FAFSA shows parent account completed but student still processing after 3 weeks - what to do?
I'm really confused about our FAFSA status. My son and I submitted our 2025-2026 FAFSA applications on March 26th. When I check my parent account on studentaid.gov, it shows 'completed' as of March 27th, but when he logs into his student account, his status still shows 'processing' three weeks later. Does this mean something went wrong? Does he need to take any additional steps? Is this normal for the student application to take longer than the parent contribution part? I'm worried his application won't be processed in time for his school's priority deadline on May 1st. Anyone else experiencing different statuses between parent and student accounts?
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Sofia Peña
This is totally normal this year with the new FAFSA rollout. The parent contribution gets processed separately from the student's full SAI calculation. Your part is done, but his application is still integrating your info with his. The three-week timeline is actually faster than what many are experiencing with the 2025-2026 FAFSA - I've seen some take 5+ weeks to fully process the student side.
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Hunter Hampton
•Thank you for explaining! That's a relief. Do you know if he'll get a notification when his part finishes processing? And should I be worried about the May 1st deadline?
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Aaron Boston
To add to what the previous commenter said, there are a few things you can check to make sure everything is in order: 1. Make sure your son's Social Security Number and other demographic information exactly matches what's on his FSA ID account 2. Verify both you and your son electronically signed the FAFSA 3. Check that all required sections show as 'completed' in the application summary As for the May 1st deadline - most schools understand the FAFSA delays this year and are being flexible. But I'd recommend having your son contact his school's financial aid office directly to inform them that his FAFSA is still processing. They might have a form for him to complete to hold his place in line for priority aid.
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Hunter Hampton
•This is really helpful. We did verify all his information matches and we both digitally signed it. I'll have him contact his school's financial aid office tomorrow just to be safe.
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Sophia Carter
my daughters took 6 weeks to process even tho mine said completed in 3 days. nothing to worry about but the whole system is messed up this year
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Hunter Hampton
•6 weeks! That's so long. I hope we don't have to wait that long. Did your daughter have to do anything else after it finally processed?
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Sophia Carter
•nope just waited and then eventually got the email saying it was done. schools got it automatically after that
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Chloe Zhang
THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! I've been dealing with the EXACT same issue but it's been almost 2 MONTHS for us! My account says completed but my twins are both still "processing" since February!!! I've called the Federal Student Aid number like 20 times and NEVER get through to anyone. Just endless hold music then disconnected. The schools are pressuring us for the SAI scores but we can't get them processed!!! This whole new FAFSA system is a DISASTER.
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Brandon Parker
•Have you tried using Claimyr? I was in the same boat - calling for weeks and getting disconnected. Someone in my son's college Facebook group recommended claimyr.com and it actually worked. They hold your place in line and call you when an agent is ready. Saved me hours of frustration. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. The agent was able to check our application status and found there was a verification flag that wasn't showing up in the portal.
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Chloe Zhang
•I haven't heard of that but I'm DESPERATE at this point so I'll try anything! Thanks for the suggestion, going to check out that video now.
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Adriana Cohn
When this happened to us, it turned out there was a discrepancy between my son's legal name on his social security card and what he entered on the FAFSA. He had included his middle name on the FAFSA but his SSN record only had his first and last. We had to submit a correction - might be worth double-checking all the personal info entries.
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Hunter Hampton
•That's a good point. I'll have him review his application tonight to make sure everything matches his official documents. Better to catch errors now than wait longer.
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Jace Caspullo
are u sure the status is "processing" and not "action required"? those are different. processing just means wait but action required means he needs to fix something
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Hunter Hampton
•Just double-checked and it definitely says "processing" not "action required." That's why I was confused since it seems like we're just supposed to wait, but it's taking so long compared to my part.
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Sofia Peña
As an update to my earlier comment - once your son's application finishes processing, he'll receive an email notification with his SAI (Student Aid Index). That's the number schools use to determine his aid eligibility. The good thing is that once it's processed, schools can access it immediately through the federal system, even before he receives the official email.
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Hunter Hampton
•Thank you! That's good to know about the schools having immediate access. I appreciate all the helpful information.
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Brandon Parker
I was in the exact same situation last month with my daughter's FAFSA. Her application got stuck in processing for nearly a month after mine showed completed. Turns out there was a flag on her application requiring income verification, but the system never notified us! I finally found out by calling Federal Student Aid directly. If you're concerned about the May 1st deadline, I'd definitely recommend calling them to check if there's any hidden issue with your son's application.
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Hunter Hampton
•That's concerning! Did they explain why there was no notification about the verification requirement? I'll try calling tomorrow to see if there's a similar issue with my son's application.
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Brandon Parker
•They said the notification emails have been inconsistent with the new system. The agent could see the verification flag in their internal system even though it wasn't showing on our online account. Definitely worth calling to check!
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Melody Miles
has your son checked his spam folder? sometimes the notifications go there. also tell him to login again and check the messages section on his student aid account dashboard. sometimes there are notices there that don't get emailed
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Hunter Hampton
•He just checked both his spam folder and the messages section on his dashboard, but there's nothing there aside from the original confirmation that the FAFSA was submitted. It really does seem to be just stuck in processing.
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Mohammad Khaled
I'm going through something similar right now! My daughter's FAFSA has been processing for about 4 weeks while mine completed within days. From what I've learned lurking in various financial aid groups, this seems to be the new normal unfortunately. The 2025-2026 FAFSA processing times are all over the place - some finish in 2-3 weeks, others take 6+ weeks. The system integration between parent and student data is definitely the bottleneck. I'd suggest having your son screenshot his current status page just in case, and maybe set a reminder to check weekly rather than daily (saves some sanity!). Also worth noting that many schools are automatically extending their priority deadlines due to these delays, so don't panic about May 1st just yet.
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