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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.
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
Important clarification: For most FAFSA applicants, you should use your Social Security Number (SSN), not an Employer Identification Number (EIN). The previous comment applies to a very specific situation that won't be relevant for most students. Using the wrong number type will cause the Data Retrieval Tool to fail.
have u tried getting thru to the fafsa ppl directly? i had a similar issue last yr and i finally got help after i used that claimyr service (claimyr.com) to get past the hold times at FSA. they have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ basically they wait on hold for you and then call you when a real person picks up. i was able to get someone at FSA who explained all my options and even sent an official letter i could take to my financial aid office that helped with my situation. definitely worth trying since it's so hard to get answers about special cases!
We haven't tried contacting FSA directly yet - just been dealing with the school's financial aid office. I'll definitely check out that service! Did the FSA give you different information than what your school told you? I'm wondering if they might have additional solutions the school hasn't mentioned.
I just went through this last semester with my FAFSA application! If your cousin is paying all her own bills and truly self-supporting, she should gather evidence of this - rent receipts, utility bills in her name, proof she's not claimed as a dependent on her parents' taxes (if possible). I brought all this documentation to my financial aid counselor and wrote a detailed letter explaining my situation. They initially said no to a dependency override, but when I asked for a Professional Judgment review instead and showed all my documentation of self-sufficiency, they were able to adjust my aid package. It didn't get me grants, but they found some institutional scholarships I qualified for that helped almost as much. Tell her not to give up after the first no!
This is really helpful! She does pay her own rent and utilities, so she can definitely gather those documents. I don't think she has proof about the tax dependency status though - her parents probably still claim her since that benefits them. Did you have to provide proof you weren't claimed as a dependent? Or was the other documentation enough?
Good question! I didn't have proof about not being claimed either (pretty sure my parents still claimed me too). The other documentation was enough to show I was self-supporting. The most important thing was having a detailed budget showing exactly how I cover all my expenses without parental support. That really convinced them my situation deserved special consideration.
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.
NeonNova
maybe the government designed it this way on purpose to discourage people from filing for aid lol. worked on me, i gave up after 2 weeks last year
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Mateo Rodriguez
•I've definitely had that thought too! But we really need this aid for our daughter so I'm pushing through the frustration. Seems crazy that something so important would be this difficult to complete.
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Aisha Abdullah
does ur spouse have a different last name? my husband and i have different last names and thats what was causing our issues for some reason
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Mateo Rodriguez
•No, we have the same last name. But that's interesting - I wonder if the system has issues with name matching generally. The whole thing seems so fragile!
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