FAFSA application disappeared - had to resubmit but worried it's lost?

this happnd to me too!!! filled it out in novembr and then got email from my daughters school saying no FAFSA. when i logged in all our stuff was there but it wasnt submitted??? no idea what happened but u definitely not alone

There's actually been a glitch in the system this year where some applications show as "in progress" rather than "submitted" even when people completed everything. The most likely explanation is that you got to the confirmation page but there was a backend error that prevented the final submission from processing. The good news is that your information was saved, which is why you only had to click through again. I recommend taking a screenshot of your new confirmation page and confirmation number. Also, call your son's college financial aid office directly to confirm they received it - they can usually verify this faster than waiting for the StudentAid.gov processing.

I HAD THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPEN!!! Filled out my daughter's FAFSA in October, got confirmation number and everything. Then in January the school says they never got it. Had to redo everything. WHY CAN'T THEY GET THIS RIGHT??? It's not like FAFSA is new! They've been doing this for DECADES and still can't make a website that works???

Financial aid advisor here. This is unfortunately a known issue with the new FAFSA rollout. The system has been having trouble with what we call "ghost submissions" - where the user completes all steps but the final submission doesn't register properly in the database. Your original submission date should still be honored for federal aid purposes, but I would recommend: 1. Print/save your new confirmation page with submission number 2. Contact each school's financial aid office to verify they received the FAFSA 3. Ask them to note in your file that you had originally submitted in October 4. Keep checking your SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation - once that appears, you'll know the FAFSA is fully processed When aid packages are assembled, most schools are being flexible with submission dates this year because of the widespread system issues.

I went through this exact nightmare last month! After trying to call FSA for two weeks with no luck, I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual FSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold forever. The agent confirmed my daughter's application had been submitted but not properly processed due to a system error. They were able to fix it on their end so we didn't have to completely resubmit. Might be worth checking out their video demo: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - it saved me so much frustration!

This is happening because the new "simplified" FAFSA is anything but simple on the backend. Many systems aren't communicating properly. If your information was still stored but showed as incomplete, it means your session likely timed out during the final submission step OR there was a data transmission error between the FAFSA site and the Central Processing System. I'd recommend two things: 1. Check your email (including spam folder) for any communications from Federal Student Aid about errors or incomplete applications 2. Keep your confirmation number from your resubmission and add a calendar reminder to check the status weekly The good news is that most schools are aware of these issues and are working with students whose applications have been affected. I would send a brief email to your son's financial aid office explaining what happened so they have it documented.

wait i'm confused... if your son already had an account then why did they tell you he didn't have one? did you log in with the wrong email maybe? also what's the difference between completing the form and submitting it? this whole system is so confusing tbh

For what it's worth, the Department of Education acknowledged these issues in a press release last month. They specifically mentioned that some early submissions weren't properly recorded in their system due to database synchronization problems. They claim to be honoring original submission dates when students can provide evidence (like confirmation emails or screenshots). If your son's school has institutional scholarships with FAFSA deadlines, I'd recommend contacting their financial aid office directly with your original submission date information. Most schools are making accommodations this year given the widespread FAFSA problems.

my brother works in IT and he says the entire new FAFSA system is a disaster behind the scenes. apparently they rushed the launch even though developers warned it wasn't ready. now they're patching things on the fly which is why some applications are disappearing from the system. total government incompetence if you ask me!

Update: I finally managed to speak with someone at the Federal Student Aid office this morning (after trying for days). They confirmed there was a technical issue where applications that were completed in the first few weeks after the FAFSA opened sometimes didn't get properly recorded as submitted. The representative said they're aware of the problem and are working to restore these submissions from their backup systems. She advised me to keep the new confirmation number from our resubmission and said they would honor our original October submission date for federal aid purposes. She also suggested notifying all my son's schools about the situation. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

I'm so glad you were able to get through to someone at FSA and get confirmation about what happened! This gives me hope that they're actually tracking these issues and working to fix them. I'm in a similar situation - completed my FAFSA in early November and just found out last week that my school never received it. Like you, all my information was still saved but it showed as incomplete. I'm planning to call FSA tomorrow armed with this information about the backup systems. Did they give you any timeline for when they might restore the original submissions, or should we all just proceed with our resubmissions as the primary application?

Wow, reading through all of this makes me feel so much better knowing I'm not going crazy! I submitted my daughter's FAFSA in late October and just discovered yesterday that her college has no record of it. When I logged back into the portal, everything was there but marked as "in progress" instead of submitted. It's such a relief to see that FSA is acknowledging this as a known issue and that they're supposedly working to restore applications from backups. I'm definitely going to follow everyone's advice here - taking screenshots of my new confirmation, calling the financial aid offices directly, and documenting everything. Has anyone heard if there's a master list somewhere of all the schools that are being flexible with deadlines this year? It would be helpful to know which colleges are actually accommodating these technical issues versus just saying "too bad, you missed the deadline.