FAFSA application locked for editing - can't update financial info before submission

this happened to me last month!!!! SO ANNOYING. try using a different browser. the edit button randomly appeared for me when i switched from chrome to firefox. dont know why but it worked

Thanks for the suggestion. I just tried Firefox, Edge, and even Safari on my friend's laptop and nothing changed. Still can't edit anything. Did you have to log out and back in several times or something?

The FAFSA system has been incredibly glitchy this year with the new changes to the SAI calculation. I've found that there's actually a specific way to unlock editing: go to your dashboard, click on \

Just tried this and it didn't work either 😭 I'm getting desperate at this point. The financial information is WAY off because I accidentally entered my quarterly earnings instead of annual on one section.

EXACT same thing happened to my daughter!! We called for 3 days straight and kept getting disconnected. When we finally got through, they told us to delete cookies and browser history which didn't help AT ALL. Then they said we had to start over with a new application which was TERRIBLE advice because we lost all our info!!! Don't do that!!!! The system is completely broken this year.

I agree the system is broken, but starting over isn't always bad advice. Sometimes it's faster than waiting for them to fix technical issues on their end. Just make sure you have all your information saved separately before you start over!

This is a known issue with the FAFSA system this year. The technical explanation is that their database sometimes locks records during background processing even though they appear as \

Thank you so much for these detailed suggestions! I'll try the early morning login tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll call again and specifically ask for the technical application reset. I hadn't heard of that option before.

Have you tried just submitting it anyway? My daughter's financial aid advisor told us that you can always submit corrections after the fact. That might be better than missing your priority deadline altogether.

This is partially true but risky. Yes, corrections can be submitted, but your initial SAI calculation will be based on the incorrect information. Some schools allocate certain funds based on first-come first-served SAI scores, so if your initial calculation is off, you might miss out on some institutional aid even after corrections. Always best to try fixing before submission if possible.

I had a similar issue getting through to FSA last month when I had login problems. After trying for days and getting nowhere, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual FSA agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\nThe agent I spoke with was able to manually unlock my application for editing. Apparently it's something they can do on their end but the first-level support people don't always know about it or offer it. Might be worth trying if you can't get through on your own.

did that actually work?? i've never heard of it before sounds kinda sketchy tbh

It worked for me! I was skeptical too, but I was desperate after trying for 3 days to get through. The service just holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is available. The FSA agent I spoke with knew exactly what to do to unlock my application.

UPDATE: I tried the early morning login suggestion and it worked!!! Logged in at 3:15am and suddenly all the fields were editable again. I fixed the income information and was able to save it successfully. Thank you all SO MUCH for your help! For anyone else with this problem, definitely try the off-hours login approach first before doing anything drastic.

That's great news! Glad it worked out. This is definitely one of the most common technical issues with the new FAFSA system this year. For future reference, you can also request what's called a \

just curious but what was wrong with ur financial info? i think i might have done mine wrong too cuz i got a really high SAI number even tho my parents dont make that much money

I accidentally entered my quarterly earnings from one of my W-2s as if it was the annual amount. So I essentially under-reported one income source by 75%, which would have given me an artificially low SAI and could have gotten me in trouble for misreporting. I'd recommend double-checking your entries - the new SAI formula is different from the old EFC calculation and considers some income differently.