FAFSA shows processed but college says student signature missing - what's happening?

This actually happens more often than you'd think. The signature confirmation from studentaid.gov and what the college receives can sometimes be two different things. I recommend taking screenshots of your processed FAFSA that shows both signatures were submitted, then email those directly to the financial aid office. Also call them to explain the situation - sometimes the electronic signature doesn't transfer properly in their system.

I had this EXACT issue with my daughter's FAFSA last week! The FSA system showed everything complete but the school said signature missing. Turns out there are TWO places where signatures need to be submitted - once for the initial application and once for the final submission. Did you sign both times? The second signature requirement is easy to miss.

omg the fafsa system is so broken this year. my brother had same problem but turns out the school was looking at wrong application year. they were looking at his 2024-2025 app when he actually submitted for 2025-2026. might want to confirm which year they're checking.

This is a common issue we've seen with the new FAFSA this cycle. Two possible explanations: 1. There's a processing delay between when studentaid.gov shows completion and when colleges can access the complete data. Sometimes takes 3-5 business days. 2. There's a known bug where signatures appear to be processed on the student portal but don't transmit correctly to schools. I suggest: - Print your confirmation page showing processed status - Call the financial aid office directly to explain - Ask if they can manually override in their system since you have confirmation - Request an aid package estimate while this gets resolved Also, document everything in case you need to file an appeal later.

The EXACT same thing happened to me!!! The college financial aid office said my daughter's signature was missing even though we both signed it and got confirmation. I called the school and they told me to wait 48 hours because sometimes there's a delay in their system updating. Sure enough, it fixed itself. Maybe just wait a day or two?

Trying calling the Federal Student Aid number directly to confirm from their end that both signatures were received. Then get them to email you confirmation you can forward to the school. Be prepared to wait on hold forever though, their call volume is crazy this time of year.

I work at a financial aid office (not the one your son is applying to). This is unfortunately a common issue this year with the new FAFSA system. There's often a disconnect between what studentaid.gov shows and what schools receive. The fastest resolution is to: 1. Email the financial aid office with screenshots of your processed application 2. Ask if they can manually note your file that signatures are confirmed 3. Request that they proceed with packaging aid while the signature issue is being resolved Most schools are aware of these glitches and have workarounds to prevent delays in aid offers, especially with May 1 deadlines approaching.

u tried using claimyr service to call fafsa? i was having same problem with signatures and needed to talk to someone at fsa. used claimyr.com and they got me through to an agent in like 20 mins instead of waiting for hours. they have this demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ worth it to get this fixed before ur kid's deadline

Just wanted to update - I checked with my daughter and we did have to sign twice - once when initially submitting and once after we corrected an error they flagged. Maybe check your email history to see if there was a correction request you missed? The second signature requirement is easy to miss because they don't make it obvious.

UPDATE: Finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid AND the financial aid office. Turns out there was a glitch where the student signature timestamp was recorded but not the actual digital signature file. The FSA rep was able to see that we had completed everything correctly on our end. They're sending confirmation to the school and the financial aid officer said they'll proceed with his aid package. Thanks everyone for your help! For anyone facing similar issues - definitely call both FSA and your school directly, and be persistent!

@profile1 It took about 15 minutes using that Claimyr service someone mentioned here. Before that I tried calling directly and waited over an hour without getting through. Definitely worth it given our tight timeline with the May 1st deadline!

This is such a relief to see resolved! I'm dealing with a similar signature issue right now for my daughter's FAFSA. The college is saying her parent signature is missing even though I definitely signed it and have the confirmation email. I'm going to try the Claimyr service you mentioned to get through to FSA faster - with decision deadlines coming up, every day counts. Thanks for sharing your experience and the solution that worked!