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has anyone tried those income share agreements?? my cousin did one where he doesn't pay anything now but gives like 3% of his income after graduation for 5 years. sounds better than loans tbh
Income Share Agreements (ISAs) are available at some schools, but I'd approach with caution. They may seem appealing since there's no interest, but if you end up with a high-paying job after graduation, you could pay back significantly more than with traditional loans. They also have less regulation and consumer protections than federal loans. They're typically only available for specific programs or schools, so you'd need to check if your institution offers them. I'd recommend exhausting federal loan options first, as they have income-driven repayment plans that can also cap payments based on what you earn, plus potential loan forgiveness programs.
Thank you all SO MUCH for the advice! I've made a plan based on everyone's suggestions: 1. Accept all my federal loans from FAFSA 2. Visit financial aid office in person next week to discuss: - Professional Judgment review (since my dad lost his job) - Emergency aid funds - Parent PLUS loan application (worth trying even with their credit issues) - Payment plan options 3. Look into state aid programs 4. Apply for more scholarships I'll update once I know more! This has been incredibly helpful.
THE WHOLE FAFSA SYSTEM IS BROKEN THIS YEAR!!! Sorry for yelling but I'm so frustrated with all the problems. My daughter's application has been "processing" for 2 months, my son can't get verification completed, and now I'm hearing about this contributor invitation issue from multiple people. The Department of Education should be ashamed of themselves for rolling out such a buggy system when students' futures depend on this. Good luck getting through to anyone there - I've literally called 20+ times and given up.
I feel your frustration! This really shouldn't be so difficult. It's stressful enough getting twins ready for college without having to deal with technical glitches in such an important system. I hope they fix these issues soon, especially since so many schools have early priority deadlines for financial aid.
Any update? Did you figure out which of the suggestions worked? I'm curious because my sister is having the same problem with her husband's account and twin boys too!
Yes! After trying everything, what finally worked was actually two things: 1) We discovered his email wasn't fully verified in his FSA ID account even though he could log in, and 2) We used that Claimyr service someone mentioned to get through to FSA, who confirmed there was a bug with multiple student invites coming close together. They manually added him as a contributor to both applications. Both twins' FAFSAs are finally complete! Tell your sister to check the email verification status first - that seems to be a common issue.
@CollegeCounselor4 is exactly right. As someone working in financial aid, I can confirm this is a system limitation they're still working on. The 30-minute system timeout is crucial - we've found that's the minimum time needed for the system to fully reset the session cookies.
We tried the date format suggestion but it didn't work. Going to try this timeout approach next. So grateful for all the expert advice here!
UPDATE: SUCCESS! We followed @CollegeCounselor4's exact instructions, waiting the full 30 minutes after clearing cookies before logging back in. Then my husband went directly to the signature page without reviewing anything else. It worked! The confirmation page finally appeared after clicking sign. THANK YOU all for your help - this forum literally saved us from weeks more frustration and potentially missing aid deadlines. For anyone else with non-US contributors getting stuck in the signature loop, the timeout period seems to be the critical factor.
So glad it worked! This is exactly why I share these workarounds - the official guidance isn't keeping up with the actual system issues. Congrats on getting it resolved!
my daughtr applyed in decembrr and stil nothin. we try callin but never get thru. The whole thing is rigged if u ask me
UPDATE: Finally got through to FSA after using that Claimyr service someone mentioned! The agent confirmed our application is actually complete and the SAI has been calculated, but there's a delay in sending it to schools. She said we should see it in the portal within 5-7 days. I've also reached out to all three of my daughter's top schools and two have agreed to extend her decision deadline to June 1st if needed. The third school said they could provide a preliminary package by next week using last year's formula. Feeling much better now! Thanks everyone for the advice and support.
Great update! This is exactly the right approach. The schools know this isn't your fault, and most are being very flexible this year. Glad to hear you're making progress!
thanks for sharing! going to try reaching out to schools tomorrow
Amina Sy
Just to provide a bit more insight - while this FAFSA rollout has been problematic, there are some benefits to the new system. The SAI calculation is more fair than the old EFC system for many families, especially those with multiple children in college. Many schools are developing contingency plans now. Some options I've seen: 1. Provisional enrollment with estimated aid packages based on prior year data 2. Extended payment deadlines with no late fees 3. Emergency institutional grants to bridge the gap 4. Tuition deferment plans requiring minimal upfront payment Don't give up hope for fall enrollment yet. Contact financial aid weekly to stay on their radar and check your FAFSA status daily. The situation is fluid and improving gradually as processors work through the backlog.
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Keisha Williams
•Thank you for the encouraging words. I'll definitely start checking in weekly with financial aid. It's reassuring to hear that schools are creating contingency plans - hopefully my son's university will implement something similar instead of pushing enrollment to January.
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Oliver Fischer
my nephew who works in IT says the whole FAFSA system was built on legacy code from like the 90s and they tried to update it all at once instead of in phases thats why its so broken. not helpful info but explains why its such a mess lol
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NebulaNomad
•EXACTLY! And they spent $121 MILLION on this "modernization" project according to a report I read. Our tax dollars at work, folks! They should have tested it thoroughly before forcing it on students whose futures depend on it working correctly.
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