FAFSA error: Can't edit income information after signing & submitting form - need urgent help!

Yep, same thing happened to me. Once you submit that FAFSA it's locked for processing. The good news is you CAN still make corrections! You need to wait until the application is fully processed (took mine about 3-4 days), then you can log back in and click on "Make FAFSA Corrections" option. You'll be able to fix the income info and resubmit.

Don't panic! This is actually a common issue. You have to wait until your FAFSA has been fully processed before you can make corrections. Once processed (you'll get an email notification), you can log in to studentaid.gov, select "Make FAFSA Corrections," update your income information, and resubmit with new signatures. Important: While waiting for processing, I recommend contacting the financial aid offices at your daughter's schools directly to inform them about the error. Send an email explaining the specific correction you'll be making so they can note it in your file. Some schools will hold processing your aid until the corrected FAFSA arrives if you notify them.

i messed up my fafsa too lol. had to wait like a week b4 i could fix it. the system is SO STUPID why cant they just let us edit before sending??? anyways yeah u gotta wait till its processed then fix it

I work in a college financial aid office. Here's what you need to know: 1. Yes, you must wait until your FAFSA is processed before making corrections (typically 3-5 business days) 2. Schools don't immediately download and process FAFSAs - most batch process them every few days or weekly 3. Contact each school's financial aid office IMMEDIATELY by phone and email explaining the situation 4. The correction process is simple, but requires both student and parent to sign again Additionally, since we're in the peak FAFSA processing time, you might have trouble getting through to FSA on the phone to ask questions. I've had students use Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent quickly without waiting on hold forever. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Don't worry too much - $8,500 in additional income may not impact aid as dramatically as you fear, and schools deal with FAFSA corrections constantly.

THE FAFSA PROCESS IS TOTAL GARBAGE THIS YEAR!!! I can't believe they rolled out such a broken system! We've been trying for MONTHS to get things submitted correctly and keep hitting error after error. Now I'm hearing we might need to wait ANOTHER week after submission to make corrections?? I'm about to lose my mind with this whole process.

I had this exact problem last month. Here's what worked for me: 1. Wait for processing (took 4 days) 2. Log in to studentaid.gov 3. Click on "FAFSA Corrections" 4. Update the income section 5. Both parent and student must re-sign While waiting, I contacted all the schools on my son's list. Most were understanding, but one school suggested we submit a special circumstances form in addition to the FAFSA correction. Ask each school if they want any supplemental documentation about the income change. Also, I found that refreshing the studentaid.gov site constantly didn't make processing go any faster 😅 (I checked like 50 times a day hoping it would finish processing

After you make the correction, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center to flag your application for urgent processing. Their number is 1-800-433-3243. I tried calling for three days straight and couldn't get through (kept getting disconnected), but finally used that Claimyr service someone mentioned above and got connected to an agent in like 2 minutes. They flagged my daughter's corrected FAFSA for priority processing and it was done in 48 hours instead of the usual week!

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for the advice! I called three of her schools this morning and explained the situation. Two were super understanding and said they'd make a note in her file to wait for the corrected FAFSA. The third school (her top choice) actually gave me an email address to send documentation of our correct income directly to them while waiting for the official FAFSA correction! Now just waiting for the original submission to finish processing so I can make the correction. Thanks again for helping me not panic completely!

Hey Ethan! I'm so glad you got through to the schools and they were understanding! As someone who went through a similar FAFSA correction nightmare last year, I just wanted to add one more tip: when you do get the ability to make corrections, double-check ALL the financial information before resubmitting, not just the income error you caught. Sometimes when we're rushing to fix one thing, we miss other mistakes. Also, keep screenshots of your corrected FAFSA confirmation page - I had one school claim they never received my correction even though it showed as transmitted on my end. Having that documentation saved me weeks of back-and-forth! You're handling this really well under pressure. Your daughter is lucky to have such an advocate!