FAFSA processed with wrong SSN - school and state aid conflict - who to contact?

This sounds incredibly frustrating, but there's a clear path forward. You need to contact the Federal Student Aid office directly - this is absolutely a FAFSA processing issue, not something the state or school can fix on their own. The system likely processed the wrong application version (the unsigned one without your correct information). When two conflicting FAFSAs exist, sometimes the processor doesn't properly flag both and the school receives incomplete data. Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 and specifically ask for a "FAFSA correction review." Explain that you submitted both electronic and paper forms due to the SSN error and need verification of which one was processed. Request they send a correction notification to your school's financial aid office directly. Also, ask your son to log into studentaid.gov and check his SAI (Student Aid Index) score. If it looks unusually low, that confirms they're treating him as independent rather than a dependent student with parent contribution.

omg the EXACT same thing happened with my daughter last month!! she put my ssn wrong too but we caught it early. the fafsa ppl told us to make a new application instead of waiting for corrections and then everything got messed up. her state grant disappeared completely and the school was like "not our problem" 🙄

CALL FAFSA DIRECTLY!!! The schools don't actually have access to fix these kinds of errors - they only see what FAFSA sends them. I learned this the hard way last year. Spent 4 WEEKS going back and forth between the college and state aid office before someone finally told me only FAFSA could resolve it. And good luck getting through on the phone. I spent HOURS on hold with FAFSA last year trying to fix a similar issue - kept getting disconnected after waiting 40+ minutes. So frustrating!!

you should talk to the college financial aid office again. the state grant people are right - the school HAS to fix this. my bf works in financial aid and says schools can submit whats called a "professional judgement override" to correct FAFSA mistakes. dont let them push you off!

This whole FAFSA system is such a NIGHTMARE this year! My daughter's application has been "processing" for 6 weeks with no explanation. Every time we call we get a different answer. And these schools act like it's our fault the system is broken?? I'm about ready to just take out private loans and be done with this bureaucratic mess. When my oldest went to college 5 years ago, we NEVER had these ridiculous problems.

You need to contact FAFSA directly at 1-800-433-3243 and request a dependency status review. Based on your description, the system processed your son as an independent student (which means they think he has no parent contribution), instead of a dependent student with parental income included. This explains why the state aid is missing - most state grants are calculated using both the federal SAI calculation AND parental income data. If the system doesn't recognize you as his parent due to the SSN error, the state aid formula would calculate incorrectly or not at all. When you call, have ready: 1. Both FSA IDs (yours and your son's) 2. The confirmation numbers from both the online and paper FAFSA submissions 3. Your correct SSN and his SSN 4. The DRN (Data Release Number) from his SAR (Student Aid Report) Explain calmly but firmly that you need them to correct the dependency status and ensure the paper FAFSA with your signature is the one being processed. Once they fix it, request they send an updated ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) to both your son's school AND your state grant agency. The process typically takes 3-5 business days for corrections to propagate through the system.

The system is LITERALLY designed to make this difficult. They don't want to give out aid so they create these impossible bureaucratic mazes. I bet they processed the wrong application ON PURPOSE knowing most families will give up fighting it. All these "errors" just mean more money they don't have to pay out in grants!!!!!

UPDATE: I finally got through to FSA after using that Claimyr service someone recommended! The agent confirmed exactly what you all suspected - they processed the online application with the incorrect SSN and flagged my son as independent because my information wasn't linked correctly. The agent submitted an urgent correction to link our accounts properly and update his dependency status. They said it will take 3-5 days to process, and then both the school and state aid office will automatically receive the updated information. I've also emailed my son's financial aid officer with a summary of the call including the confirmation number the FSA agent gave me. Fingers crossed this gets resolved before tuition is due! Thank you all SO MUCH for your help. I was going in circles with the school and state aid office before posting here.