now studentaid.gov shows my application as complete and I got a different confirmation email that looks more official than the previous ones. Thank you all so much for your help! For anyone else facing this issue, definitely try those steps before starting over.

I work in a college financial aid office, and I can tell you this happens frequently. The good news is that once the signature issue is resolved, these applications are usually processed within 3-5 days. Most colleges understand these FAFSA processing delays and will work with you if you document your attempts to resolve the issue. I recommend: 1. Call FSA directly at 1-800-433-3243 2. Ask for the "signature resolution department" 3. Take notes during your call (get the rep's ID number) 4. Request they send you an email confirmation once the issue is resolved 5. Forward that confirmation to your son's college financial aid office Many schools have contingency plans for these FAFSA delays and may still consider him for priority aid if you document the signature issue was beyond your control.

Yes, I would definitely recommend contacting the financial aid office at each school your son applied to. Send them a brief email explaining the signature issue, that you're actively working with FSA to resolve it, and ask if this will affect his priority deadline consideration. Many schools will make a note in his file and may extend the deadline for his specific situation. Just be sure to follow up once the signature issue is actually resolved with proof from FSA.