FAFSA parent contribution confusion - do I create my own account or use my child's?

You definitely need to create your own FSA ID. The new FAFSA requires each contributor (parent) to create their own account and complete their section separately. Your son can't do it for you, and you shouldn't use his login. Here's what to do: 1. Create your FSA ID at studentaid.gov 2. Once created, you'll use that to access the 'contributor' portion your son sent you 3. You'll need to provide your own tax information (it can be imported from the IRS using the Data Retrieval Tool) 4. Complete your section and submit The system is designed with these separate logins for security and privacy reasons. Each contributor sees only their portion of the application.

make sure u do NOT use ur kids login!!! i tried tha last year and it messed up the whole thing. gotta make ur own fsa id with ur own email.

The new FAFSA process is very different from previous years. As a parent contributor, you must create your own FSA ID with your own email address and phone number. The invitation your son sent allows you to connect to his application, but only after you establish your own account. Once you create your FSA ID, you'll need to provide consent for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import your tax information. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, you'll use your 2023 tax information, not 2024, so you don't need to worry about not having filed 2024 taxes yet. After completing your section, your son will be notified and can then submit the final application. Keep in mind that your SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation now depends heavily on your household composition and income details being accurate.

lol my daughter sent me the same thing and I was soooo confused. the new FAFSA is rlly different! apparently they changed it all this year and ppl are struggling with it everywhere

Been trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid for DAYS about this exact issue and couldn't get through. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get a callback and got connected to an agent in 20 minutes who walked me through the entire parent contributor process. They have a video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Basically, what the agent told me is that the 'invitation' you received is only usable once you create your own FSA ID account. The most important thing is that your FSA ID must use different contact information than your child's (different email and phone number). I kept getting errors until the agent explained this to me.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS RIDICULOUS!!!! I spent THREE WEEKS trying to do this for my son's FAFSA!!! First they want us to make our own account, then they want all our personal info, then the IRS connection didn't work, then my son's application got LOCKED because apparently I did something wrong!!! And of course no one answers the phone EVER!!! What happened to the old system where we could just fill everything out together??? This new process is a complete disaster and no one at the schools or Federal Student Aid seems to care that parents are struggling with this!!

One important thing to mention - after you create your FSA ID, you need to wait for your information to be verified before accessing the FAFSA contributor section. This usually takes 1-3 days, though sometimes it's instant. Don't panic if you can't immediately access your child's FAFSA after creating your account. Also, when you do get in, make sure you have these ready: - Your 2023 tax return (or your SSN for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool) - Records of untaxed income (if any) - Current asset information (bank accounts, investments excluding retirement accounts and your primary home) The contributor section typically takes about 15-20 minutes if the IRS data transfer works smoothly.

dont 4get your phone! they send u codes to verify through text msgs or calls, happened to me like 3 times just to fill out my part

Update: I created my FSA ID last night and got verified this morning! Much faster than I expected. I was able to access the contributor section through the link in my email. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool worked perfectly and pulled all my tax info automatically. The whole process took about 30 minutes, mostly because I double-checked everything. My part is now complete and my son got a notification that my section is done. Thanks everyone for all your help and advice! This was way easier than I feared once I understood the process.

Congratulations on getting through it successfully! Your experience is really encouraging for other parents who are still navigating this process. It's reassuring to hear that once you understand the steps, it's actually pretty manageable. The separate FSA ID requirement definitely threw a lot of us off initially, but the security benefits make sense once you're through it. Thanks for coming back to share your positive outcome - it helps reduce the anxiety for parents still working on their part!

As a parent who just went through this exact same confusion last month, I can definitely relate! The good news is that everyone here has given you spot-on advice. I was panicking thinking I'd somehow mess up my daughter's financial aid, but creating your own FSA ID is absolutely the right (and only) way to do this. One small tip that helped me: when you create your FSA ID, use an email address that you check regularly because they'll send you updates about the application status. Also, don't worry if the "contributor invitation" email seems vague - once you have your FSA ID set up, clicking that link will take you exactly where you need to go. The whole separate login thing felt weird at first, but it actually makes sense from a privacy standpoint. Good luck with the process - you've got this!

I'm going through this exact same situation right now with my daughter's FAFSA! Reading through everyone's responses has been so helpful - I had no idea I needed to create my own FSA ID. I was sitting here staring at the email she sent me completely confused about what to do next. It's really reassuring to see that Camila got through the process successfully and that it only took about 30 minutes once she had her FSA ID verified. I'm definitely going to follow all the advice here: create my own FSA ID with my own email, gather my 2023 tax documents, and make sure my phone is handy for the verification codes. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - both the success stories and the warnings about what not to do. This community is amazing for helping nervous parents navigate this new system!

I'm a newcomer to this community and just stumbled across this thread while searching for help with the exact same issue! My daughter sent me the FAFSA contributor invitation yesterday and I've been completely lost about what to do next. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly enlightening - I had no clue that I needed to create my own separate FSA ID account. It's such a relief to see Camila's success story and know that the process actually works smoothly once you understand the steps. The fact that she got verified overnight and completed everything in 30 minutes gives me hope that this won't be as overwhelming as I initially thought. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and tips - especially about having 2023 tax info ready (not 2024!), using a different email/phone than my daughter's, and keeping my phone handy for verification codes. This thread has turned my anxiety into confidence that I can actually figure this out!

As someone who just went through this process with my twin daughters, I can't stress enough how important it is to create your own FSA ID first! I made the mistake of trying to help by using one daughter's login to fill out "my part" and it caused a huge mess that took weeks to resolve. The key things that saved me the second time around: - Each parent needs their own unique FSA ID with different email/phone than the student - You'll use 2023 tax information, so no need to rush filing 2024 taxes - The IRS Data Retrieval Tool is a lifesaver if it works (and it usually does) - Keep your phone nearby - they send verification codes frequently Don't let the "contributor" language scare you - it just means you're contributing your financial information to your child's application. Once your FSA ID is verified (usually 1-3 days), the actual process is pretty straightforward. Seeing Camila's success story gives me hope that they've worked out most of the early bugs in the system!

As a newcomer to this community, I just want to say thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and advice on this thread! I'm in the exact same situation as the original poster - my daughter sent me the FAFSA contributor invitation and I was completely confused about what I was supposed to do next. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful. I had no idea that I needed to create my own separate FSA ID account, and I was actually about to ask my daughter for her login information (which clearly would have been a huge mistake based on everyone's warnings!). The step-by-step guidance here is amazing - knowing that I need my own email/phone number, that I'll use 2023 tax info, and that verification can take 1-3 days has completely demystified the process for me. Camila's success story is especially encouraging - it's so reassuring to know that once you understand the steps, it really does work smoothly. I'm going to create my FSA ID tonight and gather my 2023 tax documents. Thanks to this community, I'm feeling confident instead of confused about helping my daughter with her financial aid application!