FAFSA parent section locked - can't access parent income information forms
I'm trying to fill out the 2025-2026 FAFSA but I can't get into the parent contribution section at all. The system just keeps returning me to the student information page whenever I click on the parent section. My mom is sitting right next to me ready to enter her info, but we're completely stuck! It's like the website doesn't even recognize that I need to enter parent information. I'm 19 and definitely a dependent student (live at home, parents claim me on taxes) so I know I need their info. Has anyone else had this glitch? How do I fix it so my mom can fill out her part?
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Yara Khoury
I had this EXACT same problem last week! Super frustrating. Did you complete the dependency questions section first? The parent section won't unlock until you've answered all those questions correctly. Double-check that you selected "No" to all the independence questions (like "Are you married?" "Do you have dependents?" etc). If you accidentally clicked "Yes" to any of those, the system might think you're independent and skip the parent section entirely.
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Connor O'Reilly
•Omg wait I think you're right!! I just went back and checked and I accidentally clicked "Yes" on the question about being a veteran. 🤦♀️ I'm definitely NOT a veteran. Going to fix that now and see if it unlocks the parent section!
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Keisha Taylor
theres also a bug in the system sometimes where u need to log out completely and clear browser cookies then log back in. happened to me twice
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Connor O'Reilly
•I'll try that too if fixing the dependency question doesn't work. Thanks!
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StardustSeeker
This is a common issue with the new FAFSA form. There are several potential solutions: 1. First, verify your dependency status questions as mentioned above. One incorrect answer can lock out the parent section. 2. Check if you've created a parent FSA ID and linked it correctly in the "Contributors" section. The parent can't contribute until they're properly added as a contributor. 3. Ensure you're using the latest version of your browser - Chrome and Firefox work best. 4. If you've correctly added your parent as a contributor, they may need to log in separately with their own FSA ID to complete their section. 5. Sometimes there's a timing issue - wait 24 hours after adding a contributor before trying again. If none of these work, you'll need to contact Federal Student Aid directly.
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Connor O'Reilly
•Thank you for the detailed response! I fixed the dependency question and that seems to have solved it - the parent section unlocked! But now we have another problem: my mom created her FSA ID last year for my brother's application. Will she need to create a new one or can she use the same one for my application?
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StardustSeeker
•Great news that you fixed the dependency issue! Your mom should use her existing FSA ID - it's meant to be a permanent identifier. She'll use the same FSA ID for all her children's FAFSAs. Just make sure she remembers her username and password. If she's forgotten them, use the account recovery option rather than creating a new ID, as multiple IDs can cause processing delays.
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Paolo Marino
Look I hate to be the bearer of bad news but SOMETIMES THIS SYSTEM IS JUST BROKEN!!! I tried for LITERAL WEEKS to get my parents' section to work. Called the stupid helpline 12 TIMES and never got through. Emails went unanswered. The website kept glitching. Eventually I had to go to my school's financial aid office and they helped me submit a special circumstances form because the online system WOULD NOT WORK. The whole system is a disaster this year.
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Amina Bah
•It's definitely had issues since the redesign. If you're still struggling to reach someone at Federal Student Aid, I recently discovered a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual human. I was on hold with FAFSA for hours before giving up, then with Claimyr I got a callback within 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ and their website is claimyr.com. Seriously saved me hours of frustration when I was dealing with a similar contributor section problem.
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Oliver Becker
my sister had this problem and it turned out our parents needed to set up their FSA IDs separately. once they made their accounts and she added them as contributors it worked fine
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Connor O'Reilly
UPDATE: We got it working! It was actually two problems: 1) I had accidentally selected "Yes" on the veteran status question which was incorrectly making me independent, and 2) My mom needed to accept the contributor invitation which we didn't realize she had to do separately. Once we fixed both things, she was able to access her section and input all her income info. Thanks everyone for your help!
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Natasha Petrova
•Glad you got it working! Make sure your mom submits her section BEFORE the priority deadline for your school. Some schools have different deadlines than the federal one and you don't want to miss out on institutional aid. I learned that the hard way 😑
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Yara Khoury
This whole new FAFSA process is such a mess compared to previous years. My daughter and I spent hours trying to figure it out. The "contributor" system is confusing and not intuitive at all. But once you get past these initial hurdles, the SAI calculation seems more straightforward than the old EFC at least.
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GalaxyGuardian
I'm new to this whole FAFSA process and reading through all these responses is both helpful and terrifying! 😅 My daughter is a junior in high school so we're just starting to prepare for next year. It sounds like the main things to watch out for are: 1) being super careful with the dependency questions, 2) making sure both parent and student have their own FSA IDs set up well in advance, and 3) understanding this "contributor" system. Are there any other common pitfalls we should be aware of before we dive into this next year? Also, when should we actually start the FSA ID creation process - is there a recommended timeline?
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