As someone who just went through this process with my oldest child, I can confirm it's definitely 2023 tax returns for the 2025-2026 FAFSA. The prior-prior year system was confusing to me at first too, but it actually makes sense once you understand the reasoning - they want families to be able to complete the FAFSA as early as possible using tax information that's already been filed and processed. One tip I wish I'd known earlier: start gathering your 2023 tax documents now, even though the FAFSA doesn't open until December. Having everything organized ahead of time makes the process so much smoother. Also, if you used tax prep software, make sure you can still access your 2023 return when you need it - I had to dig through old emails to find my login info! The key thing to remember is that even though you're using 2023 tax info, colleges understand this might not reflect your current situation, which is why the appeals process exists if your circumstances have changed significantly.

I'm new to this community and just found this thread - what perfect timing! My son is also Class of 2025 and I've been losing sleep over the tax year confusion. Reading through everyone's experiences has been so reassuring. I had completely misunderstood and thought we'd need our 2024 taxes somehow, which seemed impossible since we won't even file them until spring 2025. The prior-prior year system makes so much more sense now that you've all explained it. One quick question - I see people mentioning organizing documents early. Besides our 2023 tax return, what other documents should I be gathering now to be ready for December? I want to be as prepared as possible so I can file right when it opens. This is our first time through this process and I really don't want to mess anything up that could affect his aid eligibility. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge - this community is amazing!

Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who's been through this process. One thing I learned too late is that you can actually request a specific disbursement schedule for PLUS loans. Instead of taking the full annual amount at once, you can ask for it to be split between semesters or even smaller chunks throughout the year. This helped us manage cash flow better and reduced the total interest since we weren't borrowing money months before we actually needed it. Also, regarding the credit impact - I found it helpful to monitor my credit report closely after taking out the PLUS loan. The initial hit to my score was temporary, but I noticed it affected my credit utilization calculations in ways I didn't expect. If you have any major purchases planned (car, home refinance, etc.), you might want to time those before applying for the PLUS loan if possible. One last tip: keep detailed records of all your PLUS loan communications and payments. The loan servicers can change, and I've heard horror stories of people having to prove payment history when loans get transferred. Good luck with your decision!

As someone who's been lurking in this community for a while but never posted, I had to jump in on this thread because it's addressing exactly what I'm going through right now! My son is a senior and we just submitted our FAFSA, but I can already see we're going to need PLUS loans to make his college dreams happen. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been both terrifying and incredibly helpful. The part about interest accruing during deferment really hit me - I was absolutely planning to defer payments until graduation, but now I'm rethinking that strategy. The math on Emma's situation (45k growing to 58k) is sobering. I'm also grateful for the practical tips about requesting deferment during the application process and keeping detailed records. And that Claimyr suggestion for getting through to FSA - I'm definitely bookmarking that for when I need to call them. One question I haven't seen addressed yet: for families who've used PLUS loans, how did you handle the conversation with your student about this debt? I'm struggling with how much financial pressure to share with my son versus just handling it quietly. Did your kids understand the sacrifice you were making, and did that affect their college choices or academic performance? Thanks to everyone for being so open about their experiences - this kind of real talk is exactly what nervous parents like me need to hear!

Update: My daughter's FAFSA was reprocessed overnight and is now showing as complete again! Looks like it was a quick review after all. Thanks for all the helpful advice!

Just wanted to jump in as someone who went through this exact situation last year! My daughter also removed schools from her processed FAFSA after getting advice from friends, and I was terrified we'd ruined everything. The good news is that in most cases, it really is just a quick verification process. One thing I'd recommend doing right now is taking screenshots of her current FAFSA status and the list of schools that are still on there, just for your records. Also, if you have any emails or documents showing her original SAI score, keep those handy. The schools that already received her information before the deletion should still have everything they need to process her aid packages. The waiting is definitely nerve-wracking though - I totally understand the stress with payment deadlines looming! Fingers crossed your daughter's review goes as quickly as some of the others mentioned here.

UPDATE: We finally got through! Following the advice from several of you, we: 1. Used Claimyr to hold our place in line (thank you for that suggestion!) 2. Called right at 8am ET 3. Made sure my son was available to speak directly to the agent 4. Specifically requested the account verification specialist After about an hour on the phone, they were able to unlock his account. We've already submitted the FAFSA and called his school to let them know it was finally processed. Thank you all for your help - this forum literally saved us thousands in potential lost aid!

This is exactly why I joined this community - stories like yours give me hope that there's actually a way through this mess! I'm dealing with a similar lockout situation with my daughter's account (going on 3 weeks now) and the advice in this thread is gold. Definitely going to try the Claimyr service and the 8am calling strategy. It's absolutely ridiculous that families have to become customer service experts just to access financial aid, but I'm so grateful you shared what actually worked. Bookmarking this entire thread!

So glad I found this thread! I'm a college counselor and I constantly have students running into browser compatibility issues with FAFSA. I've started recommending Firefox as the first choice and Edge as backup, but it's frustrating that the Department of Education hasn't fixed these Chrome issues yet. For anyone still struggling - another tip is to make sure JavaScript is enabled and try disabling browser extensions one by one if you're still having problems. The FAFSA site is notoriously finicky with modern browser security features.

Just wanted to share my experience as someone who works in IT support - the Chrome/FAFSA compatibility issues are actually related to Chrome's recent security updates and how they handle cross-origin requests. The FAFSA site uses some older web technologies that don't play nice with Chrome's stricter security policies. Firefox and Edge are more lenient with these legacy systems, which is why they work better. If you absolutely must use Chrome for some reason, you can try adding studentaid.gov to your trusted sites and temporarily lowering your security settings, but I'd honestly just recommend Firefox like everyone else here. It's saved me so much headache when helping family members with their applications!