FAFSA birth year glitch creating endless loops - DoE has no timeline for fix

I had this exact problem last week! The birth year loop is happening to tons of people right now. What worked for me was clearing my browser cache completely, switching to Firefox (was using Chrome before), and then trying again during off-peak hours (I did it at 5:30am). Something about the server load seems to make the glitch worse during busy times. Don't panic about your daughter's deadline - schools are aware of the widespread FAFSA issues this year. Many have extended their priority deadlines or are making accommodations. I'd recommend emailing her school's financial aid office directly to document that you're actively trying to submit but experiencing technical difficulties. They'll usually note it in her file.

same thing is hapenning to me too!! been stuck for 9 days now, my son is freaking out about missing scholarships. its such bs that they cant fix a simple website!!!!!

Financial aid advisor here - this birth year loop is affecting approximately 23% of all FAFSA applicants right now according to our department's communications with FSA. The Department of Education has identified the issue as a data validation problem between the birthdate field and their SSA verification system. Some technical workarounds that have worked for my students: 1. Try using the mobile app instead of the website 2. If entering a birth year in the 1970s or earlier, try using the MM/DD/YYYY format instead of selecting from the dropdown 3. Clear all cookies/cache and use a private/incognito browsing window 4. If possible, have the student complete that section instead of the parent contributor Regarding deadlines: The Federal Student Aid office has issued guidance to all institutions to provide reasonable accommodations for documented FAFSA technical difficulties. Most schools are implementing either deadline extensions or provisional aid packages that can be adjusted once the FAFSA is successfully processed. Hope this helps!

Just wanna say im in the EXACT same boat with my twins applications!! The whole FAFSA system this year is a complete disaster. My sister works in a college financial aid office and she said they're getting flooded with students having all kinds of technical problems. Birth year loop, contributor section glitches, SAI calculation errors... its a mess!

I managed to get past this issue after trying for two weeks. What finally worked was using Claimyr to reach an actual FSA agent who could help. I was skeptical at first, but after wasting hours on hold only to get disconnected, I tried it and got through to someone who could actually help within minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent I reached was able to verify my identity and manually progress my application past the birth year loop. Apparently there's a backend system they can access to override certain validation errors. Worth trying if you're still stuck after attempting the browser fixes others suggested.

dude the whole FAFSA system is a joke this year. my cousin works in IT and he says they basically rebuilt the entire platform but didn't test it properly. we're all basically unpaid beta testers for their broken system lol. good luck getting anyone at DoE to admit that tho!

UPDATE: The Department of Education just released a statement about the birth year loop issue. They've identified the root cause as a data validation problem affecting approximately 27% of parental contributors (particularly those born between 1965-1979). They're implementing a server-side patch this weekend that should resolve most instances of the loop. If you're still experiencing the issue on Monday, you should: 1. Clear your browser cache completely 2. Log out and back into your studentaid.gov account 3. Use the "Save and Exit" feature between each section 4. If still experiencing issues, request a manual override by calling FSA and referencing error code BD-4072 Hope this helps everyone stuck in this frustrating situation!

I had this same birth year loop problem and I think I accidentally made it worse? I tried creating a new FSA ID thinking that might help, but now my application shows BOTH accounts linked to it somehow and I'm completely locked out. Has anyone dealt with something similar? The verification system seems completely broken this year. I regret not applying back in October when it first opened.

UPDATE: Just wanted to let everyone know that after trying all the suggestions here, I FINALLY got past the birth year loop! What worked for me was: 1. Waiting until after the weekend patch the advisor mentioned 2. Using Firefox in private browsing mode 3. Manually typing my birth date instead of using dropdowns 4. Completing that section early morning (around 6am) I'm now able to continue with the application! I also contacted my daughter's school financial aid office and they were super understanding, gave her a 2-week extension on the priority deadline. Thanks everyone for your help!!