FAFSA 'Action Required' email but nothing shows up when logged in - anyone else?

omg YES!!!! this is happening to us too!! been getting those emails for like 10 days straight but when we log in everything looks fine?? the application status just says "processing" with no errors or anything to fix. i called the fafsa number twice but got disconnected both times after waiting forever. soooo frustrating!!!

I had this exact problem last month. It's a glitch in their system. The emails are automated and sometimes trigger incorrectly. If there's nothing showing in the Action Required section when you log in, your application is probably fine. You can verify by checking if your SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation is visible in your account. That means it's been processed successfully.

This is seriously the worst system ever... I've been dealing with FAFSA for 3 kids now and EVERY SINGLE YEAR there's some new technical disaster. Last year they completely lost my oldest's application and we had to resubmit everything. The year before the website kept crashing during submission. Now this email nonsense! The Department of Education needs to hire actual competent IT people instead of whoever built this garbage system.

I work in a university financial aid office, and we've seen this issue a lot this year. The problem is that the FAFSA emails sometimes get triggered before the system updates the website status. Here's what I recommend: 1. Check if all contributors (typically parents) have completed their portion and signed 2. Make sure you've signed the FAFSA with your FSA ID 3. Wait 3-5 business days after receiving the email before taking action 4. If you still get emails after that, definitely call Federal Student Aid The new FAFSA system has been plagued with issues this year. Your school's financial aid office might be able to see more details on their end, so contacting them is also a good idea.

Ive been struggling with this too! Called FSA like 6 times and got disconnected each time after waiting for an hour. So annoying. I tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they actually got me through to a real person at FSA in about 15 mins. The agent told me the emails were being sent incorrectly and my application was actually fine, just still processing. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ worth it to finally get some answers instead of the runaround from these emails

The emails should stop coming if u loginto ur fsa account and click on the banner that says processing. even if theres no action required section visible sometimes theres still a page u can navigate too thats hidden. my daughters fafsa was doing the same thing and we found that if u go to the contribution summary page there was actually a tiny button that said view status that we had to click to see teh action required stuff. hope this helps!!

update: i FINALLY got through to fafsa after trying for days!! turns out there WAS an issue with our application but it wasnt showing up on the website. one of my parents didnt fully complete their signature process even though we thought they did. the agent had us fix it while on the phone and now its processing again. so maybe check all the signatures!!

Quick update for everyone following this thread - the Department of Education acknowledged yesterday that there's a known issue with these "Action Required" emails being sent incorrectly. They're working on a fix, but in the meantime, if you've confirmed all contributors have signed and there's nothing showing in your action required section, your application is likely processing normally. For 2024-25 FAFSA forms, you should typically see your SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation within 3-5 business days after submission if everything is in order. If it's been longer than that, then a call to FSA is warranted.

This thread has been so helpful! I'm dealing with the exact same issue - got my first "Action Required" email yesterday even though our FAFSA shows as "processing" with no errors visible. After reading through everyone's experiences, I'm going to wait a few more days to see if it resolves itself before calling FSA. It's reassuring to know this is a widespread system glitch and not something we did wrong. The new FAFSA rollout has been such a mess this year - between the delayed launch, processing issues, and now these phantom emails, it's been incredibly stressful for families trying to plan for college costs. Thanks especially to @Yuki Sato for the professional insight and @Mateo Martinez for the update about the signature issue - I'm going to double-check that all our contributors fully completed their portions just to be safe!

Just wanted to add another data point to this discussion - I'm experiencing the exact same thing! Got my third "Action Required" email this morning but when I log into studentaid.gov, everything looks normal under the dashboard. Our FAFSA has been showing "processing" status for about 2 weeks now. What's really frustrating is that my son's college financial aid office keeps asking for updates on his FAFSA status, and I don't know what to tell them when these emails make it seem like something's wrong but the website shows everything is fine. After reading through everyone's experiences here, I'm feeling much more confident that this is just a system glitch. I think I'll try @Andre Dubois's suggestion about checking the contribution summary page for that hidden "view status" button first, and if that doesn't reveal anything, I might use the Claimyr service that @Carmen Flores mentioned to actually get through to a real person at FSA. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - it's such a relief to know we're not alone in dealing with this mess!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue! Got my first "Action Required" email two days ago and have been losing sleep over it. When I log into studentaid.gov, everything shows as "processing" with absolutely no errors or action items visible anywhere on the dashboard. Reading through this thread has been such a huge relief - I was convinced we had somehow messed up our FAFSA submission! It's incredibly frustrating that the Department of Education's system is sending out these panic-inducing emails when there's apparently nothing actually wrong. Our FAFSA was submitted about 10 days ago, and like many of you, I keep getting asked by my daughter's college for status updates. It's so hard to explain that we're getting "error" emails but the website shows everything is fine! I'm going to try @Andre Dubois's tip about checking the contribution summary page for that hidden "view status" button first. If that doesn't reveal anything, I might give Claimyr a try since waiting on hold for FSA for hours doesn't seem very productive based on everyone's experiences. Thank you all so much for sharing your stories - knowing this is a widespread system glitch rather than something we did wrong has taken such a weight off my shoulders!

I just joined this community because I'm having the EXACT same problem! Got my first "Action Required" email yesterday and immediately panicked thinking we messed something up with our FAFSA. But when I logged into studentaid.gov, everything looks completely normal - just shows "processing" status with no errors or warnings anywhere. Reading through this entire thread has been such a lifesaver! It's incredible how many families are dealing with this same issue. The fact that @Yuki Sato confirmed this is a known system glitch from the Department of Education makes me feel so much better. We submitted our FAFSA about 12 days ago and like everyone else, my son's college keeps asking for updates. It's so awkward trying to explain that we're getting error emails but our account shows everything is fine! I'm definitely going to try the hidden button trick on the contribution summary page that @Andre Dubois mentioned. If that doesn't work, I might have to bite the bullet and use that Claimyr service to actually get through to someone at FSA. The regular phone line seems like a nightmare based on everyone's experiences here. Thank you all for sharing your stories and solutions - knowing this is a widespread technical issue and not something we did wrong has taken such a huge weight off my shoulders! This new FAFSA system has been an absolute disaster this year.

I'm brand new to this community but stumbled across this thread while desperately searching for answers about this exact same issue! Just received my second "Action Required" email this morning and was starting to panic until I found all of your experiences here. Like everyone else, our FAFSA dashboard shows "processing" with absolutely no visible errors or action items anywhere. We submitted about 8 days ago and I've been triple-checking everything thinking we must have missed something important. This thread has been such a godsend - knowing this is a confirmed widespread system glitch rather than our mistake has given me so much peace of mind! I'm definitely going to try @Andre Dubois's suggestion about checking that hidden "view status" button on the contribution summary page tonight. The new FAFSA system has been such a nightmare this year. Between the delayed launch, processing delays, and now these phantom error emails, it's adding so much unnecessary stress to families already worried about college costs. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and solutions - it's amazing how this community has come together to help each other navigate this mess!