FAFSA is the WORST!!!1! I had similar problems last year and spent DAYS trying to get it fixed. The whole systems a mess. Try contacting your daughter's college financial aid office too - sometimes they can see what's wrong on their end or give you specific advice. My daughter's college financial aid officer actually had a direct number to FAFSA that worked better than the public one.

any update? did u get it fixed? my nephews fafsa is having issues now too so curious what worked for u

All of these "solutions" are ridiculous. The entire new FAFSA system is a DISASTER. My daughter is about to miss scholarship deadlines because of these exact contributor issues. Why should we have to pay a third-party service just to talk to someone at FSA about THEIR broken system? This is your tax dollars at work, people!!

UPDATE: Finally fixed! For anyone with the same problem - we discovered my daughter had accidentally added a space at the end of my email address when entering it. The FSA agent we spoke to (thanks for the Claimyr tip, it worked great) said this is happening constantly. They need better error checking in their system! And yes, the -1500 SAI stayed the same after adding our info, which the agent confirmed is the optimal score for aid eligibility. Such a confusing system, but at least we're done now.

Speaking of FAFSA problems, has anyone else noticed that the new SAI calculation seems completely off? My family income actually decreased this year but somehow my SAI is $4,500 higher than last year's EFC. Makes no sense whatsoever.

UPDATE: Success! The incognito mode + keyboard navigation suggestion worked perfectly! I was able to enter my husband's birthdate and complete the contributor section. For anyone else having this issue, here's exactly what worked: 1. Chrome incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N) 2. Logged into studentaid.gov 3. Used only Tab key to navigate between fields 4. Entered the date as MM/DD/YYYY with the forward slashes Now I'm finally able to submit our FAFSA! Thank you all for the help!

wait i'm confused... isn't FAFSA using the 2023 tax info now for the 2025-26 form? why are they looking at your 2022 taxes?

Update: I wanted to thank everyone for the advice! I followed the suggestions and contacted the financial aid office proactively. They were actually really understanding about our situation. They gave us a specific list of documents to provide: 1. Copy of our extension paperwork 2. Letter from our tax professional 3. Documentation of our Fresh Start program enrollment 4. An estimated income worksheet (they provided their own form) They said they'd put a note in my son's file and as long as we provide these documents within 30 days, his work-study shouldn't be affected. They also said we'll need to provide the actual tax return info once we file, but that can be handled through a professional judgment review as someone suggested. I feel so much better knowing what to expect rather than just waiting for a potential verification issue to pop up! Thanks again to everyone who shared their experiences and advice.

I waited through processing last month and it took exactly 4 days. Most schools understand these FAFSA system issues - they deal with them constantly! Just document everything: take screenshots of the processing status and note the dates. Email your financial aid office now to let them know you're waiting on processing so you can make a final correction. They'll usually make a note in your file.

Quick update on your income correction question - a $1,800 difference in student income might not change your SAI significantly, but it's still best to correct it. The student income protection allowance for the 2025-2026 FAFSA is $9,410, and only 50% of income above that is counted. So the impact on your SAI would be approximately $450 (($18,600-$16,800)/2). If processing doesn't complete in time, this is exactly the type of situation where the financial aid office can help with a professional judgment adjustment.