FAFSA parent contributor link error - can't access form as second parent

same thing happen to me last week!! the whole system is broken IMO. i tried 3 different browsers and even my phone but nothing worked. finally had to call them

This is a known issue with the FAFSA parent contributor functionality. The problem usually happens when both parents use the same device or network to access their contributor links. Try these steps: 1. Clear your browser cache and cookies completely 2. Use a different browser than your husband used 3. Try using a different device (laptop vs. desktop, etc.) 4. Make sure you're using a private/incognito window 5. Check that your FSA ID isn't already logged in somewhere else Also, verify that you're using the exact link from the most recent email and that it hasn't been truncated or broken in the email. The parent contributor system gets confused when multiple contributors are using the same network sometimes.

My daughter had this same problem with me not being able to access the contributor section while her dad could. What eventually worked was having her completely remove me as a contributor, wait 24 hours, then add me again with a slightly different email address (I used firstname.lastname@gmail instead of firstnamelastname@gmail). For some reason that fixed it, but we wasted almost a week figuring it out!

Not sure if this helps but when I had this problem it was because my FSA ID wasn't fully verified yet. Even though I could log into my FSA ID account, the FAFSA contributor link wouldn't work until my FSA ID completed verification with Social Security. Took about 3 days.

After helping multiple families with this exact issue, I can share that the parent contributor functionality is one of the buggiest parts of the new FAFSA system. Besides the technical fixes others mentioned, there's another option: if you continue having issues, your daughter can manually enter your financial information instead of using the contributor function. She would need access to your tax returns and other financial information, but it eliminates the need for the contributor links altogether. This approach works especially well for parents who file jointly, as most of the tax information would be identical to what the first parent entered anyway. The only difference would be any separate bank accounts or investments.

I work in financial aid and see this constantly with the new FAFSA. The simplest fix is: have your daughter delete you as a contributor completely, then wait until your husband completes his portion first. After his status changes from "Invite sent" to "Completed" in her dashboard, then have her add you again. The system has a bug where it sometimes can't handle two pending contributors at once, but adding them sequentially often resolves it.

I HATE THE NEW FAFSA!!! Four different kids through college on the old system with zero problems, now my youngest can't even get past the contributor section. Called FSA support 11 times before giving up. The whole thing is broken and they don't care because they already got their funding. Meanwhile our kids suffer because of government incompetence!!!

Have you tried the FAFSA chatbot? I got some weird contributor error fixed by using that instead of calling. It's on the studentaid.gov homepage.

After dealing with this same FAFSA contributor error for days, I finally got through to an actual FSA agent who fixed it in literally 2 minutes. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with FSA without waiting on hold. They got me through to a rep who could see that my contributor link had a system flag on it. They manually reset it, sent a new invitation, and it worked immediately. Worth checking out their video demo: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - saved me hours of frustration and my daughter almost missed her school's priority deadline because of this glitch.

Just a quick update for anyone finding this thread later: The Department of Education acknowledged this contributor link bug in their latest system update notes. They're supposedly rolling out a fix in the next 2 weeks. Until then, the workarounds mentioned here are your best bet - either having the student enter the information manually or trying to get an agent to reset your contributor access.