


Ask the community...
this happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR with fafsa...they never learn. tried calling the help line? lol good luck with that waste of time
UPDATE: The Federal Student Aid office just posted on Twitter/X that they're aware of the issue and working on a fix. They estimate systems will be fully operational within 24 hours. If you're concerned about deadlines, they recommend documenting your attempts (screenshots of errors) and contacting your school's financial aid office to explain the situation. Most schools will accommodate if the delays are due to documented FAFSA system issues.
The CSS Profile is different from the FAFSA - it's administered by the College Board rather than the federal government. It typically opens on October 1st regardless of when the FAFSA opens, and it's generally more detailed about your financial situation. You'll need to pay a fee for the first school and a smaller fee for each additional school, though fee waivers are available for eligible families. Since it asks for more detailed financial information, I'd suggest allowing at least 45-60 minutes to complete it.
Update on the signature issue: if you're still having problems, the Department of Education just released a workaround yesterday. You need to: 1. Log in to studentaid.gov 2. Go to My Documents 3. Select "FAFSA Signature Exception" 4. Upload a photo of a handwritten signature along with a photo of the student's ID This temporary measure was implemented because of widespread signature page issues with the 2025-2026 form. Thought you should know about this official alternative.
Parent PLUS loans are only available if you're a dependent student, and the OP mentioned they're an independent student without the option for parents to cosign. Also, as the name suggests, PLUS loans are taken out by the parent, not the student - they're in the parent's name and are the parent's legal responsibility to repay.
UPDATE: I just wanted to thank everyone for the amazing advice! I followed the suggestions here and: 1. Called my financial aid office and discovered I could access an additional $5,000 in federal Direct Unsubsidized loans I didn't know about 2. Found a $2,000 scholarship through my engineering department that still had open applications 3. Used Claimyr to reach someone at FSA who helped explain why my SAI was calculated incorrectly - turns out there was a reporting error on my FAFSA that they're helping me fix Between these three things, I should be able to cover almost the entire gap without private loans! I might need a small one for the remaining $1,750, but that's WAY better than the $8,750 I was looking at before. This forum is seriously a lifesaver. Thank you all!
Marcus Marsh
Anyone tried filing a complaint with the Department of Education or contacting their congress person? After 3 months of this garbage with my twins' FAFSAs, I filed formal complaints everywhere and suddenly their applications started working. Coincidence? I think not.
0 coins
Seraphina Delan
•I hadn't thought about contacting our representative! That's a great idea. Where exactly did you file the formal complaints? Was there a specific website or form you used?
0 coins
Marcus Marsh
•I filed complaints through the Federal Student Aid Feedback Center (studentaid.gov/feedback-center/) and also emailed our congressional representative's office with specific details about the ongoing issues. The congressional office actually assigned a caseworker who followed up with me! Worth trying both approaches.
0 coins
Kristin Frank
update: we just tried the early morning thing that someone mentioned and IT WORKED!!!!! logged in at 5:15am and everything went through fine. after 2 months of nothing working. what a stupid system but at least its done now
0 coins
Seraphina Delan
•That's amazing news! Congratulations! I'm setting my alarm for 5am tomorrow to try it. It's ridiculous that we have to use these workarounds, but I'm just desperate to get this finished at this point.
0 coins