Financial aid advisor here. There's a lot of confusion in this thread I want to clear up: 1. For immediate help with potential default: Call your servicer and request an Administrative Forbearance specifically while you resolve the IDR application issues. They must grant this while paperwork is being processed. 2. For the tax return issue: You can submit alternative documentation of income (recent pay stubs) instead of tax returns for IDR qualification if you're having issues with your tax documents. 3. For long-term solutions: The new SAVE plan (replacement for REPAYE) caps undergraduate loan payments at 5% of discretionary income instead of 10%. 4. If you're unemployed: Your IDR payment should be $0 during this period. 5. Interest capitalization rules have changed under the new regulations - interest should not be capitalizing except in specific circumstances now. I recommend filing a complaint with the FSA Ombudsman if your servicer is providing incorrect information or not processing your applications properly.

I had a similar nightmare with defaulted loans. What eventually worked for me: 1. Filed a CFPB complaint against my servicer (surprisingly effective) 2. Got into the Fresh Start program to get out of default 3. IMMEDIATELY applied for income-based repayment with my $0 income 4. Requested a recalculation when I found employment The system is absolutely broken, but there are pathways through it. Don't ignore it though - that makes everything worse. And DOCUMENT EVERYTHING - dates of calls, who you spoke with, what they told you. This saved me multiple times when they tried to claim I hadn't submitted paperwork.

My daughter is in both groups and she says this one has been more helpful for her specific situation with the Parent Plus loan eligibility questions. The other group seems to have more first-gen college students who aren't getting parental support. Different needs maybe?

One more suggestion - maybe compile a list of the most helpful posts/resources from your group that aren't already covered here? That way we don't lose valuable information during the transition, especially with the 2025-2026 FAFSA changes still causing confusion for many applicants.

Why does the FAFSA website ALWAYS have issues right around deadline time? It's almost like they WANT students to miss out on financial aid. Been dealing with this garbage system for 3 years now. Every single year, same story, different error messages. 🙄

UPDATE: I tried the incognito mode + phone hotspot suggestion from @profile3 and IT WORKED!! Got past the error screen and was able to complete my entire application! For anyone else having this issue - definitely give this solution a try. Thank you all so much for the help!

lol welcome to fafsa hell we all live here now

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at FSA using that Claimyr service (totally worth it btw). Turns out there was a mismatch between my dad's reported income and what they had on file from the IRS. The weird thing is we used the data transfer tool so it should have matched automatically! The agent manually noted the correction and said processing should resume within 3-5 business days. Just wanted to update in case anyone else runs into this problem!

One other thing to check - when you login, make sure you're looking at the 2025-2026 FAFSA and not accidentally viewing last year's application. The portal sometimes switches between years and causes confusion. If you're certain you're viewing the correct year's application, then follow the advice above about having your husband sign again. The signature status bug is definitely not uncommon this year.

My son's FAFSA did the same thing but his SAI ended up increasing by almost $1500 after we resigned!! We never found out why. The whole system is broken this year.