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The Federal Student Aid website has been a DISASTER this year!!! I'm convinced they're deliberately making it difficult so fewer people get financial aid. They can claim they're "offering" all this money while making the system so broken nobody can actually complete the application! WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!
While the frustration is understandable, there's no evidence of deliberate obstruction. The issues are most likely related to the significant overhaul of the FAFSA system for 2025-2026, which changed from the old EFC to the new SAI calculation model. Any major system update of this scale typically has bugs that need to be worked out. It's unfortunate timing but not a conspiracy.
UPDATE: I followed the advice from this thread and FINALLY got it fixed! For anyone having the same issue, what worked was: 1. Clearing my browser cache completely 2. Using Chrome instead of Safari 3. Re-signing both student and parent sections even though they showed as complete 4. Staying on each page for at least 30 seconds before proceeding (weird but it worked!) AND most importantly - I used Claimyr to reach a Federal Student Aid agent who manually verified the signatures were received on their end. The agent confirmed there was a known issue with signature verification for some accounts and put a note on my file. My FAFSA now shows as fully processed with an SAI score! Thanks everyone for your help!
Those are good stats! Look for public universities in neighboring states that might be trying to boost enrollment or improve their academic profile. Many have specific scholarships for out-of-state students with GPAs above 3.5 and SATs in her range. Check their financial aid websites for
so i got that email with the green check and SAI number too but then when i looked at my actual FAFSA the status still says "processing" on the website... anyone else see that discrepancy? should i be worried?
That's actually normal. The FAFSA website sometimes shows "processing" for a while even after the application has been completed and the SAI has been calculated. If you received the email with the green check and SAI number, your FAFSA has been processed successfully and that information has been made available to your selected schools. The website status will eventually update.
Update: I had my daughter check her student portals for her four schools and two of them show they've received her FAFSA (with her SAI number listed) but the other two don't show anything yet about financial aid. Should she email just those two schools?
Yes, I'd recommend having her email the financial aid offices at the two schools that don't show her FAFSA data yet. She should include her full name, student ID number (if she has one), and date of birth in the email, and simply ask them to confirm if they've received her FAFSA data or if there's anything else they need from her. This is very common and most financial aid offices are used to these inquiries.
Actually, the treatment of 529 plans with divorced parents depends on who the CUSTODIAL PARENT is according to FAFSA guidelines. Under the simplified FAFSA process, the custodial parent is the one who provided more financial support in the past 12 months, regardless of the actual custody arrangement. If you're the custodial parent by FAFSA's definition, and the 529 plan is owned by your ex-husband (the non-custodial parent), then: 1. You DO NOT report the 529 plan on your FAFSA 2. Your ex DOES NOT complete a FAFSA at all 3. Your son should be prepared to explain the situation if selected for verification The 529 plan would ONLY be reported if: - You own it (then you report it as your asset) - Your son owns it (then he reports it as his asset) Since the account is owned by the non-custodial parent, it's effectively invisible to the FAFSA calculation, which is actually beneficial for aid eligibility.
That's correct! If your mom is the custodial parent for FAFSA purposes (provides more financial support) and your dad owns the 529, then your mom doesn't report that 529 plan on your FAFSA. Your dad doesn't complete a FAFSA at all. The 529 owned by a non-custodial parent isn't counted in the aid calculation.
Thank you all for the helpful responses! I called FSA using that Claimyr service (got through in less than 10 minutes!) and got confirmation: since I'm the parent who provided more support and will be completing the FAFSA, I do NOT need to report the 529 account that my ex-husband owns. They said if we get selected for verification, we'll just need to explain the ownership situation. I was overthinking this so much! Such a relief to have it sorted out before applications are due.
Emily Parker
One more thing to add - make sure BOTH you and your contributor have FSA IDs set up well before the application opens. This was a huge bottleneck last year with the new system. The FSA ID verification process can take 1-3 days to process. Don't wait until the last minute!
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Ryan Young
Great tip! I'll make sure my parents have their FSA IDs ready to go. Thanks!
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