Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but there is also a specific lockout happening for students who have ANY mismatch between their FSA ID information and their Social Security Administration records. Even something small like using "Wm" instead of "William" or a hyphenated last name can trigger it with the new system. Had one student who couldn't access because they had moved and their address didn't match what SSA had on file!

Update: FSA just released a statement about this issue. It's officially acknowledged as a system-wide problem affecting approximately 5-7% of all active FSA ID accounts. They're implementing a fix by this weekend that should automatically resolve most cases. For urgent cases (students with approaching deadlines), they've established a dedicated helpline: 1-888-FSA-HELP (select option 4, then 2). This line is specifically for account access issues and has shorter wait times than the regular support line.

When my daughter started college last year, I found myself in a similar situation - wanting to combine Parent PLUS loans with out-of-pocket payments. Here's what I learned the hard way: 1. Financial aid and student accounts/billing are TWO SEPARATE OFFICES at most schools. If you're asking about payment plans and billing, you need the Bursar's Office or Student Accounts, not Financial Aid. 2. The Parent PLUS loan process is frustrating because you have to specify an amount, but the exact bill isn't always clear when you're applying. 3. If you ever need to INCREASE your Parent PLUS loan mid-year (which we did), there's additional paperwork and another credit check. If I could do it all over again, I would have borrowed slightly MORE than I thought I needed for fall semester, then adjusted downward for spring once I had a better handle on our finances.

One more tip from my experience: the Parent PLUS loan application asks for the loan period (academic year) and loan amount. If you indicate a full academic year loan period but later decide you don't need the spring semester portion, you can cancel that disbursement without penalty before it's processed. This gives you flexibility - if your financial situation improves dramatically, you can cancel the spring portion. If not, it's already approved and ready to disburse. Also, keep in mind that Parent PLUS loans require a new application each academic year, so you'll go through this process again next year for your son's sophomore year.

Have you checked if your application is stuck in verification? Sometimes the system flags applications for verification but doesn't clearly communicate it. For grad students with separate filing spouses, the FAFSA often requires additional verification due to the separate tax situations. Log into studentaid.gov and check the verification status specifically.

Update on your situation: I consulted with our graduate financial aid specialist. For the 2025-26 FAFSA, there's a known issue affecting graduate students with separate-filing contributors. The system sometimes fails to process applications when there's any discrepancy in financial information, particularly with retirement accounts and business income. My recommendation: 1. Start a fresh application 2. Have both your and your husband's tax documents ready side-by-side 3. Report retirement accounts on the correct person's profile (not split) 4. Be extremely precise with business income if either of you has any 5. Double-check the "support provided" section numbers The good news is that graduate student aid deadlines are typically later than undergraduate, so you should still have time to correct this for fall semester.

I just want to warn you about something that RUINED us last year. When they ask about assets, DO NOT include your retirement accounts (401k, IRA, etc) or the value of your primary home. I made this mistake and it MASSIVELY inflated our SAI score. My son lost out on like $8000 in grants because of my mistake!!!! By the time I realized and tried to correct it, they said it was too late for that academic year. The instructions are confusing but trust me - ONLY include checking/savings accounts, secondary properties, investments, and business assets if you own more than 50% of a business with over 100 employees.

To answer your follow-up question about W-2s: While the total from your tax return is most important, it's good to have all individual W-2s available just in case. Sometimes the verification process requires them, especially if you or your spouse had multiple employers. Also, the IRS Data Retrieval Tool doesn't transfer all information - just the main tax return data. For any income not reported on your federal tax return (like child support received), you'll need to enter that manually. One final tip - take screenshots of your confirmation page and save/print the confirmation email. I've had instances where students' FAFSAs were claimed to be "not received" despite confirmation numbers. Having that documentation saved me weeks of headaches.

SUCCESS UPDATE: We finally got it to work! The banner was there when my husband logged in, just like @profile4 mentioned. He clicked it, verified his identity again (for like the 5th time), entered his tax info, and was able to sign his portion. Our application status now shows "Processing" instead of "Action Required." Thank you all for your help - this forum literally saved us thousands in financial aid!

Great to hear! Just a heads up - the "Processing" status typically takes 3-5 business days before you get your SAI calculation. If you filed separately, there's about a 40% chance you'll be selected for verification (compared to about 15% for joint filers), so don't panic if that happens. Just respond promptly with the requested documents. The new FAFSA system actually gives much better explanations of what each document should contain compared to previous years.