FAFSA showing 'Needs Signature' after processing - how do we sign it?

same thing happend to me!! such a headache. you have to go back into the fafsa and there should be a section where both parent and student electronically sign. both of you need your FSA IDs

This is a common issue with the new FAFSA system. When you log into studentaid.gov, you need to go to the "FAFSA Form" section, select the 2025-2026 application, and then click on "View or Print Your FAFSA Form." From there, you should see a section near the end labeled "Sign and Submit" with a prompt for signatures. Both you and your son need to sign with your respective FSA IDs for the application to be fully processed. If the signature page isn't showing up, try clearing your browser cache and cookies or using a different browser entirely. Sometimes the new system has display issues.

my daughter and I had this exact issue!!! the new FAFSA system is sooooo frustrating. when we finished filing we thought we signed everything too but got the same message. turns out we both needed to sign AGAIN at the end. the whole thing is poorly designed if you ask me.

I had to call the Federal Student Aid Information Center because we had the EXACT same problem. Was on hold for 2 hours and then got disconnected TWICE. Finally got through on the third try after waiting another hour. They told me we had to go back to the last page of the FAFSA form and there should be a signature box for both the parent and student that we missed somehow. Apparently lots of people are having this issue with the new system.

Just to clarify something important that others haven't mentioned - there's a difference between creating your FSA ID (which you need to start the application) and the actual legal signature at the end of the FAFSA form. Many people think they've signed because they entered their FSA ID at the beginning, but the legal signature comes at the end after all the data is entered. To find the signature page: 1. Log in to studentaid.gov 2. Click on "Complete the FAFSA Form" 3. Select the 2025-2026 form 4. Click "Log In to Continue" if prompted 5. You'll see a summary of your application with different sections 6. Click on the last section - usually called "Sign and Submit" 7. Both you and your son will need to provide signatures there After both signatures are complete, it typically takes 3-5 business days for the SAI to be calculated and displayed in your account.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU FAIL!!! I went through the EXACT same thing with my twins' applications and almost missed out on $12,000 in grants because of this stupid signature issue. The financial aid office at their college had to help us fix it because the website is so badly designed. They said over 40% of all applications this year have this problem! It's CRIMINAL how they've made this process so complicated!!

UPDATE: I followed the advice here and was finally able to find the signature section! It was under the "Log back in" option, then going to the last section called "Sign & Submit." Both my son and I had to create new signatures using our FSA IDs. We're now showing "Processing" status, so fingers crossed the SAI shows up soon. Thank you all for the help - would have been completely lost without your guidance!

So glad you got it figured out! I'm dealing with the same issue right now with my daughter's FAFSA. The new system is definitely confusing - I've been staring at the dashboard for days wondering where the signature section was. Thanks to everyone who shared the step-by-step instructions here. It's crazy that something as basic as signing the form is so hard to find. Going to try logging back in and looking for that "Sign & Submit" section now. Fingers crossed our SAI shows up quickly too since we're getting close to some scholarship deadlines!

This is such a relief to read! I've been pulling my hair out for the past two days trying to figure out this signature issue with my son's FAFSA. We submitted everything last month and got the processing confirmation, but then saw that dreaded "Action Required: Signature" message when we checked the status. I was starting to panic thinking we'd have to restart the entire application! The step-by-step instructions from Mason Stone are exactly what I needed - I had no idea there was a separate "Sign & Submit" section at the end. Going to log in right now and get both of our signatures completed. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences, it really helps to know this is such a widespread issue and not something we did wrong!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm so grateful to have found this thread! I'm currently dealing with this exact same signature issue with my daughter's 2025-2026 FAFSA. We completed and submitted everything three weeks ago, got the processing confirmation email, but when I logged in yesterday there was that confusing "Action Required: Signature" message. I honestly thought we had already signed everything when we first submitted! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - especially Mason Stone's detailed step-by-step instructions. It's both frustrating and reassuring to see that this is such a widespread problem with the new system. I had no idea there was a difference between using your FSA ID to log in and the actual legal signature at the end of the form. Going to follow those exact steps tonight when my daughter gets home from school so we can both complete the signature process together. Really hoping our SAI shows up within that 3-5 day timeframe since we have some early scholarship deadlines approaching. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions - this community is a lifesaver!