do u think theyll fix the contributor stuff this time? my stepdad couldnt add himself as contributor cuz the system kept crashing and we had to submit without his info which messed up our SAI calculation

I know we're all a bit traumatized from last year's FAFSA launch, but I've heard from colleagues at the Department of Education that they've completely overhauled the technical infrastructure after last year's issues. They're doing extensive testing before the launch this time, so hopefully it'll be much smoother. The new SAI calculation is actually more generous for many families than the old EFC was, especially for those with multiple students in college.

lol welcome to fafsa 2025-26... where everything's made up and your data doesn't matter! 🤣 but srsly tho the new "simplified" system is 10x worse than before

Update on this issue: The Department of Education released a patch yesterday for this specific problem. If your parent logs in today, they should see an option that says "Recover previous contribution data" on their dashboard. This should restore the information they previously entered. If that option doesn't appear, there's a workaround: 1. Have your parent create a new contribution from scratch 2. On the first page where they enter their name/info, there's now a small link at the bottom that says "Load saved information" 3. Clicking that will usually recover their previously entered data Hope this helps with your May 1st deadline!

Anyone know if you can see which schools were actually saved? My daughter is in the same boat and she needs her FAFSA to go to 6 different schools but we're worried only the first 3 we entered got saved before this verification thing started.

Just to add some clarity on the "waiting for SSA verification" status: 1. SSA verification checks that your SSN, name, and date of birth match Social Security records 2. It happens automatically when demographic information is complete 3. Most verifications complete in 3-5 business days 4. Once verification completes, you'll get an email notification 5. At that point, you can log back in to review and complete your application For your school selection concern - once verification completes, you'll be able to see which schools were saved and add any that are missing before final submission.

I'm going to share something that might save you time later - after you and your daughter resign, take a screenshot of the confirmation page. Then about 5 days later, check that the DOB is actually updated in the system. I had a similar situation with my son's FAFSA (wrong address), and even after resigning, the change didn't go through the first time. Having that screenshot of the confirmation helped when I had to call FSA to get it sorted out.

UPDATE: Just wanted to let you know that after I resigned both myself and my mom yesterday for our DOB correction, the new FAFSA report was ready this morning! So it didn't take 3-5 days like they said - it was less than 24 hours. Hope yours is as fast!

i remember they sent texts last year too! make sure ur phone # is updated in the system

To summarize the key points for everyone following this thread: 1. Selection for the phased rollout is determined by the Department of Education and is not something you can request or apply for 2. Notifications will come via email, your StudentAid.gov message center, and potentially text messages if you've opted in 3. Having current contact information and complete FSA ID setup for both student and parents is essential 4. Schools are aware of the phased rollout and have contingency plans for early decision/action applicants 5. If you're not selected for early access, you'll see a message on StudentAid.gov indicating the form isn't available to you yet The 2025-2026 FAFSA should be fully available to everyone by December 1 at the latest.