FAFSA renewal process confusion - Do students need to re-invite parents each year?

Yes, your student has to invite the parent contributor every single year. It's annoying, but that's the way the new FAFSA system works. The 'remembered relationship' feature that was supposed to make renewals easier doesn't actually exist despite what they claimed when rolling out the new system. My son and I just went through this for his sophomore year and had to do the entire invitation process again.

I can add some details to help! For the 2025-2026 FAFSA renewal, your student needs to: 1. Log into studentaid.gov with their FSA ID 2. Start a new FAFSA application for the correct year 3. Manually invite you as a contributor again 4. You'll receive an email invitation just like last year Some info does carry over (names, SSNs, etc.), but the contributor invitation process starts fresh each year. It's a security measure to ensure continued permission for data sharing.

am i the only one who thinks this new FAFSA is WAY worse than the old one?? like why make us do the whole parent invitation thing EVERY YEAR?? my mom barely understands email and now i have to walk her through accepting an invitation again smh

Yes, your student needs to invite you again. But here's a tip that saved me tons of time: have your tax documents ready BEFORE starting. The system now uses direct data transfer from the IRS for most people, which is actually faster than the old system once you get past the invitation hurdles. Also make sure your FSA ID passwords are still valid - ours had expired and caused extra delays.

Just went through this last month and the system is still TERRIBLE. My daughter invited me 4 TIMES and I never got the email. Tried calling the Federal Student Aid number but gave up after being on hold for 2+ hours. Finally found Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual FAFSA agent in about 10 minutes who fixed the invitation issue. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - seriously worth it after wasting days trying to reach someone.

I work in a college financial aid office and can confirm that yes, students must invite parents/contributors each year. This is actually for your protection - it ensures no one can access your financial information without annual consent. One important note: Make sure both of you are using the LATEST version of your web browsers. We've seen many issues with the FAFSA portal when people use outdated browsers. Also, the mobile experience is still problematic - I recommend using a desktop or laptop computer if possible.

My daughter's financial aid package was $5,800 less this year even though our income barely changed!!! Be prepared for shocks when you renew. They changed how they calculate the SAI and many middle-income families are getting less aid. The renewal process is just as annoying as the first time AND you might get less money. The whole system is broken.

BTW - make sure your student actually submits the FAFSA after both of you complete your sections! My daughter thought once we both did our parts it was automatically submitted, but there's actually a final submission step only the student can do. We missed a scholarship deadline because of this. The email notifications from studentaid.gov are easy to miss too.

One more helpful tip: print or save PDF copies of EVERYTHING as you go. The confirmation page, the SAI calculation, the final submission - all of it. The new system has been known to "lose" submitted information, and having proof of what you submitted can save huge headaches later. I've helped dozens of families with FAFSA renewals, and documentation is your best friend!

Thank you all for the detailed responses! This has been incredibly helpful. I feel much more prepared now knowing that we have to go through the invitation process again, but at least I have a better understanding of what to expect. I'll make sure to update our browsers, have our tax documents ready, double-check email addresses, and save PDFs of everything. It's frustrating that the system is still so problematic, but I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and tips. Fingers crossed the second time goes more smoothly than the first!

As someone who just completed my second FAFSA renewal last month, I can confirm it's still a pain but definitely more manageable once you know what to expect! Yes, you absolutely have to re-invite parents each year - it's one of the most frustrating "features" of the new system. Here's what helped me streamline the process this time around: 1) I created a shared Google doc with my mom listing all our login info, important dates, and a checklist of steps 2) We scheduled a specific time to do it together over video call so I could walk her through any confusing parts 3) I set up a separate email folder just for FAFSA notifications so nothing gets lost. The good news is that some of your basic info does carry over, and if you're eligible for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, that part is actually much faster than manually entering tax info like in the old system. Just be patient with the site - it's still slow and glitchy, but not quite as crash-prone as last year. You've got this!