Dreading 2025-2026 FAFSA after disastrous experience with Dual Enrollment student

Same boat last year! The new simplified FAFSA is WAY better for dual enrollment situations. My twins just finished their applications last week (one dual enrollment, one regular) and both processed in 3 days! The system doesn't get confused anymore about the dual enrollment status. I'd definitely recommend doing it now rather than waiting - the beta version is fully functional and schools are accepting it. The IRS data transfer is super smooth now too - literally took me 5 minutes to finish the parent section.

That's a HUGE relief to hear! Did you have to do anything special to indicate the dual enrollment status? Last year we had to submit extra documentation proving she wasn't a full college student yet.

whtvr u do DONT use the beta!! my sons fafsa got stuck in limbo for weeks and now his early action school is threatening to not consider his application bc they never got his aid info. waste of time.

This is concerning - when did you submit using the beta? I completed both my children's FAFSAs through the beta on 11/13, and they were processed and sent to schools within 5 days. The Department of Education has reported that most beta applications are processing normally. Did you receive any error messages?

submitted nov 8 got no errors but status still says processing. called FSA 6 times and got disconnected each time. total disaster.

I successfully completed FAFSAs for both my children through the beta system last month - one in dual enrollment and one in traditional college. For the dual enrollment student, here's what worked:\n\n1. Make sure your child creates their account first and identifies as \

Thank you for the detailed breakdown! This is exactly what I needed. I'll have her start her section tonight and make sure she selects the dual enrollment option properly. Good to know the IRS tool is working - that was another headache last year.

last year was a NIGHTMARE!!!! my daughter's fafsa got stuck in

That's terrible about your daughter's scholarship! Did you try filing an appeal with the school's financial aid office? Many institutions have procedures for FAFSA delays that were beyond your control, especially with last year's well-documented issues.

they said \

Dual enrollment parent here! Completed my son's FAFSA on the beta system last week. A few observations:\n\n- The new system is much more intuitive about dual enrollment status\n- Processing time was 4 days (submitted 11/26, processed 11/30)\n- SAI score appeared immediately after submission\n- Schools started confirming receipt on 12/2\n\nOne hiccup: when my son first created his account, he accidentally selected the wrong option for his status. We had to contact support to reset it. Once that was fixed, everything went smoothly.\n\nDon't wait - the December 5th deadline will be here before you know it, and even with improvements, there could always be unexpected delays.

Thanks for sharing! Did you have any issues with the IRS data transfer? That was another major headache last year.

The IRS link worked perfectly - took about 2 minutes to pull in all my tax info. Completely different experience from last year's disaster!

if ur having troble reaching FSA by phone try claimyr.com - it got me through to a live agent in 20 mins after I spent days trying to get through the normal way. they have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\ni needed to fix a status problem with my daughters dual enrollment application and the agent was able to fix it right away once i got through.

I've never heard of this service before! Does it actually work? I wasted so much time on hold last year only to get disconnected.

yeah it totally works! saved me hours of frustration. agent fixed our dual enrollment status issue in like 10 minutes once I got through.

As a financial aid counselor, I want to clarify a few things about the 2025-2026 FAFSA and dual enrollment students:\n\n1. The new simplified FAFSA has specific pathways for dual enrollment students that were missing last year\n\n2. When your daughter creates her account, she MUST select \

Thank you for this expert insight! It's reassuring to hear from someone who works in financial aid. I'll make sure she selects the correct dual enrollment option when creating her account.

UPDATE: We did it! Following everyone's advice, my daughter created her account yesterday, selecting the \

That's fantastic news! Glad it went smoothly. The SAI appearing immediately is definitely a good sign - that's exactly how mine worked, and schools started receiving the information about 4 days later.

Excellent! That immediate SAI calculation is one of the biggest improvements from last year. Keep in mind schools might take a few days to update their systems after receiving the FAFSA data, so don't panic if they don't immediately show it as received.