FAFSA parent portal showing wrong SSN status - should I worry if aid packages are coming?
I'm freaking out a bit right now. I was double-checking my daughter's FAFSA application in the parent portal last night and noticed something weird - the system was showing that my wife's SSN was marked as 'does not have one' even though we definitely entered it during the initial application. When I tried to update this info, the system wouldn't let me change it, and now the application status has switched from 'completed' to 'processing' again! The thing is, I looked at the confirmation PDF we received weeks ago when we first submitted, and her SSN IS actually showing correctly there. The application was already sent to all our daughter's schools like 3 weeks ago, and we're just waiting for financial aid packages to arrive any day now. Should I leave this alone since the original submission seems correct? Or contact someone about this weird glitch? I'm worried this could mess up her aid packages that are probably already being calculated!
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Ella Cofer
same thing happened with my son's application!!! the parent portal showed my husband didnt have ssn but the pdf had it. i just left it alone and everything turned out fine, got all his aid packages no problem
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Taylor To
•That's super reassuring to hear! Did you ever figure out what caused the glitch in the first place?
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Kevin Bell
This is a known display glitch in the parent portal that doesn't affect your actual FAFSA submission. If your confirmation PDF shows the SSN was included, that's what the schools received. The 'processing' status might stay for a few days but should revert to 'completed' within a week. Your daughter's SAI calculation won't be affected by this visual error in the parent portal interface.
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Taylor To
•Thank you SO MUCH for explaining this! I was getting really worried we'd messed something up. Is there any way to speed up the return to 'completed' status, or should I just be patient?
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Kevin Bell
•It's best to be patient for about a week. If it doesn't return to 'completed' status by then, you can contact Federal Student Aid for assistance. The visual glitch won't impact the processing of your daughter's application at the schools that already received it.
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Savannah Glover
dont worry about it at all. the schools already have ur info and what matters is what they got not what some buggy website shows u now. my daughters fafsa had all kinds of weird display issues but she still got all her scholarships and pell grant
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Felix Grigori
I had this EXACT issue last month! The parent portal is incredibly glitchy this year with the new FAFSA rollout. When I called FSA about it, they told me that what appears on the confirmation PDF is what's actually in their system and what was sent to schools. The portal view sometimes doesn't display correctly but doesn't reflect what's actually in their database. Don't touch anything else or try to correct it further - you might actually create a real problem by trying to fix what's just a display issue!
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Taylor To
•I'm definitely going to leave it alone now. How long did you have to wait on the phone to speak with FSA? If it doesn't revert back to completed status in a week like another commenter suggested, I might need to call.
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Felix Grigori
•I spent HOURS trying to get through to FSA - kept getting disconnected or stuck on hold forever. Finally used Claimyr.com to get through - they basically hold your place in line and call you when an agent is available. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Saved me a ton of frustration, especially since I had to call during work hours.
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Felicity Bud
This is COMPLETELY normal and happening to EVERYONE!!!! My nephew had 3 different glitches on his FAFSA portal. Wrong SSN status for his dad, wrong state of residence showing up sometimes, and even a weird issue where his school list disappeared then reappeared. The entire FAFSA system is a MESS this year with the new changes. The colleges have already downloaded your information from the first correct submission - they don't keep checking back for updates unless you specifically request a correction. You're 100% fine!!!!
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Max Reyes
•While the sentiment is correct, I should clarify that schools do receive FAFSA correction updates automatically when processed - they don't need to be requested specifically. However, in this case, since the original data was correct (as shown in the PDF), there's no actual correction needed. The display issue in the parent portal doesn't affect what schools received.
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Mikayla Davison
My daughter applied to 7 colleges and we had something similar happen. I just waited and everything went back to normal after about 5 days. All her financial aid offers came in just fine. Just don't touch anything else on the application! Just leave it be.
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Taylor To
Thanks everyone for the reassurance! I'm going to leave it alone and just wait for the financial aid packages to arrive. It sounds like this is just a display glitch that doesn't affect the actual information the schools received. I'll check back in a week to see if the status has reverted to 'completed,' but I won't try to make any more changes. What a relief!
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Ella Cofer
•good luck with your daughters college applications! hope she gets good aid packages!
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