FAFSA form showing as 'not submitted' but college received wrong year - how to fix?

This is actually pretty common with the new FAFSA rollout this year. The system has been glitchy and inconsistent. Here's what's happening: 1. The college receiving your 2023-24 FAFSA instead of 2024-25 means they're looking at last year's form, which won't help for this fall. 2. When the site says "no record" but then stops you from creating a new one, it usually means your form IS in the system but has a processing error. 3. The correction email not arriving is a known issue - many families never received the notices they were supposed to get. Your best bet is to immediately fill out a new 2024-25 FAFSA. Since your previous one seems to be in limbo, starting fresh is faster than trying to find/fix it. Once submitted, your SAI should be calculated within 3-5 business days. Then immediately contact RISD's financial aid office to let them know about the situation.

omg the EXACT same thing happned to me!!! they say they received my fafsa but when i check my portal it says nothing is there?? so frustrating!!! i ended up having to fill it out again and my SAI was way diff than what my school was showing. ugh this new system is the WORST

I had a similarly frustrating experience trying to reach someone at FSA. After getting disconnected 4 times and waiting on hold for hours, I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual FSA agent in minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent I spoke with explained that many 2024-25 FAFSA forms are stuck in a weird processing limbo where the system shows them as both submitted and not submitted simultaneously. She was able to manually locate my daughter's submission and push it through to completion. Might be worth trying rather than starting over completely.

As a financial aid counselor, I can tell you that this "vanishing FAFSA" problem has been extremely common this year. The new FAFSA system rollout has been plagued with technical issues. Here's what I recommend: 1. Screenshot everything - especially that glimpse of the SAR you mentioned seeing 2. Contact RISD's financial aid office directly - explain the situation and ask if they can see your FAFSA in their system. Schools often have access to application data that isn't showing correctly on the student portal. 3. If RISD can't see your FAFSA, then yes, you should submit a new one ASAP. Processing is taking 3-7 days currently. 4. Request a professional judgment review if your financial situation has changed since you first applied. Many schools are extending their financial aid deadlines due to these FAFSA issues, so don't panic about the timeline yet.

IS anyone else SICK TO DEATH of this new FAFSA system???? My son is a sophomore and we've been through this rodeo before, but this year is a complete DISASTER!! The FSA people have NO IDEA what they're doing and the system is GARBAGE. I've been on the phone for HOURS total and every rep tells me something different! One says our form is processed, one says it's missing, one says we need to verify identity... And these schools have the NERVE to still enforce their May 1 deposit deadlines when kids don't even have financial aid packages to compare!!! The whole system is BROKEN and they're making kids commit to schools without knowing what they can afford! RIDICULOUS!!!

my cousins daughter had this happen and it turned out her social security number was entered wrong on the original form. might be worth checking if theres a simple data error like that causing your form to not show up correctly?

You mentioned orientation is in 4 months - are you sure RISD needs your FAFSA that far in advance? Most schools have a specific financial aid deadline that's separate from the admission deadline. I'd recommend checking RISD's financial aid page for their specific requirements. They might give priority to early FAFSA submissions, but they should still process aid packages for forms submitted later, especially given all the known issues with the system this year. Also, your SAI will ultimately determine your aid eligibility, so once you get that calculated (whether from fixing your current submission or completing a new one), you can get a rough idea of your potential aid using the school's net price calculator.

Quick update on timelines: I work in a financial aid office (not at RISD), and we're seeing FAFSA processing times improve. New submissions are now typically taking 3-5 business days to get an SAI calculation, which is much better than the 2-3 weeks it was taking earlier this year. One important thing to note - if you do submit a new FAFSA, make sure to immediately notify all the schools your daughter is considering. Most schools won't automatically check for new FAFSA data daily, so proactively letting them know will speed up their processing of her aid package. Also, don't forget that the CSS Profile might be required by RISD in addition to the FAFSA (many private art schools require both). Double-check that you've completed all required financial aid forms.

i just remembered something else!! when i called about my missing fafsa the person said that sometimes if you use a different email address than what you used when you created your FSA ID it can cause the system to not show your submitted fafsa. did you use the same email for both by any chance??

I'm new to this community but unfortunately not new to FAFSA frustrations! Reading through all these responses, it sounds like you have several good options to try before starting completely over. I'd recommend trying the Claimyr service that Fiona mentioned first - if an agent can manually locate and push through your existing application, that would save you from missing the priority deadline. If that doesn't work, definitely call RISD's financial aid office directly before resubmitting. Many schools are being flexible with deadlines this year given all the system issues, and they might be able to work with you on the timing. Document everything - dates you called, who you spoke with, reference numbers if they give you any. The fact that Pratt received your 2023-24 FAFSA is actually useful information - it proves you did submit something successfully, just the wrong year somehow got processed. That might help when explaining the situation to financial aid offices. Good luck! This whole FAFSA rollout has been such a mess, but it sounds like you're being persistent and that's what it takes this year.

As someone who just went through a similar nightmare with my twin daughters' FAFSAs, I wanted to share what finally worked for us. We had the exact same issue - submitted in December, got confirmation emails, then complete radio silence from the system showing no record. After weeks of frustration, I discovered that creating a paper trail is crucial. I sent a certified letter to Federal Student Aid (830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002) documenting our submission date, confirmation numbers, and the technical issues we encountered. Include screenshots of any confirmations you received and print out that glimpse of the SAR you mentioned seeing. Within 10 business days of sending that letter, we received a callback from FSA with our daughters' applications magically "found" and processed. Apparently there's a whole department that handles these technical glitches, but you have to formally document the issue to get escalated to them. Also, definitely reach out to your state's Department of Education - many states have FAFSA hotlines that can advocate on your behalf with federal aid offices. Rhode Island's higher ed department might be able to help push things through faster than going through federal channels alone. The paper trail approach might take a bit longer than resubmitting, but it preserves your original December submission date which could be important for priority deadlines. Worth trying before starting completely over!