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Have you checked your credit report to see what's being reported there? That might help clarify things. If MOHELA is showing paid in full but DOE isn't, your credit report might show which version lenders are seeing. Really important to get this fixed if you're planning any major purchases in the near future.
Great suggestion! Just pulled my credit reports and interestingly, all three show the loans as
when i did my fafsa they just asked for my adjusted gross income from my taxes, not all the schedule c stuff separately? maybe its different for different people idk
You're right that the FAFSA asks for AGI from your tax return, but the system also looks at other forms like Schedule C for business owners. Your AGI already includes your net business income/loss, but they may request additional information about business assets over certain thresholds. The simplified FAFSA has made this less complicated, but self-employed people often still need to provide more details.
I wanted to update everyone - we got our 2023 tax transcript directly from the IRS website and were able to complete our daughter's FAFSA yesterday! We didn't need to wait for our accountant at all. The process was much easier than I expected once we had the right information. Thank you all for your help and advice!
That's great news! Make sure to save a PDF copy of your submitted FAFSA in case there are any verification requests later. Some schools will ask for additional documentation, especially for self-employed parents. Having everything saved in one place makes that process much smoother.
Good idea - just downloaded a copy and saved it to our financial aid folder. I'll let our accountant know we didn't need his special worksheet after all! 😅
Glad to hear it! Now your selected schools should receive your information within 3-5 business days, and they can start preparing financial aid packages. Make sure to check each school's financial aid portal or student portal for any additional documentation they might require.
Thank you! I'll let my daughter know to keep an eye on her school portals too. This whole process is so different from when I applied for financial aid years ago!
anyone else think its weird that we have to do this every year? my cousins in canada just fill out one form for their whole college time, not this yearly nonsense with all these glitches and problems. the whole FAFSA system needs to be redone from scratch tbh
YES!!!! its so stupid. and they say the "simplified" it this year lolololol
While I understand the frustration, annual filing is actually necessary because family financial situations change year to year. The verification process ensures aid goes to those who need it most based on current circumstances. That said, the implementation this year has been problematic.
UPDATE: We figured it out! After trying everything suggested here, we found the issue. My daughter had a typo in her email address on the FAFSA, so the verification emails were going nowhere. We fixed the email, then I was able to complete the signature process WITHOUT the loop! Just got confirmation that it's processing now. We also contacted the financial aid offices at her top schools like @financialaidpro suggested, and they've been super helpful. They're going to prepare preliminary aid packages while we wait for the official SAI. Thanks for all the suggestions! For anyone else stuck in signature loop hell, check every single detail on your application - one tiny error can cause the whole system to break.
Ravi Patel
Any updates??? Did those suggestions work for you? I'm still stuck in FAFSA limbo over here and getting more desperate by the day. My school's final deadline is May 1st.
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Emma Johnson
•YES!! IT WORKED! I followed the advice from @profile2 with the incognito mode in Chrome plus using my phone hotspot instead of wifi. The submission finally went through last night! Got the confirmation email and everything. Try that exact combination - it seems like the wifi network might have been part of my problem all along.
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Chloe Martin
Glad to hear you got it working! For anyone else with this issue, I should add that the Education Department announced yesterday they've extended priority deadlines specifically because of these technical problems. Most schools are being flexible with the FAFSA deadlines this year due to the well-documented system issues. If you're still struggling, bring documentation of your attempts to your financial aid office - screenshots of errors, dates of support calls, etc. Many schools have processes for manual verification when students have made good-faith efforts to submit.
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Emma Johnson
•That's really good to know about the extended deadlines! I was so stressed about missing out on aid. I'm going to email my financial aid office anyway just to make sure they know I had technical difficulties in case anything is missing from my submission.
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