One more thing about verification - if your son is attending college this fall (2025-2026 academic year), you should prioritize completing the verification process ASAP. Many colleges have priority deadlines for financial aid, and while verification won't make him ineligible, it could delay his aid package and potentially impact the institutional aid he receives. If you run into issues with the verification process, don't hesitate to contact the school's financial aid office directly. They're usually more responsive than the Federal Student Aid helpline and can provide guidance specific to their institution's requirements. And for Illinois specifically, look into the Golden Apple Scholars program if your son is interested in teaching in high-need schools in Illinois. It provides up to $23,000 in tuition assistance plus stipends and mentoring.

btw the verification stuff is annoying but usually takes like 2-3 weeks to process once you submit everything. just make sure u send EXACTLY what they ask for. my roommate had to resubmit twice bc he sent the wrong tax form lol

quick update - my daughters SAI finally came thru and it was COMPLETELY wrong!!! now we have to submit a correction and wait AGAIN. this is such a nightmare

For those still waiting, here's what many financial aid offices are advising students to do: 1. Screenshot your confirmation page showing the date you submitted the FAFSA 2. Email this screenshot to each college's financial aid office 3. Ask for a provisional financial aid offer based on your submission date Many schools are making accommodations and extending deadlines due to these unprecedented delays. Don't assume you'll lose opportunities - proactive communication with your schools is key.

One additional important note: The 2025-2026 FAFSA uses the streamlined formula with the Student Aid Index (SAI) replacing the old EFC. For your bankruptcy situation, this means: 1. The base FAFSA still won't account for your bankruptcy payments 2. The changes mostly affect how parent income and assets are assessed 3. The professional judgment process still works the same way (schools have authority to adjust data elements) Make sure you're ready to file when the FAFSA opens (December 1st) and then IMMEDIATELY begin the professional judgment process with each school. Don't wait until aid offers come out.

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! I'm going to: 1. File FAFSA with just my and my current husband's information 2. Prepare a complete bankruptcy documentation package 3. Contact each school's financial aid office about their professional judgment process 4. Submit all documentation before their deadlines 5. Follow up to confirm receipt and processing And if I have trouble reaching FSA, I'll definitely try that Claimyr service. This is all so much more complicated than I expected, but at least now I have a plan.

THE ENTIRE FINANCIAL AID SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!!! My son's FAFSA was "missing" at two schools but "complete" at three others AT THE SAME TIME!!! How is that even possible?? It's all the SAME FEDERAL SYSTEM!!! Then we find out weeks later that the problem was the schools that couldn't "find" his FAFSA were looking under his SSN with a typo. BUT THEY NEVER TOLD US. We only found out because I physically went to the financial aid office and made them check. Check for typos in how they have your student listed!!!

Final recommendation: Email the financial aid office at the third school, include your daughter's full name, student ID if you have it, and date of birth. Explain that the FAFSA is complete with an SAI showing on studentaid.gov and that other schools have already processed it successfully. Ask if there's anything specific they need from you to complete processing. Sometimes a direct email gets better results than phone calls, and you'll have documentation of your communication efforts if there are any issues with deadlines.

The new FAFSA is a complete disaster. My daughter lost thousands in institutional aid because we couldn't submit on time due to these exact technical issues. The government had THREE YEARS to prepare the new system and yet here we are with these basic functions not working. And good luck getting help - the phone lines are a joke. This will end up hurting the most financially vulnerable students who don't have parents with time to troubleshoot these ridiculous problems.

UPDATE: I finally got it working! For anyone else stuck in this loop, here's what worked for me: 1. I followed the advice about entering zeros in ALL asset fields (even ones that didn't apply to me) 2. I removed all commas and dollar signs from every financial field 3. I used an incognito browser window after clearing cache After doing all three, I was FINALLY able to get to the signature page and complete the submission. My son's SAI calculation appeared about 2 hours later. Thank you everyone for your help with this frustrating issue!