FAFSA application getting 'not saved' error at Step 4 - need urgent help

same thing happened to my son last week!! so frustrating. we found out it was because he was trying to upload a pdf that was too large in the document section. try checking if any docs you're uploading are over 10MB

I work in a college financial aid office, and we've been seeing several students with this exact issue this month. It's often caused by one of three things: 1. You're entering special characters (like &, %, or $) in text fields 2. There's a timeout issue if you're spending too long on each page 3. There's a data mismatch between previous years' applications and this one Recommendation: Have your daughter fill out the form without stopping, using only basic text characters, and make sure all names exactly match her Social Security card.

After HOURS on hold with the Federal Student Aid helpline, I think ur daughter's problem is the same as mine. The SAI calculation is failing because of the household size vs. reported tax dependents mismatch. If those numbers don't match, the system sometimes crashes during step 4!!! Try making sure those match exactly, even if its not 100% accurate. You can always submit a correction later.

Hey there, just wanted to share that I had the exact same problem last week when helping my niece with her FAFSA. After trying literally everything and wasting hours, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get connected to an actual FSA agent in less than 5 minutes. They had a solution that fixed it right away - turns out there was a glitch with her account verification that only they could fix on their end. Check out their video to see how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - saved us so much frustration!

This is a known issue with the new FAFSA system. Make sure you're using the most updated version of Chrome or Safari. Also, for Step 4 specifically, there's a bug when reporting certain types of income. If you have any self-employment income or Schedule C business income, enter it as "other income" rather than business income for now, then submit a correction after your initial application is processed. The Department of Education is aware of this bug but hasn't rolled out a fix yet.

UPDATE: We finally got it to work!!! For anyone else hitting this problem, here's what fixed it for us: 1. We logged out completely and waited 24 hours 2. Used a completely different device (borrowed my son's laptop) 3. Made sure to complete each section in under 10 minutes 4. Used the Claimyr service from above to talk to an FSA agent who cleared some kind of flag on her account The agent mentioned this is happening to a lot of people with the new system. Thanks everyone for your help! Now we wait to see her SAI score and hope for the best with her aid package.

im glad u got it fixed!!! the new FAFSA is such a mess this year, my son's SAI came back WAAAY higher than expected and were trying to figure out if thats another glitch or if we did something wrong ugh

As someone who just went through this nightmare with my own kid, I can't stress enough how important it is to document everything when you have these technical issues! Screenshot every error message, note the exact times you tried to submit, and keep records of any phone calls or chats with FSA. If the glitches cause you to miss priority deadlines, most financial aid offices will grant extensions if you can prove you were actively trying to complete the application. Also, pro tip - if you're still having issues, try using an incognito/private browser window. Sometimes cached data from previous FAFSA attempts can interfere with the new application.

Just wanted to add another potential solution that worked for my nephew last month - if you're still having issues, try completing the FAFSA during off-peak hours (like early morning or late evening). The system seems to be more stable when fewer people are using it. Also, make sure you're not using any browser extensions that might interfere with the form submission - we had to disable his ad blocker and password manager before it would go through properly. The timing thing especially seems to matter with Step 4 since that's where the system does a lot of backend calculations. Good luck to anyone still dealing with these frustrating technical problems!