FAFSA marked daughter as independent when she's not - do parents still need to contribute information?

Sounds like your daughter accidentally answered one of the independence questions incorrectly. There are specific criteria for independence status - like being married, having children, being 24+ years old, military service, etc. If she doesn't meet ANY of those criteria, she's considered a dependent student and BOTH of you need to complete portions of the application. You should have her log back in and review the dependency questions because something got marked wrong.

THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!!! The FAFSA dependency questions are so confusing. My son had the exact same problem last year. One wrong click and suddenly the system thinks they don't need parent info. Your daughter probably clicked 'yes' to one of these questions by mistake: - Are you married? - Do you have children who receive more than half their support from you? - Are you a veteran? - Are you homeless or at risk of being homeless? The system is terribly designed! She needs to log back in ASAP and make a correction. But good luck trying to reach anyone at FSA if you need help!!!

my kid did this too lol. she had to go back and submit a correction. its not that complicated just have her log in and click on 'make FAFSA correction

This is a common issue with the FAFSA. Your daughter needs to submit a correction to her application. Here's how: 1. Log into studentaid.gov with her FSA ID 2. Go to the FAFSA application section 3. Select "Make FAFSA Correction" 4. Review the dependency questions carefully 5. Once she fixes her dependency status, it will unlock the parent information section 6. Then you'll need to create your own FSA ID to complete the parent portion Don't wait too long to make this correction - it could significantly impact her financial aid package since independent students typically qualify for more aid than dependent students (but only if they truly meet the criteria).

When I was trying to help my nephew with this same issue last month, it was IMPOSSIBLE to get through to anyone at the Federal Student Aid helpline. After waiting on hold for 2+ hours multiple days in a row, I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get a callback from an actual FSA agent who helped us fix the dependency status issue in about 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Saved us so much frustration since this was a time-sensitive issue with his college deadline approaching.

I went through the exact same thing with my son's application! Turns out he accidentally clicked that he was in the foster care system after age 13 (which wasn't true). Once we corrected that question, it immediately changed his status back to dependent and prompted me to create my FSA ID to complete the parent section. One important thing - after you fix this and submit the parent portion, you'll both need to sign the corrected application electronically for it to be processed. This part confused us initially.

Financial aid professional here - just to clarify a few things: 1. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool (what your daughter agreed to) is separate from dependency status determination. 2. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, a student is considered independent if ANY of the following apply: - Born before January 1, 2002 - Married - Working on master's/doctorate - Has legal dependents - Veteran/active duty military - Orphan/ward of court/foster care after age 13 - Emancipated minor - Legal guardianship - Homeless or at risk of homelessness 3. If she's truly dependent (sounds like she is), you must correct this ASAP. 4. This will significantly impact her Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation, which determines aid eligibility. Make the correction immediately - parent information is crucial for an accurate aid assessment.

Update: We found the problem! My daughter went back through the application and discovered she accidentally marked 'yes' to the question about being in legal guardianship. She was confused by the wording. We've submitted the correction and now I can see the parent portion is available for me to complete. Thank you everyone for your help!

Glad you were able to resolve this! This is such a common issue - the FAFSA dependency questions really need clearer wording. For anyone else reading this thread who might face similar issues, it's worth double-checking all the dependency questions before submitting. Even one misclick can completely change your aid eligibility. The legal guardianship question in particular seems to trip up a lot of students. Best of luck with the rest of your financial aid process!