FAFSA keeps showing my son as 'married' when he's single - can't edit marital status!

This is a known bug in the 2025-2026 FAFSA system. I ran into the exact same problem with my daughter's application last week. It's happening because there's a conflict between what you entered in the demographic section and something you answered in the household section. Here's how to fix it without starting over: 1. Save your current application (don't submit) 2. Log out completely 3. Clear your browser cache and cookies 4. Log back in and click 'Resume FAFSA' 5. Go to the household information section 6. There should be a question about 'changes in marital status' - make sure it's set to 'No changes' 7. Continue to the review page and the marital status should be corrected If that doesn't work, you'll need to call Federal Student Aid directly to have them manually unlock that field.

OMGGGG I HAD THIS EXACT SAME ISSUE!!! the new FAFSA is a NIGHTMARE!! i spent 6 hours trying to fix this for my son. turns out there's a question about tax filing status that can mess up the marital status field if you put 'married filing jointly' by mistake (which makes NO SENSE since it's asking about YOUR taxes not your kid's status!!). have you checked that section? for us we had to completely start over becuz nothing else worked 😡

Have you tried using a different browser? Sometimes the FAFSA form has weird compatibility issues with certain browsers. I had a similar problem (though with dependency status, not marital status) and switching from Chrome to Firefox instantly fixed it. Worth a try before you do anything drastic like starting over. Also be sure you're using the official studentaid.gov site and not one of those sketchy FAFSA helper sites that charge fees.

i had this problem toooo!!!!! its because the stupid form has a bug where if you go back and forth between sections too many times it somehow messes up certain fields. my financial aid advisor at the college said tons of students are having this problem with the new FAFSA. you should call the Federal Student Aid helpline, but be prepared to wait FOREVER. i was on hold for like 2 hrs before i hung up lol

This happened to my nephew too! The 2025-26 FAFSA has been a disaster with all these bugs. In our case, we found that when we listed his off-campus apartment in the housing section, somehow the system interpreted that as him being married (??). We had to select 'campus housing' temporarily, then go back and fix it after submission by calling FSA. Makes absolutely no sense but apparently housing questions can trigger the marital status bug. Also, when you do submit, make sure you immediately download a copy of your confirmation page and SAI calculation because sometimes the system 'loses' submissions during high traffic periods.

my cousin works in financial aid office and says this exact problem is happening to TONS of people rn with the new fafsa. apparently it's some coding error on their end. u might have to submit it wrong and then ask for a correction afterward which is super annoying but sometimes the only way to fix it

UPDATE: The browser switch worked!! I tried Firefox instead of Chrome and when I logged back in and went to the review page, his status showed as SINGLE correctly! I'm not sure why this fixed it, but I'm not questioning it. Going to submit tonight before anything else can go wrong. Thanks everyone for your help!!

That's awesome news! I'm so glad the browser switch worked for you. It's crazy how something as simple as using a different browser can fix such a major glitch. I'm definitely bookmarking this thread because I know I'll be helping other parents with FAFSA issues throughout the season. Your experience is going to help so many families who run into this same problem. Congrats on getting through what sounds like a really frustrating process!

Just wanted to add my experience for anyone else who might find this thread! I had a similar issue where my daughter's dependency status kept switching back and forth between dependent and independent. What finally worked for us was clearing the browser cache AND logging out of any other government websites (like IRS, SSA) that we had open in other tabs. Apparently having multiple federal sites open simultaneously can cause session conflicts that mess with the FAFSA data. Also, if you're using a password manager, try temporarily disabling auto-fill for the FAFSA site - sometimes those can interfere with the form's JavaScript. The new FAFSA system is definitely buggy but these little tricks seem to help avoid the worst glitches!