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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!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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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!
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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.
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I've been working in financial aid for 12 years and this is THE WORST rollout I've ever seen. The simplified FAFSA was supposed to make things easier but the technical problems have been endless. Please be patient with your schools' financial aid offices - we're just as frustrated as you are! One tip: if your student is deciding between schools, contact each financial aid office directly. Many have institutional funds they can use while waiting for official FAFSA processing.
Thanks for this insider perspective! It's helpful to know the schools are struggling with this too. I was worried my daughter's college was just being slow, but sounds like they're dealing with a mess on their end as well.
wait ur saying they're actually getting through applications from January NOW? maybe there's hope for my December app then lol
They seem to be processing in random batches rather than chronologically. My neighbor submitted in February and got processed before us (we submitted in January). Try logging into studentaid.gov to check your current status - might have updated without you getting a notification.
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idk but we added schools on 4/22 and they showed up right away? maybe try deleting cookies or using different browser? just a thought
I hadn't thought about trying a different browser. I'll give that a shot, thanks!
Update for everyone following this thread - I just checked with a colleague who works in financial aid processing, and they confirmed there was a system-wide issue affecting school list updates during the first week of May. The good news is that despite the visual glitch in the FAFSA portal, the schools ARE receiving your information correctly in most cases. The Department of Education is aware of the issue and working on fixing the display problem. But as others have suggested, contacting the schools directly to verify receipt is the safest approach right now.
Thank you so much for checking and providing this update! This is extremely helpful and gives me a lot of peace of mind. I'll still follow up with the schools but it's good to know this is a system-wide issue that's being addressed.
OF COURSE there was a system issue the EXACT week I made my corrections too! 🤦♂️ Thanks for confirming what we all suspected - the entire system is fundamentally broken. Appreciate the inside info though!
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One more tip regarding the 2025-26 FAFSA timeline: - Create FSA IDs now (October/November) - Application opens December 1, 2024 - Complete FAFSA as soon as possible after opening (ideally December/January) - Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation typically arrives 3-5 days after submission - Schools receive your information after SAI calculation - Aid packages typically sent February-April depending on the school Even though the deadline isn't until June 30, 2026, many state and institutional aid programs have much earlier deadlines and some operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Always aim to submit as close to the December opening as possible.
This timeline is extremely helpful! I had no idea some aid was first-come, first-served. We'll definitely aim to submit in December. Is the 2025-26 application based on our 2023 tax information like the current application?
Yes, the 2025-26 FAFSA will use your 2023 tax information (which you filed in 2024). This is part of the prior-prior year system they use now, which makes it easier since you'll already have completed those tax returns. One other thing to prepare - if you and your daughter both have smartphones, I recommend downloading the myStudentAid mobile app. You can create the FSA IDs and complete the FAFSA through the app as well, and some people find the mobile interface easier than the desktop site.
Perfect! We already have our 2023 taxes filed, so that part should be straightforward. I didn't know about the mobile app - will definitely check that out. Thanks for all the help!
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My daughter wanted to go to college so I told her to get a job instead. No FAFSA headaches, no student loans. She's been working at the mall for 6 months now and seems happy enough. Maybe college isn't worth all this trouble anyway?
This isn't helpful at all. The OP is trying to complete a FAFSA so their son can get financial aid for college, not debating whether college is worthwhile. Please stay on topic.
Just sharing my experience. Financial aid isn't always worth the trouble. My nephew did the FAFSA last year and only got offered loans anyway.
UPDATE: We tried creating a completely new FSA ID with a different email address for my husband, and IT WORKED!! We had to wait 3 days for the SSN verification to process, but we finally got in and completed the FAFSA last night! Thank you to everyone who suggested solutions. The email address change seemed to be the key for us - I guess his old email was somehow linked to an account in the system even though he couldn't access it. For anyone facing similar issues: definitely try the different email approach before resorting to paper forms. And I'm going to check out that Claimyr service for future reference since we'll have to do this all again next year.
Fantastic news! I'm glad the new email address solution worked. That's typically the best fix when the system is showing the "invalid SSN" error but the number is actually correct. One tip for next year: have your husband write down ALL the information for this new FSA ID and store it somewhere secure. Even small variations in the information next year could trigger these same problems again.
Already done! We created a dedicated password manager entry with screenshots of exactly how everything was entered. Never going through this headache again if we can help it!
Ella Lewis
One thing no one mentioned yet - with PLUS loans, even though they're in your name, your daughter can take over payments after graduation if she wants to help out. They remain legally your responsibility, but many families have arrangements where the student makes the payments. Just make sure you're on the same page about expectations.
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Hunter Edmunds
•That's actually our plan - we're covering the first two years completely, and then she'll help with payments after graduation. Good to know this is common practice with other families too!
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Alexis Renard
Based on all the information you've shared - stable income but modest emergency fund, 5-7 year repayment timeline, and good but not exceptional credit - I would recommend a hybrid approach: 1. Start with a smaller private loan (perhaps $5,000-8,000) at the best fixed rate you can secure with your husband as the primary applicant (using his 780 score). 2. Use PLUS loans for the remaining $10,000-13,000 to ensure you have federal protections for the majority of your debt. This gives you the best of both worlds - some interest savings from the private portion while maintaining federal safeguards for most of the obligation. It also lets you compare both systems firsthand before making decisions about future years of funding.
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Hunter Edmunds
•This is brilliant! I think we'll do exactly that. We can probably get a decent fixed rate with my husband's credit score for a portion, and keep the federal protections for the rest. Thanks so much for taking the time to provide such thoughtful advice!
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