FAFSA says 'processed' but got email about missing signatures - son received nothing!
I'm at my wits' end with this FAFSA nightmare! My son's dashboard has been showing 'processed' for over a week, but I just received an email saying signatures are missing from the application. The weird part? My son hasn't received ANY email about this! He's checked his spam folder and everything. How can it show as processed if signatures are missing? Is this some kind of glitch in the system? I'm so frustrated trying to navigate this for my 2025-2026 application. I don't have the mental energy for this anymore... Anyone else dealing with these signature issues? What should we do next?
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Josef Tearle
This happened to me and my daughter last month. The FAFSA system is showing different statuses to different people right now. The 'processed' status on the dashboard is misleading - it just means they've received it, not that it's complete. For the signatures, both you and your son need to sign in separately with your own FSA IDs and electronically sign. The emails sometimes get delayed or go to weird folders. Try having your son log into studentaid.gov directly (not through the email) and check if there's a notification in his actual account about needing a signature.
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Charity Cohan
•Thank you! Is it normal for the system to say processed if signatures are missing though? That seems like such a misleading status. I'll have him log in directly to check.
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Shelby Bauman
same thing happened with my sons application too!! the emails don't always come through but when you log in it shows what you need to do. check both accounts
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Charity Cohan
•So frustrating that they can't get the notification system right! I'll check both our accounts right now.
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Quinn Herbert
The 'processed' status on the dashboard only means they've received the application and started working on it - not that it's complete or approved. This is a common source of confusion with the new FAFSA system. Here's what you need to do: 1. Both you and your son need to log in with your individual FSA IDs 2. Go to the "To Do" section of your dashboard, not just the main page 3. Look for a "Signature Required" action item 4. Complete the signature process separately If you can't find the signature option, or if the system isn't showing the signature requirement when you log in, there might be a technical issue with your application.
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Charity Cohan
•This is really helpful, thank you! We found the signature section when he logged in directly. It wasn't obvious at all - it was under a different tab than we expected. I really wish they would make this process more straightforward.
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Salim Nasir
I spent THREE WEEKS dealing with exactly this!!! The system is completely broken. It showed processed for my daughter but then randomly emailed me about missing signatures even though we both signed it initially! When I called the Federal Student Aid number they just put me on hold for 2 HOURS and then the call dropped. TWICE. The whole system is a disaster this year.
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Hazel Garcia
•I had the same horrible experience trying to reach someone at FSA. After getting disconnected multiple times, I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent within 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed there's a known issue with the signature notifications sometimes showing as "processed" before all signatures are complete. They were able to verify which signatures were missing in our case and guide me through fixing it. Saved me hours of frustration with the phone system.
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Laila Fury
why does fafsa have to be so confusing??? my family gave up and hired a financial aid consultant because the whole thing is impossible
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Geoff Richards
•I honestly think about 80% of FAFSA issues are communication problems. The system works fine usually, but they do a terrible job explaining what each status means and sending correct notifications. "Processed" should really be labeled "Received but not necessarily complete" which would save everyone so much confusion.
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Josef Tearle
UPDATE: I found a workaround that might help others with this signature issue. Even if the system says "processed" but you got the missing signature email: 1. Both parent and student should log in separately to studentaid.gov using your FSA IDs 2. Go to "My FAFSA" section 3. Find the 2025-2026 application 4. Select "Make Corrections" 5. Navigate through until you reach the signature section 6. Complete the signature process again 7. Submit the corrected form After doing this, our status changed to "Processing" for 2 days, then "Processed" again, and then finally we received the SAI score and acknowledgment that everything was complete.
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Charity Cohan
•This is GOLD! We did exactly this and it worked! The status changed to "Processing" again, but at least now we know it's actually being processed properly. Thank you so much for this detailed solution!
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