


Ask the community...
Just wanted to update - I checked back and saw your responses. If you haven't tried Claimyr yet, I really suggest giving it a shot. The regular FSA phone lines are completely overwhelmed this year with all the FAFSA changes. When I finally got through, the agent told me they were handling 3x the normal call volume. Also, sometimes the SAI will suddenly appear without explanation after 6-8 weeks. The system seems to run batch processes that eventually catch stuck applications. But with your daughter's financial aid deadlines coming up in just 3 weeks, you probably don't have time to wait for that.
Thanks for checking back. We've tried everything suggested here with no luck. I think I'm going to try that Claimyr service tomorrow. At this point, I'll try anything because we're running out of time before her deadlines. I'll update here if we get it resolved!
I had a similar situation last month and what fixed it for me was contacting my daughter's college financial aid office directly. They were able to submit some kind of override request to FSA that unstuck the application. Worth trying alongside the other suggestions here.
my parents wouldnt give me their tax info for fafsa and i couldnt get financial aid. sucked big time. dont be that parent.
something nobody mentioned - the new FAFSA for 2025-2026 is way different from previous years. they changed a lot of stuff and now use something called the SAI instead of EFC. plus there's different rules about which parents need to provide info depending on if they're married or divorced. maybe double check the new requirements?
Good point about the changes! The 2025-2026 FAFSA uses the Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of the old EFC. However, the basic rule about married parents filing jointly hasn't changed - if you're married to a student's legal parent and file taxes jointly, your income is included in the calculation. The process for protecting privacy is still the same too - parents create their own FSA ID and handle entering their financial information.
Hi there! I work in a college financial aid office, and I can tell you we're seeing this exact issue quite frequently. The email system sending incorrect year references is a known bug. What matters most is what's in the actual FAFSA processing system. The best verification is to check your Student Aid Report (SAR) when it becomes available. That will explicitly state which award year it applies to. Also, if your dashboard shows the 2024/25 application as submitted/processing with both signatures, that's definitive confirmation that the correct application year is in process regardless of email glitches.
The SAR should be available within 3-7 days after submission in normal circumstances. However, with the current processing delays in the new system, we're seeing it take 7-14 days for some students. You'll receive another email when the SAR is ready (hopefully with the correct year this time!). You can then view it by logging into studentaid.gov and going to "My Documents." One important thing to note: make sure your daughter checks both her email AND her spam/junk folders for communications from Federal Student Aid. We've seen many important emails getting filtered there.
I remember filling out my kid's FAFSA back in January and being completely confused by all the contributor stuff too. The old system was so much easier! I agree with checking that signatures section - it should clearly show you which signatures are missing. But seriously Department of Education should've done a better job explaining these changes!!
Update: We figured it out! My son's father created his FSA ID last night (took about 15 minutes) and then signed in to complete his signature. This morning I got an email saying the FAFSA has been processed! Our SAI is showing now and everything looks correct. I'm still annoyed they didn't make this clearer anywhere in the instructions, but at least it's resolved. Thanks everyone for your help - you saved us from potentially losing thousands in financial aid!
That's great news! Glad you got it resolved before any deadlines passed. This seems to be a common issue this year with the new system. Make sure your son's selected schools have received the updated FAFSA (they should within a week).
PixelPioneer
my sister got a nursing scholarship from our local hospital foundation mid-year when she was struggling her sophomore year too. she had to write an essay and get a letter from one of her clinical instructors. maybe check if hospitals in your area have something similar?
0 coins
Dylan Cooper
•I hadn't thought about local hospital foundations! There are three major hospital systems in our city, so I'll definitely have her look into this. Thanks for the suggestion!
0 coins
Sofia Perez
also forgot to mention check with your employer!! my company offers dependent scholarships even for part time workers. its not huge (like $2500/yr) but everything helps!!! and my husband's union has scholarships for kids of members
0 coins
Dylan Cooper
•My company doesn't offer this benefit (I've checked), but my husband works for a large manufacturing company that might. I'll have him check with HR tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder!
0 coins