Do students AND parents need separate FAFSA login accounts? Confused about who fills out what

Yes, your son NEEDS his own FSA ID and account! With the new FAFSA system, both the student AND contributor (usually parent) need separate FSA IDs and must each complete their own portions of the application. Your husband cannot fill out the student section using his own FSA ID anymore.

The new FAFSA absolutely requires separate accounts. The student initiates the application with their own FSA ID, then identifies which contributors (parents) need to complete portions. Each contributor needs their own FSA ID to access and complete their section. This is different from previous years where one person could complete the entire form. The system now authenticates each person separately, which is why you're getting errors - the system expects each person (student and both parents for married households) to log in separately and complete their own sections.

lol the same thing happened to us! drove me CRAZYY. my daughter had to make her own fsa id and start the application, then she had to add me and her dad as contributors. the system sends emails to each person when its their turn to fill out their part.

The new FAFSA is a COMPLETE DISASTER!!! We had the same exact problem. The stupid system kept saying my husband's info was missing even though we entered it THREE TIMES! I spent 8 days trying to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid and kept getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours each time. Complete joke of a system.

To directly answer your question: Yes, under the new FAFSA system, your son needs his own FSA ID and must initiate the application himself. Then both you and your husband need separate FSA IDs to complete your contributor sections. Specifically: 1. Your son creates an FSA ID and starts the application 2. He'll add contributors (you and your husband) 3. Each of you will receive notification to complete your sections 4. Each person must use their own FSA ID to log in This change was implemented to increase security and accurately identify each person's role in the application.

I was stuck in the same situation last month trying to help my niece. After multiple failed attempts to reach someone at Federal Student Aid, I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) - it got me connected to an actual FSA agent in about 17 minutes instead of the usual 2+ hour wait. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed exactly what others are saying here - each person needs their own FSA ID. They were able to help resolve our processing errors right away.

Wait so do both parents need FSA IDs? Or just one parent? My wife handles all our financial stuff but I'm technically the one who should be reporting income for our daughter's FAFSA.

To address your specific error about the mother's SSN and birthdate not being processed: This likely happened because the system now requires the actual person (you) to enter and verify this information using your own FSA ID, not your husband entering it on your behalf. Our financial aid office has seen hundreds of these cases since the new FAFSA launched. Starting fresh with each person having their own FSA ID is the cleanest solution. And don't worry about the previous attempts - the system will recognize the newest submission as the valid one.

And FYI when ur son makes his FSA ID, make SURE he uses an email he actually checks!!! My daughter used some random gmail she never looks at and we missed deadlines cuz she never saw the notifications 🤦‍♀️