FAFSA parent section - daughter's part completed, how do I contribute info?

your daughter needs to go back into her FAFSA acct and add your email as contributor, then you'll get an invite to complete parent section. the system doesn't automatically know who you are lol

As the previous commenter mentioned, your daughter needs to explicitly add you as a contributor in her FAFSA application. Here's the proper process: 1. Your daughter logs into studentaid.gov with her FSA ID 2. She goes to her FAFSA application (2025-2026) 3. In the "Parent" section, she'll need to enter your email address 4. You'll receive an email invitation to create your own FSA ID (if you don't have one) 5. Once you have your FSA ID, you can log in and complete the parent contribution section Make sure you have your tax information ready (2023 tax return for the 2025-2026 FAFSA). The system will likely use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import your tax information, which makes things much easier.

Yes, parents now need their own FSA ID under the new FAFSA Simplification Act. It's actually more secure this way because each person uses their own ID rather than sharing access. When your daughter adds you as a contributor, you'll get instructions on creating your FSA ID if you don't have one already. The email takes about 1-3 days to arrive sometimes, so don't panic if it's not immediate.

went thru this last month... the contributor email came in like 20 minutes for me, but my husband never got his (we're divorced so both had to do it). he had to call FSA to fix it, took FOREVER to get someone on the phone

The new FAFSA is such a mess this year. My son had to add me THREE times before the email ever came through. Make sure your daughter checks the status of the invitation in her FAFSA portal. Sometimes it says "invitation sent" but nothing actually goes out. If that happens, she should delete you as a contributor and add you again. BTW - make sure you have a different email than your daughter. The system gets confused if you try to use the same email for both accounts.

Another important tip: when you receive the contributor invitation and set up your FSA ID, be extremely careful with the personal information you enter. If there's even a slight mismatch between your information (name, DOB, SSN) and what's on file with the Social Security Administration, your identity verification will fail. This is one of the most common issues parents face with the new FAFSA process. If you have a hyphenated last name or use your middle name, be especially careful to enter your legal name exactly as it appears on your Social Security card.

Update: My daughter added me as a contributor yesterday evening, and I received the email invitation this morning! I've created my FSA ID and started working on the parent section. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool worked perfectly for importing our tax information - much easier than I expected. Thanks everyone for the guidance!