Can't reach FAFSA? Claimyr connects you to a live FAFSA agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the FAFSA
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the FAFSA drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
Anyone else finding the whole parent vs contributor thing confusing in the new FAFSA? Like I'm divorced and my ex has to fill out stuff too but he's not really a "contributor" financially if you know what I mean lol
Great question about the contributor situation! For divorced parents, the FAFSA now requires information from the parent who provides the most financial support to the student, regardless of who the student lives with. The other parent is not required to provide information unless they're still married to the providing parent. This is different from the CSS Profile (used by some private schools), which often requires information from both biological parents regardless of marital status.
Thank you all SO MUCH for the helpful advice! I've created our FSA IDs (still waiting on the verification email for my son's account), downloaded the worksheet PDF, and started gathering our 2023 tax documents. I feel much more prepared now. I'll definitely be trying to submit early on December 1st, but it's good to know about that Claimyr service if we run into technical issues. And I appreciate the clarification about the contributor vs parent situation - that could have been confusing! One last question - does anyone know if scholarships my son already won (a $5,000 merit scholarship from his top choice school) need to be reported on the FAFSA?
The merit scholarship from the school doesn't need to be reported on your FAFSA. The school already knows about it since they awarded it, and they'll factor it into your overall financial aid package. You only need to report external scholarships (like from community organizations, private companies, etc.) to the school directly, not on the FAFSA. Congratulations to your son on earning that scholarship!
Join the conversation
my son is at college now and honestly the fafsa was way easier than i thought it would be!! took like 30 mins. they fixed a bunch of the problems from last year i think. don't stress too much!!
That's really reassuring! Did you have any investment or self-employment income to report? That's the part I'm most worried about.
just some stocks but nothing complicated. my brother has his own business tho and he said it wasn't that bad either! good luck!!
Rather than paying for a consultant, I'd suggest attending a financial aid night at your daughter's high school or a local college. They're usually free and cover both FAFSA and CSS Profile. For your specific self-employment questions, you could also schedule a one-time meeting with a fee-only financial advisor who specializes in college planning (not the commissioned kind who will try to sell you financial products). They can review your specific situation and advise on both FAFSA reporting and potential tax planning strategies that might improve your aid eligibility for sophomore year onward. Also, don't forget to check if each college has differential additional scholarships your daughter might qualify for beyond standard financial aid.
The financial aid nights ARE USUALLY WORTHLESS!!! They just cover the absolute basics that anyone could figure out from the website. They NEVER address complicated situations like self-employment or divorced parents!!!
That hasn't been my experience, but it definitely varies by school. I attended one at a local university that had financial aid officers answering specific questions after the presentation. But yes, for truly complex situations, individual consultation might be needed. College financial aid offices themselves can also be surprisingly helpful with specific questions if you call them directly.
Join the conversation
My son's FAFSA was stuck on "Still In Review" for 7 weeks before finally processing. The date changed 3 times during that period. We were panicking because his university's housing deposit was due and we needed to know his aid package first. I ended up calling the Federal Student Aid helpline 12 TIMES before getting through. Turns out there was a mismatch between his Social Security number and name that was causing the delay, but nothing on the dashboard indicated this problem. The whole system needs to be more transparent.
7 weeks is terrifying. Did your son's school make any accommodations while you were waiting? I'm worried about missing housing deadlines too.
Yes, fortunately his school was understanding. They let him place a partial housing deposit to hold his spot and extended his financial aid paperwork deadline. Many schools are being flexible this year because the FAFSA delays are affecting everyone. Just be proactive about communicating with your school's financial aid office - don't wait until the last minute to ask for accommodations.
Financial aid administrator here. The 2025-2026 FAFSA processing timeline is significantly longer than previous years. Current average processing time is 4-6 weeks, with some applications taking up to 8 weeks if selected for verification. The date change you're seeing is typically just a system update and doesn't necessarily indicate progress. I recommend three actions: 1. Contact your school's financial aid office immediately to alert them to the delay 2. Ask about provisional aid packaging based on estimated information 3. Request documentation that you submitted your FAFSA prior to priority deadlines Most institutions are implementing flexible deadlines this cycle due to the nationwide processing delays.
Thank you so much for this detailed information! This is really helpful. Is there anything specific I should be watching for that would indicate my application is stuck rather than just slow? Any red flags I should be aware of?
Good question. Watch for status changes to "Action Required" or "More Information Needed" - these indicate your application is stuck rather than processing. Also check your email (including spam folder) daily for communications from Federal Student Aid. If your FAFSA status remains unchanged for more than 6 weeks, that's when I'd recommend attempting to contact FSA directly for a status update as it may indicate a hidden issue with your application.
Join the conversation
Just to clarify, here's what happened with the FAFSA simplification: 1. The FUTURE Act and FAFSA Simplification Act completely redesigned the form 2. Direct data sharing with IRS eliminated the need for manual financial information input 3. They reduced questions by about 80% from the original form 4. The new SAI calculation replaced the old EFC formula 5. Most importantly, they eliminated questions about untaxed income, assets for many families, and simplified household size reporting So what you experienced is correct and working as designed! Just make sure you check your studentaid.gov account in 3-5 days to see your calculated SAI and ensure there are no flags for verification.
This is SO helpful, thank you! One last question - does this mean schools will be processing financial aid packages faster too since everything is streamlined? I'm trying to make my college decision by May and hoping to have all the aid info by then.
Great question! While the FAFSA processing is faster, schools still operate on their own timelines for assembling and sending financial aid packages. Most aim to get packages out by April for regular decision students. The streamlined FAFSA helps them, but they still need to evaluate each student's eligibility for institutional aid beyond federal programs. I'd recommend contacting your specific schools' financial aid offices about their timelines.
Update for anyone who comes across this post: I checked my studentaid.gov account today (3 days after submission) and my SAI score is already calculated! It shows as processed and sent to all my selected schools. The new system really is that much faster. Just wanted to confirm for others who might be suspicious like I was.
That's awesome! Did you get any kind of estimate of what aid you might qualify for? Or do we still have to wait for each individual school to put together an aid package?
Still waiting on the individual schools to create aid packages. The SAI is just a number that helps schools determine eligibility, but each school will use it differently depending on their available funds and institutional aid policies. My understanding is we still need to wait for those official award letters.
Natasha Kuznetsova
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!!
0 coins
Zainab Omar
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!
0 coins
Connor Murphy
•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).
0 coins
Yara Sayegh
•awesome!! so glad it worked out. the new system is the WORST but at least u figured it out!
0 coins