THE WHOLE FAFSA SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!!! My daughter's application got stuck in verification for FIVE MONTHS last year because her dad doesn't file taxes either (independent contractor). Meanwhile her friends whose parents make twice as much but have "normal jobs" with W-2s got their aid packages right away. It's like they PUNISH families that don't fit in their neat little boxes. And good luck getting ANY help from FSA - it's like they WANT us to fail!!!!

Update: My ex got the Verification of Non-filing Letter from the IRS! It only took about two weeks. He's also put together a signed statement about his cash income with as much detail as possible. My son's school financial aid office actually gave us a template to use for the income statement which was super helpful. Feeling much better about this whole process now. Thanks again everyone for your advice!

Just to clarify something important: The new Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation will likely change after you correct the dependency status. Independent students generally qualify for more aid than dependent students (unless the parents have very low income). So be prepared that your daughter's aid eligibility might decrease after correction. It's still important to submit accurate information though - incorrect FAFSA data can lead to verification headaches later.

That's a good point - thank you. We have relatively low income so hopefully the change won't be too dramatic. I just want to make sure we do everything correctly.

UPDATE: We finally got it working! It turned out to be something incredibly small - on my daughter's application I had entered my name as "Elizabeth A. Smith" but on my son's I just put "Elizabeth Smith" without the middle initial. Can't believe such a tiny difference caused so much trouble! For anyone else having this issue, check EVERY character you enter, including periods and spaces. The system is extremely picky about exact matches. My husband was able to create his FSA ID using the email that received the invitation, and that worked smoothly once we knew what to do. Thank you everyone for your help!

Just FYI - save all your login info and screenshots! My kid's FAFSA randomly reset last week and we had to redo the parent part again. The new system has so many glitches this year.

lol everyone thinks FAFSA is bad until they deal with state grant systems 😂 I've filed FAFSA for 3 years and PA grants for 2 and the state stuff is ALWAYS worse

UPDATE: We finally got it resolved! My daughter had to miss her morning biology lab, but we did the three-way call approach that someone suggested here. It worked perfectly - she verified her identity, then they let me handle the technical details of resetting the 2FA. For anyone facing this in the future: they need the student to verify with their full SSN, date of birth, AND the exact amount of the last state grant they received (to the cent). Once that was done, they let me take over. Thank you all for the help and suggestions!

Just thought of something! If youre low income you might qualify for free tax prep help through VITA and they can also help with FAFSA questions. My friend used them last year and they were super helpful with understanding how her child support should be reported on FAFSA.

Following up on retirement contributions - yes, your retirement contributions can affect the SAI calculation. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, voluntary retirement contributions are reported as untaxed income, which can increase your SAI (potentially reducing aid eligibility). However, mandatory contributions to employer retirement plans are not counted. One more important note: Since your son is a continuing student at SDSU, make sure to also check if he needs to complete the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA. Some California institutions require both for institutional aid, though SDSU typically only requires FAFSA for most aid programs.