am i the only one whos parents refused to provide their info for fafsa?? my dad said its "invasive" and wont give me his tax info so now i cant even apply for financial aid. anyone know if u can do fafsa without parent info somehow??

Thank you all SO MUCH for all this advice! I think I understand the process now: 1. First, my mom and I both need to create FSA IDs 2. Gather all our financial documents 3. Set aside several hours when we're both available 4. Complete the form on studentaid.gov 5. Double-check all numbers match exactly with our tax forms 6. Submit well before my school's deadline (I'll verify what that actually is) I'm still nervous but feel way more prepared now. Will let you all know how it goes! 🙏

This is EXCELLENT news! I'm so glad she was persistent and asked to speak with someone more senior. That often makes all the difference. The documentation she gathered sounds perfect - especially the therapist letter. Looking forward to hearing the final outcome!

Thank you! She said she felt so much more confident going in with all the specific advice from this thread. The Assistant Director even commented that she was impressed with how prepared she was with her documentation. Fingers crossed!!

not to get off topic but make sure ur checking if schools require css profile too! my cousin missed out on so much $$$ because he only did FAFSA and didnt realize his private college needed css profile too for their institutional aid!!

I'd like to add a few more points about that -1500 SAI: 1. Always look for the "gift aid ratio" - what percentage of your package is free money (grants/scholarships) versus loans/work. With your SAI, you should expect at least 80-85% gift aid at most institutions. 2. Private colleges using the CSS Profile can sometimes offer more to students with low assets but moderate income than to those with very low income but some assets, even with the same SAI. This is because they collect more detailed financial information. 3. Keep in mind that your SAI only accounts for your financial situation when you applied. If anything has changed (job loss, medical expenses, etc.), you can request a professional judgment review. 4. Some selective private colleges have policies to meet 100% of demonstrated need with no loans for families under certain income thresholds. With your SAI, these could be worth considering even if they seem expensive initially.

Just wanted to follow up and mention that checking your status obsessively won't make it process any faster. The system doesn't work that way. Once you submit, it enters a processing queue and checking the status doesn't move you up in line. One thing that might be useful is to verify that your daughter's Student Aid Account is properly linked to your Parent FAFSA Account. Sometimes processing delays happen when the system has trouble matching the accounts. If you log into studentaid.gov, go to the account settings and check if the parent-student link shows as verified. If it shows pending or has any warnings, that could explain the delay.

Sorry for jumping in late, but I wanted to ask - did you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool when filling out the income section? Applications that use the DRT tend to process faster because the income data is pre-verified. If you manually entered tax info, that could be causing the delay as they have to verify everything manually.

Just a quick update - my son's application that had been stuck since January finally processed yesterday! The SAI and DRN are now visible in his studentaid.gov account. It seems like they might be starting to work through the backlog. One thing that helped us was having the financial aid office at his top-choice school submit an official request for his FAFSA information. The financial aid counselor told me they have a special channel to request expedited processing for students approaching decision deadlines. Might be worth asking your kids' schools if they can do something similar. They have more leverage with the Department of Education than we do as individuals.

UPDATE: I'm making progress! Following everyone's advice: 1. I've submitted a case through the FSA Feedback Center 2. Both schools have granted an extension on the May 1st deadline 3. I used Claimyr and actually got through to someone who confirmed my daughter's application should complete processing within 7-10 days 4. For my son, they gave me his DRN over the phone which I've provided to his school The financial aid officer also confirmed what many of you said - they're experiencing unprecedented delays with the new FAFSA system. She mentioned they can create a preliminary aid package based on the information we've already provided while waiting for the official SAI. Thank you all for your help and suggestions! This has been incredibly stressful, but I feel like we're finally making progress.