FAFSA parent section error message won't go away - tried for days

same thing happened 2 me last week! so annoying!! i just kept trying diff times of day and it finally worked at like 11pm for some reason. maybe the site gets less traffic then?

This is a known issue with the FAFSA parent contributor section right now. The Department of Education is experiencing technical difficulties with their system integration for the parent tax information verification. Here's what I suggest: 1. Take screenshots of the error message (for documentation) 2. Make sure your parent's FSA ID is fully verified (sometimes there's a 1-3 day waiting period) 3. Try completing it between 4-6am when server traffic is lowest 4. If all else fails, contact Federal Student Aid directly at 1-800-433-3243 The good news is that most schools understand these technical issues and will work with you if you document your attempts.

I had a similar problem. I think these errors happen when the system can't verify the parent tax information. Are you trying to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool? That's what kept causing problems for me.

I've helped several students with this exact issue. The problem is with how the parent section interacts with the IRS Data Retrieval Tool during high-traffic periods. Here are the most effective solutions: 1. Instead of using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, select the option to manually enter tax information (you'll need the parent's W-2 and tax return handy) 2. If you must use the DRT, try accessing during off-peak hours (2am-5am EST) 3. Check if your parent's name on the FSA ID exactly matches their tax return (even middle initials matter!) 4. Ensure your browser is supported - older versions of Internet Explorer cause known issues If you continue having problems reaching someone at Federal Student Aid, I've had students have success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent quickly. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it works. Much better than waiting on hold for hours.

THESE FAFSA ERRORS ARE DRIVING ME INSANE!!! I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM last week and wasted like 10 HOURS trying to fix it!!! The whole system is BROKEN and they expect us to meet deadlines?!?! I finally got it to work by completely starting over with a brand new FAFSA application - lost all my previous work but at least it finally went through. The government needs to fix this garbage system!!!

Have you tried calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center? Their number is 1-800-433-3243. They helped me resolve a similar error. They might be able to identify what's causing the problem on their end.

I think it might be related to the tax year you're trying to report. Remember that for the 2025-2026 FAFSA, you need to use 2023 tax information. I saw some people getting errors when they accidentally tried using 2024 tax info. Just a thought!

update: I got mine to work by using Microsoft Edge browser in incognito mode. For some reason Chrome kept failing. Might be worth a shot.

Just checking back - were you able to get through the parent section? If you're still having trouble, there's a lesser-known workaround: you can submit the FAFSA without completing the parent section, then go back and add the parent information as a correction after submission. This sometimes bypasses the error.

So glad you got it working! For future reference (and anyone else reading this), the combination of off-peak hours + incognito mode seems to be the magic formula for these FAFSA errors. I work at a college financial aid office and we've been telling students about this workaround all month. The incognito mode helps because it bypasses any cached session data that might be causing conflicts with the IRS integration. Congrats on getting through the nightmare - now you can focus on the fun part of waiting for your financial aid offers! 😊