FAFSA parent contribution section link broken - can't access parent form
I'm trying to help my son with his FAFSA application for 2025-2026 and I'm totally stuck on the parent contribution section. I got an email yesterday with a link that was supposed to take me directly to the form I need to fill out as a contributor, but when I click it, it just brings me to the main studentaid.gov dashboard. Nothing about parent contributions anywhere! I've clicked around for almost an hour and can't figure out which section I'm supposed to complete. Has anyone else had this problem with the parent contributor links not working? Is there a specific section I should be looking for? My son's getting anxious because his university's priority deadline is coming up in 3 weeks.
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Lukas Fitzgerald
The same thing happened to me last week! Those contributor links are so frustrating. What you need to do is log in with YOUR FSA ID (not your son's). Then go to the "Help My Student" section which should be in the menu. From there, you'll see any contribution requests from your son's application. The emails should really explain this better instead of just sending broken links.
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Nadia Zaldivar
•Thank you! I'll try that right now. I think I was using my son's login information which is probably why nothing was showing up.
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Ev Luca
this happens all the time dont worry. you need to login with ur own account not ur kids. then theres a section for parents
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Avery Davis
This is a common issue with the new FAFSA system. You need to make sure of a few things: 1. You need your own FSA ID as a parent/contributor (separate from your son's) 2. Log in at studentaid.gov with YOUR FSA ID 3. Navigate to the "Help My Student" section 4. You should see a pending contribution request from your son's application 5. If you don't see it, check that your email and SSN match exactly what your son entered in his application when he listed you as a contributor If you've done all this and still don't see the form, your son may need to go back into his application and re-send the contributor invitation to you. The system sometimes drops these connections.
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Nadia Zaldivar
•I created my FSA ID months ago but I can't remember if I used the same email address that my son put in his application. That might be the problem! I'll check with him on what email he used for me. Thank you for the detailed steps.
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Collins Angel
I had this EXACT problem!! The FAFSA system is garbage this year. I ended up having to call them because nothing was working right. Had to wait on hold for like 2 hours though and then got disconnected. SO FRUSTRATING!!!! 😡
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Marcelle Drum
•I was having the same issues trying to call FSA about a similar contributor issue. After getting disconnected three times, I tried using Claimyr.com to get through to an agent. They have this service that basically waits on hold for you and calls you when an agent is on the line. Saved me hours of frustration. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Once I got through to someone, they were able to fix the contributor link issue in about 5 minutes. Apparently it's a known glitch in the system.
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Tate Jensen
my daughter sent me three different links before one finally worked lol. these things never work right the first time. we ended up sitting together with both our laptops open trying different things until it worked
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Adaline Wong
The FAFSA parent contributor section is tricky this year with the system updates. I'm a financial aid counselor, and here's what I've been telling parents: 1. Each contributor needs their own FSA ID linked to their own email (not shared family emails) 2. The SSN, name, and DOB must match exactly between the contributor's FSA ID and what the student entered 3. The email address the student entered for you must match the one on your FSA ID 4. Log in at studentaid.gov (not through the email link) with your FSA ID 5. Look for the "Help My Student" tile on your dashboard If you don't see the contribution request, have your son check his application to see if it shows you as having completed your section. Sometimes the system marks it as complete even when it isn't. In that case, he may need to contact FSA directly to get it reset. Hope this helps!
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Nadia Zaldivar
•Thank you! This is so helpful. I just double-checked and my son did use a different email for me than the one I used for my FSA ID. That must be the issue. He's going to update it and resend the invitation. Good to know about checking if it shows as falsely completed too - I'll have him look for that.
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Gabriel Ruiz
I had this same problem last month and it was because I didn't realize I needed my OWN fsa id. I thought I could just use my daughters login since I'm paying for everything anyway but nope! had to create a whole new account just to fill out some forms. the whole system is so unnecessarily complicated if you ask me
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Nadia Zaldivar
Update: I got it working! Turns out I needed to log in with my FSA ID (not my son's) AND my son had entered a slightly different email for me than the one I used for my FSA ID. Once he corrected that and re-sent the invitation, I could see the contributor form in my "Help My Student" section. Thanks everyone for your help! For anyone else having this problem, double check ALL your info matches exactly.
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Avery Davis
•Great to hear you got it working! Just a heads-up - make sure you complete your section as soon as possible. Sometimes even after submitting, the FAFSA system takes 2-3 days to process the parent contribution and finalize the SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation. With your son's deadline coming up, you want to leave some buffer time in case of any other technical issues.
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