FAFSA parent portion not appearing after student invitation - should we start over?

Same here!! My daughter sent me the invite 2 weeks ago and NOTHING shows up when I log in. So frustrating. I tried calling the help number and was on hold for 90 minutes before I had to hang up. Let me know if you figure out anything that works.

Don't start over! That could create duplicate applications in their system and potentially flag your son's account for verification later. This is a known issue with the contributor invitations in the new FAFSA. Try these steps instead: 1. Make sure you're using the exact email address your son entered when he sent the invitation 2. Check if you received any email notification about the invitation (sometimes it goes to spam) 3. Have your son log in and check that your email is correctly listed in his contributor section 4. Try accessing from a different device entirely (mobile vs. computer) If none of that works, your son should contact his school's financial aid office directly. Many schools are aware of these FAFSA issues and have processes to help.

OMG THE NEW FAFSA SYSTEM IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE!!!! My twins are both applying this year and neither of us can figure anything out. One application shows pending, the other shows nothing. Called FIVE TIMES and each time got disconnected after 30+ minutes on hold. Who designed this system?!?? They should be FIRED. Sorry not helpful just needed to vent. This is pushing back all our college plans and I'm STRESSED.

I was having this EXACT problem with my daughter's FAFSA! After two weeks of trying everything, I finally got through to a Federal Student Aid agent who fixed it on their end - apparently there was a glitch with how the contributor invitations were being linked to parent FSA ID accounts. I was able to skip the wait time by using Claimyr.com - they hold your place in line and call you back when an agent is available. Saved me from sitting on hold for hours. There's a demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. After the agent fixed our issue, the contributor form appeared in my account within hours.

Financial aid counselor here - this is unfortunately a common issue with the new FAFSA system. Here's what you need to know: 1. The contributor section bugs are affecting thousands of families 2. Starting over generally doesn't solve the problem and can create complications with your SAI calculation later 3. Most schools are aware of these issues and are extending priority deadlines Best approach is to document everything - take screenshots showing the "in progress" status, keep records of all your attempts to resolve the issue, and contact each school's financial aid office to alert them to your situation. Many schools are creating alternative processes for families facing these technical obstacles. Also, check that both student and parent have different email addresses linked to their separate FSA IDs - some of these glitches happen when the same email is associated with multiple accounts.

i had a similar issue last week... what finally worked was my daughter had to log in and actually resend the invitation, but she needed to delete me as a contributor first then add me again with exactly the same info as my FSA ID. turns out she had my email right but capitalized differently than my actual FSA ID email. stupid that it's case sensitive but worth checking! the form showed up for me about 30 min after she did this.

Anyone else notice how FAFSA gets worse every year instead of better? My oldest is in junior year of college and my youngest is a freshman applying now. The difference in the process is night and day. With all the technology we have in 2025 you'd think they could make a system that actually WORKS! I miss the old paper forms lol

UPDATE: We got it fixed! After trying everything suggested here, what finally worked was having my son login, remove me as a contributor, wait 24 hours, then add me again. But the key was entering my email in ALL LOWERCASE - even though my FSA ID email has capitals. The form showed up in my account this morning! Now working through it and hoping for no more glitches. Thank you everyone for your help and commiseration! And special thanks to those who suggested not starting over - that saved us from making things worse.

So glad to see you got it resolved @PaulineW! I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now - my daughter sent me the contributor invitation over a week ago and nothing shows up in my dashboard. I've been stressed about the deadlines too. Going to try your solution tonight with the all lowercase email and removing/re-adding as contributor. Really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences here - it's frustrating that we have to troubleshoot a government system ourselves, but at least we're helping each other! Will update if this works for us too.