FAFSA Parent section disappeared after submit error - showing complete for student but missing for parent
I'm so frustrated with the new FAFSA system! My daughter and I were completing her 2025-2026 application last night. She finished her student portion and got the 'In Review' status. When I tried to complete my parent contribution section, I checked all the boxes, hit submit, but got an error message saying 'cannot be processed at this time.' Now the entire parent section has completely disappeared from the dashboard! My daughter's section shows 'In Review' but there's no way for me to access my part again. Has anyone else experienced this? Do I need to start the entire application over? This is her sophomore year and we never had these technical issues with the old system.
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Honorah King
omg same thing happened to me last week!! the whole parent contributor section just vanished after the error. tried logging in on different browsers but nothing worked. so annoying!!!
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Brielle Johnson
•Did you figure out how to fix it? I'm worried because her priority deadline is in 3 weeks and I can't even access the form anymore.
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Oliver Brown
This is actually a known glitch in the new FAFSA system. The parent contribution portion sometimes disappears when there's a submission error. You don't need to restart the entire application, but you need to take specific steps: 1. Wait 24-48 hours (sometimes the system catches up on its own) 2. Have your daughter log in to her account and check if there's a "Resume Parent Contribution" option 3. If not, you need to create or log into your own FSA ID account and look for pending contributions 4. If all else fails, you'll need to contact Federal Student Aid directly The good news is that her "In Review" status means her portion was successfully submitted, so you won't lose that progress.
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Brielle Johnson
•Thank you! I'll try waiting until tomorrow to see if it reappears. I do have my own FSA ID account but don't see any pending contributions there. Fingers crossed it resolves itself.
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Mary Bates
I had this EXACT problem when trying to help my son with his FAFSA. Called FSA for THREE DAYS straight and couldn't get through to anyone - constant busy signals or disconnects. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a live agent who fixed it in about 10 minutes. They reconnected the parent contribution section to his application. Check out their video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - saved me so much stress!
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Brielle Johnson
•Thanks for this suggestion! If waiting doesn't work, I'll definitely try this. Did they explain what caused the problem in the first place?
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Mary Bates
•The agent said it's happening when multiple people access the same application simultaneously (like parent and student). Something about session conflicts in the new system. They had to manually reassociate my parent profile with his application. Pretty quick once I actually got through to someone.
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Clay blendedgen
don't panic, this happened to me too. the parent section reappeared after like 3 days without me doing anything. the whole new FAFSA system is glitchy af
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Brielle Johnson
•That's somewhat reassuring. I'll try to be patient, but it's stressful with deadlines approaching.
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Ayla Kumar
As a financial aid counselor, I can share that this is unfortunately a common technical issue with the redesigned FAFSA. The system sometimes has trouble with the handoff between student and parent sections, especially during high-traffic periods. If waiting 48 hours doesn't resolve it, there are two effective approaches: 1. Have your daughter log in, go to her application, and look for the "Manage Contributors" section. She may need to re-invite you as a contributor, which should regenerate the parent section. 2. If that doesn't work, contacting FSA directly is necessary. They can manually fix this on their end by reassociating your FSA ID with her application. Important: Even with the "In Review" status showing for her portion, the application is NOT complete without the parent contribution section being submitted. This won't affect her eligibility, but will delay processing until resolved.
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Brielle Johnson
•Thank you for the detailed explanation. We checked for the "Manage Contributors" section but don't see that option. If it doesn't appear by tomorrow, I'll try contacting FSA directly.
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Lorenzo McCormick
THE SAME GARBAGE HAPPENED TO ME!! This new FAFSA system is COMPLETELY BROKEN! We've been trying for WEEKS to submit our part and keep getting errors. My son's financial aid is now DELAYED because of this technical incompetence. WHY did they roll out a system that clearly wasn't ready?? I've wasted HOURS on this and still can't submit. If you figure out a solution PLEASE share it here.
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Honorah King
•right??? like how did they mess this up so bad? my daughter might lose her housing guarantee bc we couldn't get the FAFSA in on time :
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Ayla Kumar
•While the frustration is completely understandable, I want to reassure both of you that most schools have procedures for dealing with FAFSA delays caused by the system redesign. Contact your financial aid office directly and explain the situation - they can often put a hold on aid decisions or extend deadlines when the delays are caused by FSA technical issues rather than applicant delays.
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Carmella Popescu
I think this has something to do with account session timeouts. When my husband tried completing our parent section for our twins FAFSA applications, he got kicked out several times. What eventually worked was having him completely log out, clear browser cache, and then log back in through the student dashboard where it showed a "Complete Parent Contribution" button. Maybe try completely clearing your browser data?
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Brielle Johnson
•That's a good suggestion - I'll try clearing my cache and cookies tonight. Just to clarify, did your husband log in through his own FSA ID or through your child's account?
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Carmella Popescu
•He logged into his own FSA ID account first, then there was an option to view pending contributions. For one application it worked fine, for the other we had to have our daughter log in to her FSA account and there was a button to 'Resume Parent Contribution' or something similar. It was honestly confusing but we eventually got both submitted.
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Brielle Johnson
UPDATE: After waiting 36 hours, the system fixed itself! When I logged into my FSA ID account today, there was a notification about a pending contribution. I was able to complete the parent section successfully. For anyone else experiencing this issue - patience seems to be key. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!
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Oliver Brown
•Great news! Glad it resolved itself. Make sure to save the confirmation page and confirmation number for your records. With the new system, it's always good to have documentation of successful submission in case questions arise later.
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Lorenzo McCormick
•Lucky you! We're STILL having problems after 2 WEEKS. Called FSA 8 times and either get disconnected or told "the system is experiencing high volume." This is RIDICULOUS!
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Giovanni Conti
I'm dealing with this same issue right now! My son's FAFSA shows his student section as complete, but when I try to access the parent contribution section, it just shows a spinning wheel and then times out. I've tried different browsers, cleared my cache, and even tried accessing it from my phone - nothing works. It's been 4 days now and I'm getting really worried about missing his school's priority deadline. Has anyone found a reliable way to contact FSA that actually gets through? The phone lines seem to be constantly busy.
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