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yeah its completley ridiculous!!! my nephew is going through the same thing right now and my sister is losing her mind. they need to fire whoever was in charge of this disaster and go back to the old system that actually WORKED! now my nephew might have to take a gap year because of this mess.
I was in the same boat last week - absolutely desperate after waiting since January. I finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid after using that Claimyr service someone mentioned above. They connected me to an actual FSA agent who found that there was a small discrepancy in how we reported our retirement accounts that was causing the delay. They fixed it on the spot and our information was sent to schools within 3 days! Now we finally have aid packages coming in. Don't give up - sometimes it just takes reaching the right person who can actually help.
That's really encouraging to hear! How long ago did you get your issue resolved, and how quickly did schools send aid packages after that? I'm trying to gauge realistic timelines here.
We got our FAFSA issue fixed last Thursday, and two schools sent preliminary aid packages by Tuesday. The other schools said they'll have something to us by next week. So about 3-5 business days for the first responses, and 7-10 days for the rest. Much faster than I expected once the FAFSA data actually arrived!
my cousins best friend had the same thing happen but she ended up getting her FAFSA finally done and got into university for spring semester, so dont give up hope!!!
Since your son just submitted yesterday, I'd recommend having him check his StudentAid.gov account daily for the SAI calculation. Once that appears, immediately add the university's school code and then personally contact their financial aid office. Many schools have special provisions for students affected by FAFSA delays this year, including extended deadlines and expedited processing. The Department of Education has also directed schools to be more flexible with documentation for the 2025-2026 cycle due to the widespread issues.
UPDATE: Finally got in! For anyone still having issues, I used Claimyr like someone suggested above and got through to an agent in about 15 mins. They confirmed they're having email system problems and helped me get a temporary access code that bypassed the email verification. My application is submitted now! If you're still stuck, definitely try calling through Claimyr or contact your school's financial aid office. Thanks everyone for the help!
omg it worked!! just got off phone with FSA and they fixed my account!! thanks for the claimyr tip, definitely worth it to not sit on hold for hours
My daughter is going thru the exact same thing right now!!! She submitted last week and her roommate already got the confirmation but she's still waiting. Makes no sense how they process these things. The financial aid world is so confusing for us parents. When I went to college we didn't have all this complicated SAI stuff. Just simpler times I guess.
Just checking back - did you ever get your confirmation number? If not, you should definitely call FSA directly at this point.
Oliver Brown
I HATE THIS NEW SYSTEM SO MUCH!!!! Last year I could do all 3 of my kids applications in 30 minutes. This year it took me 7 HOURS to do the exact same thing!!!! And guess what? After all that the SAI calculation came back COMPLETELY WRONG because the system didn't properly account for multiple dependents in college at once. Had to file appeals for all 3 kids. Complete disaster. Good luck, you'll need it.
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Saanvi Krishnaswami
•Oh no, that's exactly what I'm worried about. Did your appeal for the SAI calculation get resolved? We're counting on getting some aid with three in college at once.
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Oliver Brown
•Yeah they eventually fixed it after I submitted like 50 documents proving the kids were all actually in college. Just took 3 months to resolve while my kids almost lost their housing because aid was delayed. RIDICULOUS.
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Demi Lagos
Update for anyone finding this thread: The Department of Education just announced they're going to simplify the process for parents with multiple students in the 2025-2026 cycle. They're adding a "copy parent information" button that will be available starting in November 2024. Should save parents from entering the same information multiple times.
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Saanvi Krishnaswami
•That's great news! Though I still need to figure out how to do it now for next fall's applications. I'm going to try the steps everyone suggested this weekend. Thanks for all the help!
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