FAFSA parent invite missing - where is the contributor invitation option?

Your son needs to log back into studentaid.gov and look for the "Add Contributor" option. It's on the dashboard after he logs in, not actually within the application itself. Many students miss this because they think they finished everything when they completed their section. He needs to: 1. Log into studentaid.gov with his FSA ID 2. Go to the FAFSA form dashboard 3. Look for "Add Contributor" option 4. Enter your email address Then you'll receive an email with instructions to create your own FSA ID (if you don't already have one) and complete your section of the application.

omg the same thing happened with my daughter!!! we were so confused bc the old fafsa was different. she thought she finished everything but never sent me anything. ended up having to sit together at the same computer to finish it. so frustrating!

The new FAFSA has definitely changed the contributor process from previous years. Your son needs to specifically invite you through the dashboard. One important thing to note: make sure the email he enters for you is accurate. If he misspells it, you'll never get the invitation and will need to contact Federal Student Aid to correct it. Also, both you and your son need separate FSA IDs - make sure you're not sharing login credentials as this causes major issues down the line with verification.

The whole FAFSA contributor system is COMPLETELY BROKEN this year!!! My son sent me THREE invites and NONE of them worked. I spent 6 HOURS trying to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid and just got disconnected over and over. They clearly rushed this new system without testing it properly. I ended up having to sit with my son and do it on his account which I'm pretty sure violates their security policy but WHAT CHOICE DID WE HAVE??? The deadline was approaching and no one would help us!!

I had this exact problem two weeks ago! After my daughter completed her part, she had to go back to the main FAFSA dashboard (not in the application) to add me as a contributor. But even after she sent the invite, I never got anything. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual human at Federal Student Aid who helped fix the issue. They have a video demo of how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Turns out there was a glitch with certain email providers. The agent was able to reset something on their end that finally allowed the invitation to come through. Saved us so much time and frustration instead of waiting on hold forever.

One thing nobody mentioned - make sure your son fully submitted his portion before trying to add you. The system won't let him add contributors if his section shows errors or incomplete status. My daughter had to go back and fix a few validation errors before the contributor option even appeared on her dashboard. Also, double-check that he's using the studentaid.gov site and not a scam site. There are lots of fake FAFSA sites that look almost identical to the real thing.

Did your son manage to find the contributor option? Just checking in to see if you got this resolved.

wait do parents have to make their own fsa id now? when i did mine back in 2019 my mom just used mine i think

this reminds me, does anyone know if both parents need to fill out the fafsa if they're married or just one? my husband doesn't want to make an fsa id

Just wanted to add another tip for anyone still struggling with this - if your son does find the "Add Contributor" option but the email invitation still doesn't come through after a few hours, try having him remove you as a contributor and then re-add you with the same email address. Sometimes this clears up whatever glitch is preventing the invitation from sending. Also, make sure you're checking all your email folders (including promotions tab in Gmail) - the invitation emails sometimes get filtered into unexpected places. The subject line will be something like "Complete your FAFSA form" from Federal Student Aid. Good luck to everyone dealing with these technical issues! The new system definitely has some kinks to work out.

As someone who just went through this process with my daughter last month, I can confirm that the new FAFSA contributor system is definitely confusing at first! The key thing that helped us was making sure my daughter's section was 100% complete and error-free before the "Add Contributor" option even showed up on her dashboard. One thing I'd suggest is having your son log out completely and then log back into studentaid.gov - sometimes the dashboard doesn't refresh properly and won't show all available options. Also, when he does find the contributor option, make sure he double-checks the email address he enters for you - even a small typo will mean you never get the invitation. If all else fails and you're running up against that deadline, you can always complete the parent section together on his computer while he's logged in. It's not ideal, but it works and is completely allowed as long as you're both present. The most important thing is getting that application submitted on time!