FAFSA confusion: Should student complete their section before parent contributor or vice versa?

Thank you! That makes sense. So she needs to get pretty far through her section before I'll get any notification, right? About how long does it usually take for the parent invite to come through after she submits her part?

That's helpful to know! Did you run into any specific issues we should watch out for? And was 20 minutes really all it took for her part? That seems fast considering all the info they need.

yep it was pretty quick for her part! the new FASFA is way shorter than before. just make sure you both have your tax info ready, they pull most of it from IRS but you still need to confirm some stuff. oh and dont forget to list ALL the schools she's applying to!

This is incorrect information for the 2025-2026 FAFSA. The redesigned FAFSA form specifically requires the student to initiate the application process. The student must complete their portion first, which includes providing basic demographic information and listing which schools should receive their information. Only after that is completed will the system send an email invitation to the parent/contributor to complete their section. This is different from previous years, so your experience from before won't match the current process.

You know what saved me from this exact nightmare? Claimyr.com - I was stuck on hold with FSA for hours trying to figure out why I wasn't getting the parent invitation email. Their video (https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ) shows how it works. They got me connected to an actual FAFSA agent in under 20 minutes who fixed the email issue right away. Definitely worth it when you're stuck in FAFSA hell.

While the FAFSA can certainly be frustrating, the redesigned form actually aims to simplify the process. The 2025-2026 FAFSA has approximately 36 questions (down from over 100), direct IRS data retrieval for most families, and clearer instructions. The student-first approach is part of this streamlining. If you encounter issues, it's often helpful to contact your school's financial aid office, as they have resources to help navigate the process.

This is exactly what I needed! Thank you for breaking it down step by step. One last question - should we be doing this on a computer or can parts be completed on mobile?

While the FAFSA is technically mobile-friendly, I strongly recommend using a computer for both portions. The mobile experience can be frustrating, especially when uploading or reviewing documents. Also, be prepared with your 2023 tax returns (for 2025-2026 FAFSA), though most of that information will be imported directly from the IRS using the Data Retrieval Tool.

YES! This is exactly why I'm trying to figure out the right way to do things before we start. The stakes feel so high.

Every. Single. Time. And then when something inevitably goes wrong, you spend weeks trying to get someone on the phone to fix it!

That's good to know! Can she add schools later if she decides to apply to more places after submitting the initial FAFSA?

Yes, she can add schools later by logging into her FAFSA account and making corrections. However, this could potentially delay those schools' processing of her financial aid. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, students can list up to 20 schools initially. If she needs to add more beyond that, she'll need to remove some schools first, but those removed schools will still have received her FAFSA data.

This is really helpful, thank you! I'm definitely going to make sure we have all our documents organized first. Quick question - when you say "save frequently," is there an actual save button we need to click, or does it auto-save as we fill things out? I'm worried about losing progress if the system times out on us!

There's both auto-save and manual save options! The system does auto-save your progress periodically, but I'd recommend clicking the "Save" button that appears at the bottom of each page before moving to the next section. This way you're absolutely sure your information is saved. If you do get timed out (which happens after about 45 minutes of inactivity), you can log back in and pick up where you left off. Just make sure you're using the same FSA ID you started with. The peace of mind from manually saving is totally worth those extra few seconds!

That's a great point about having the parent's basic info ready when the student starts! I hadn't thought about that. We've been so focused on gathering tax documents and financial information that I forgot she'll need my SSN and birth date right from the beginning. Thanks for mentioning that - it would have been frustrating to get partway through and then have to stop to find those details. Do you remember if there were any other pieces of parent information she needed during her initial section, or was it mainly just the identifying information?

Welcome to the FAFSA journey! You're so smart to gather all this information beforehand - it really does make a huge difference. One small tip I'd add based on my recent experience: when you sit down to do it this weekend, try to pick a time when you won't be interrupted and maybe avoid peak hours (like Sunday evenings) when the system might be slower. Also, don't stress if you encounter any small hiccups along the way - the new system is definitely more user-friendly than the horror stories you might have heard from previous years. You've got this! Feel free to come back here if you run into any issues - this community has been amazing at helping each other navigate the process.

This is such a helpful tip about using the same browser! I never would have thought of that, but it makes total sense that switching browsers could cause session issues. Thanks for sharing that detail about clearing the browser cache too - we definitely want to avoid any weird glitches that could slow us down. It's reassuring to hear that once you got everything sorted out, the whole process only took about an hour. That gives me hope that our weekend FAFSA session will go smoothly if we follow all the great advice from this thread!

That's such a smart tip about creating a cheat sheet with all the school codes ahead of time! I can definitely see how that would save a lot of time during the actual application process. Quick question - where did you find all the federal school codes? Is there a good website or resource you'd recommend for looking them up, or did you get them directly from each college? Also, regarding the parent contributor designation, what happens if parents are divorced? Does the student still just pick one parent, or is that process more complicated? Thanks for sharing your experience!

You can find the federal school codes on the Federal Student Aid website (studentaid.gov) - they have a school code search tool. Just search by the college name and state. Most colleges also list their federal school code on their financial aid websites. For divorced parents, it gets a bit more complicated - the student needs to identify which parent they lived with more during the past 12 months, and that parent becomes the "contributor." If it was exactly 50/50, then it's whichever parent provided more financial support. The non-contributor parent doesn't participate in the FAFSA process at all. This is different from some CSS Profile schools that might want both parents' info, but for FAFSA it's just one parent.