I'm a newcomer to this community and reading through this thread has been absolutely incredible! Like so many others here, I just completed my daughter's FAFSA for 2025-2026 and was completely confused when there were no questions about our 529 savings or other assets. I kept refreshing the page thinking it hadn't loaded properly! The explanations about the FAFSA Simplification Act have been so enlightening - I had no idea these major changes were implemented. When friends told me horror stories about spending entire weekends on FAFSA applications, I was braced for the worst. Instead, it took about 25 minutes and mostly just pulled from our tax return. I was convinced I had done something terribly wrong! We also filled out the CSS Profile for her private college applications, which asked for detailed asset information including our 529. Now I completely understand why the two forms are so different - they serve different purposes for different types of financial aid. The federal government focuses on income for federal aid eligibility, while private schools need the full financial picture for their institutional aid decisions. What I love most about this community is how everyone shares both the technical knowledge AND the emotional experience of going through this process. It's so reassuring to know that the panic and confusion is totally normal, and that we're all figuring out this new system together. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this discussion - as a first-time parent navigating financial aid, this has been exactly the guidance I needed!

I'm completely new to this community and financial aid process, and this thread has been a lifesaver! I just finished my son's FAFSA for 2025-2026 last week and had the exact same panic that so many of you described. I spent hours going through every single page multiple times, absolutely convinced I had missed the sections about our 529 plan and savings accounts. Like others mentioned, I was prepared for this incredibly complex, multi-day ordeal based on what I'd heard from parents of older kids. When the whole thing was done in about 20 minutes using just our tax information, I honestly thought the website had malfunctioned! I even cleared my browser cache and started over once because it seemed impossible that it could be that simple. We also completed the CSS Profile for his private school applications, which was much more detailed and asked about all our assets. Now I understand that this isn't a mistake or inconsistency - it's because federal aid (FAFSA) and institutional aid (CSS Profile schools) use completely different calculation methods since the FAFSA Simplification Act. What I appreciate most about this discussion is how everyone has shared not just the technical explanations, but also the emotional roller coaster of thinking you've messed up something so important. It's incredibly reassuring to know that this confusion is universal among newcomers and that financial aid offices are fully aware of how these two systems work differently now. Thank you to everyone who has contributed their knowledge and experiences here - as a first-time parent dealing with college financial aid, this community has provided exactly the kind of real-world guidance and reassurance that you just can't get from official websites!

As someone who just went through this exact situation with my daughter, I wanted to add a few practical tips that might help others reading this thread. First, if your son does decide to take fewer credits in spring, make sure to update his FAFSA dependency status and tax information early - sometimes aid adjustments can take weeks to process. Second, consider timing - if he's planning to work more hours, spring semester often has better part-time job availability than fall since fewer students are competing for positions. Finally, don't forget about the impact on student loan grace periods - if he graduates and his final semester was part-time, his loan servicer might calculate the grace period differently. It's worth calling them to confirm. The financial aid maze is complicated enough without these surprise details popping up later!

Just wanted to add something that might help other students reading this - if your son is considering reducing his spring credit load, make sure to check whether his school participates in consortium agreements with other institutions. Some students don't realize they can take courses at a community college or partner university and have those credits count toward their full-time status at their home institution. This can be especially helpful for working students since community college courses are often offered in more flexible formats (evenings, weekends, online) and at lower costs. The credits transfer back and can help maintain full-time status for financial aid purposes while giving more scheduling flexibility. It's worth asking the registrar's office about consortium agreements - not all schools publicize this option well, but it can be a game-changer for students trying to balance work and school!

As a financial aid counselor, I want to add a few additional troubleshooting steps that have helped my students get past the loading screen issue: 1. **Check your browser version** - FAFSA requires updated browsers. If you're using Chrome, make sure it's version 90 or higher. 2. **Disable browser extensions temporarily** - Especially password managers, ad blockers, and privacy extensions can interfere with FAFSA's authentication process. 3. **Try the "nuclear option"** - Create a completely fresh browser profile with zero extensions, bookmarks, or saved data. This eliminates any potential conflicts. 4. **Use Ethernet instead of WiFi** if possible - Connection stability issues can cause the loading loop. For those with urgent deadlines, I also recommend having a backup plan: contact your school's financial aid office and ask about their "technical difficulty documentation" process. Most schools have procedures for when students experience documented FAFSA system issues near deadlines. The system is definitely overloaded during peak periods, but with persistence and the right troubleshooting steps, you can usually get through. Don't give up!

As someone who's been lurking here for a while but finally decided to create an account after dealing with this exact same issue - THANK YOU ALL for these solutions! I've been pulling my hair out for the past week trying to help my twin daughters get their FAFSA forms completed before their March 31st deadline. I tried the iPad + private browsing + early morning combo that @Isabella Russo mentioned and it worked like a charm at 6:15am this morning! Both forms are now submitted and I can finally breathe again. One small addition to all the great advice here - I also had to temporarily disable my router's built-in security features (specifically the "block malicious websites" setting) because apparently it was flagging some of the FAFSA authentication redirects as suspicious. Might be worth checking if you have similar security settings on your home network. This community is amazing - the detailed troubleshooting advice from @Aiden Chen and the direct link from @Dallas Villalobos were lifesavers. It's ridiculous that we need to jump through all these hoops for something as important as financial aid, but at least we have each other to help figure it out!

This is exactly the kind of detailed discussion I was hoping to find! I'm also navigating the FAFSA for the first time with my daughter starting college in fall 2025, and the IRA contribution question has been keeping me up at night. Reading through everyone's experiences and the clarifications about how the new FAFSA formula actually works has been so helpful. It's clear that traditional IRA contributions do reduce your AGI for both tax and FAFSA purposes under the new system, which is a huge relief. I made my 2023 spousal IRA contribution last week after reading similar advice elsewhere, but I wasn't 100% confident it was the right move until seeing this thread. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences - it's made this confusing process feel much more manageable!

As someone who just went through this exact situation last month, I can confirm what others have said - traditional IRA contributions absolutely do reduce your AGI for the new FAFSA calculations! I was in the same boat trying to figure out if it was worth making our 2023 contribution before the deadline. After calling around and getting conflicting information, I finally found a financial aid advisor who explained that the new FAFSA formula is much simpler - they basically just take your AGI straight from your tax return without all those add-back worksheets from the old system. Since traditional IRA contributions lower your tax AGI, they automatically lower what FAFSA sees too. We ended up making the max contribution and I'm so glad we did. The peace of mind knowing it helps with both taxes AND financial aid was worth the scramble to get it done before April 15th. For anyone still on the fence about this, I'd definitely recommend making the contribution if you can afford it!

Just wanted to share another solution that worked for my nephew after he was stuck for over a month! We discovered that sometimes the issue is with browser compatibility - specifically if you have certain browser extensions enabled. Try this: 1. Open an incognito/private browsing window 2. Make sure all ad blockers and browser extensions are disabled 3. Log into FAFSA and go straight to the Summary tab 4. Look for any tiny warning icons or incomplete indicators that might not show up in regular browsing mode The incognito window seemed to bypass whatever caching issues were preventing the submit button from appearing. We also found that switching between the desktop site and mobile version can sometimes "refresh" the system's recognition of completion status. It's absolutely ridiculous that we're all having to become IT specialists just to submit a financial aid form, but I'm so grateful for this community sharing solutions! The Department of Education should be paying us for doing their troubleshooting work. Keep fighting - there IS a way through this broken system!

As someone who just successfully submitted my FAFSA after being stuck in this exact same loop for 5 weeks, I want to add one more potential solution that hasn't been mentioned yet! After trying literally every suggestion in this thread (thank you all SO much!), what finally worked for me was logging in using Microsoft Edge with ALL cookies and site data cleared, then immediately going to the "Review Your FAFSA" section instead of trying to navigate through the normal flow. From there, I clicked on each contributor's name individually and made sure their signature status showed as "Signed" with a green checkmark. Even though everything appeared complete on the main pages, one of the parent signatures wasn't properly registered in the system. After re-signing that section, the "Submit FAFSA" button magically appeared on the final review page. I also want to echo what others have said about trying during off-peak hours - I finally got through at 6:30 AM on a Sunday when the servers were probably less busy. This whole rollout has been an absolute disaster, but seeing everyone help each other here has been amazing. Don't give up - there really is a way through this mess! The Summary tab trick and incognito mode suggestions from others in this thread are also lifesavers!