FAFSA
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FAFSA deadline PANIC - stuck on 'processing' screen, can't switch from 2023-24 to 2024-25 form
I'm freaking out!! Our family filled out the ENTIRE 2023-24 FAFSA form by mistake (ugh!), and now we're scrambling to complete the correct 2024-25 application before tomorrow's deadline. But when I try to open the new form, it just shows "processing" and I can't access ANYTHING. The parent contributor section says "Last Updated 04/12/2024" but it's completely frozen. My husband and daughter are also locked out - none of us can enter our tax information. The system keeps showing my daughter's name but won't let us proceed to enter any financial data! Is this normal when switching between application years? How long does this processing usually take?? We literally have HOURS before the priority deadline and I'm panicking that we'll miss out on thousands in aid because of a stupid technical glitch. Has anyone dealt with this before or know how to force it to open the correct form?
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Do students have to complete FAFSA first before parents when filing taxes separately?
I'm trying to coordinate with my daughter to finish her 2025-2026 FAFSA application and I'm confused about the process. From what I've heard, she has to complete her portion first before I can access and complete the parent section. Is this correct? \n\nAlso, how long does the student section typically take? She's super busy with her senior year classes and I want to give her a realistic timeframe for when she needs to get it done.\n\nOne other thing - my husband and I file our taxes as married filing separately. Does that complicate the parent portion? Last year we had some issues with the tax verification part because of our filing status. Just trying to be prepared this time around so we don't miss any deadlines!
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For married couples, all assets are considered shared for FAFSA purposes, regardless of whose name is on the accounts. So you'll need to report:\n\n- Individual accounts in your name\n- Individual accounts in your husband's name\n- Any joint accounts\n\nThe FAFSA doesn't distinguish between separate and joint accounts for married parents - it all gets reported as parent assets. This is true even if you file taxes separately.
FAFSA stuck in review for weeks - normal processing times for 2025-2026?
I finally managed to get through the whole FAFSA application for 2025-2026 after dealing with the website crashing like 5 times! Got everything submitted last Monday and now it's stuck on 'In Review' status. No idea if this is normal or if something's wrong. The studentaid.gov dashboard just shows a little progress bar that hasn't moved in days.\n\nHow long does this review stage typically take? Anyone else waiting? I'm stressing because my school's priority deadline is coming up in 3 weeks and I'm worried I won't have my SAI score in time. Should I be calling someone or just keep waiting?
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FAFSA 2025-26 delays causing missed May 1st college deadlines - is this investigation serious?
Just listened to a podcast on my Alexa called 'Lets talk Financial Aid for college/financial aid compliance solutions' and they were discussing some major investigation into the FAFSA rollout disaster. According to them, tons of schools still haven't pushed back their May 1st decision deadlines even though nobody has their aid packages! They said something about the Department of Ed building being practically empty - like nobody's actually working on fixing this?? My daughter applied to 7 schools and we have ZERO financial aid packages with 3 weeks until deposit deadlines. Has anyone else heard about this investigation? Are schools going to be forced to push deadlines back? We literally can't make a decision without knowing what we'll owe!
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Here's an important update that wasn't mentioned in the podcast: The Department of Education just announced they've processed over 3.5 million FAFSA forms as of last week, which is significant progress compared to where they were a month ago. They're now processing approximately 250,000 forms per week. If your daughter submitted her FAFSA within the past 6-8 weeks, there's a good chance it will be processed soon. The SAI (Student Aid Index) calculations are being sent to colleges in batches, and colleges typically need 1-2 weeks after receiving the SAI to prepare aid packages. Regarding the May 1st deadline - the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has officially requested all colleges extend their deadlines. Most are complying, even if they haven't updated their websites yet. You have legitimate grounds to request extensions from any school that hasn't received your FAFSA data.
This makes me feel a bit better. We submitted in early March, so hopefully we're in one of the upcoming batches. I'll definitely mention the NACAC recommendation when I call the schools. Thank you!
my sons freinds dad works at a college and said ALOT of kids aren't even bothering with FAFSA this year because of the mess. there gonna be like 40% less pell grants given out because of all this!!! government mess
This is concerning but not entirely accurate. While FAFSA completion rates were down 40% earlier this year, they've recovered somewhat (now down about 25% year-over-year). The Department of Education has confirmed that all Pell Grant-eligible students will still receive their grants - the issue is timing, not eligibility. I strongly recommend everyone complete the FAFSA despite the challenges, as billions in aid remains available.
FAFSA account creation stuck between steps 6-7 after SSN correction - system won't progress
I'm at my wit's end with the studentaid.gov website! I accidentally transposed two numbers on my son's SSN when initially creating his FAFSA account. Now I'm trying to start over with the correct SSN, but the system keeps freezing at the same spot - between steps 6 and 7 during account creation. I click 'agree' to the terms and hit 'complete' but absolutely nothing happens. No error message, no progress to the next screen, just... nothing. This exact same thing happened last time and I spent WEEKS trying to fix it. Eventually it randomly worked one day with no explanation. Has anyone else dealt with this SSN correction nightmare? Any tricks to get past this frozen screen? The October deadline is coming up fast and I'm getting desperate!
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The FAFSA system gets incredibly bogged down in September and October. Their servers simply can't handle the traffic volume during peak filing season. I've been through this four times with my kids! One trick that hasn't been mentioned: try accessing the site using your phone's cellular data instead of your home wifi. Sometimes ISP routing or security settings can interfere with certain government websites.
That's a great suggestion! I'll try using my phone data as a hotspot for my laptop. And yes, I'm realizing I picked the worst possible time to deal with this correction issue.
UPDATE: IT WORKED!!! Combination of things that finally got me through: using Chrome incognito mode + creating a brand new email + manually typing all fields (no autofill) + using my phone's hotspot instead of home wifi. Plus I did it at 5:30 AM when server traffic was probably low. THANK YOU ALL for your suggestions! Now on to actually completing the FAFSA itself... 😅
Great news! And thanks for coming back to share what worked - that combination of solutions will definitely help others facing the same issue. Good luck with the rest of the application!
Micah Franklin
Just a quick heads up - many schools have different priority deadlines, and some are later than others. Double-check with your daughter's specific schools about THEIR actual deadlines. It might not be as urgent as you think for all of them. I made this mistake too and stressed for nothing when some schools had May deadlines!
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Austin Leonard
AuthorThat's a good point. Her top choice school definitely has tomorrow as the cutoff for full consideration, but I'll check the others. Still need to get this fixed ASAP regardless.
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Abigail Spencer
One more suggestion: If the FAFSA form remains stuck in processing, document your attempts to submit on time. Take screenshots of error messages, record dates/times of your attempts, and prepare a brief explanation. Then, immediately contact the financial aid offices at your daughter's schools to explain the situation. Many schools have hardship provisions for technical difficulties with FAFSA submissions. Also, the FAFSA processing system typically updates overnight between 11pm-5am Eastern Time. Sometimes applications that have been "processing" all day will suddenly become available after this maintenance window.
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Austin Leonard
AuthorThank you so much. I just got off the phone with a FAFSA agent (used that Claimyr service someone mentioned - it actually worked!). They manually cleared our processing status and I can now access the correct 2024-25 form! We're going to stay up all night if needed to get this submitted. I really appreciate everyone's help!
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