FAFSA signature issue - son's account ready but parent section stuck on SSN info?
I'm in a weird spot with my son's FAFSA application for 2025-2026. We're at the signature stage, but I'm having problems on the parent side. Whenever I try to complete my portion, it keeps getting stuck on the parent/partner information page where we need to verify SSN info. It just loads endlessly or kicks me back to the same page. My son has completed all his sections and is ready to sign his portion. Should he go ahead and electronically sign his part now, or should he wait until I can fix whatever is going on with my parent contribution section? I'm worried if he signs now, he won't be able to make changes later if needed. Has anyone dealt with this problem before? The whole process is way more complicated than when I filed for financial aid years ago!
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Giovanni Mancini
ur son can sign his part now its fine. the parent n student sides r separate. my daughter signed hers and i was still workin on mine for like 2 weeks cause i kept gettin errors with my tax info. didnt mess up her part at all
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Amara Nnamani
•Oh that's good to know! I was worried if he signed now something would get locked. Did you have any issues with the parent section constantly looping back to the SSN verification?
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NebulaNinja
Your son can absolutely sign his portion now. The FAFSA system treats student and parent signatures as separate processes. When he signs, it basically just confirms that his portion of the information is accurate. Regarding your issue with the parent section, this sounds like a common glitch in the new system. Try these troubleshooting steps: 1. Clear your browser cache and cookies 2. Try using a different browser (Firefox tends to work better than Chrome) 3. If using a mobile device, switch to a desktop computer 4. Make sure you're entering the SSN exactly as it appears on your Social Security card If none of that works, there's likely a system issue that needs to be addressed by FSA.
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Amara Nnamani
•Thank you for the detailed advice! I'll try switching browsers first - I've been using Chrome so I'll download Firefox now. I triple-checked the SSN so I'm pretty sure that's correct.
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
DONT DO IT!!!! My niece signed her part while we were having similar problems and then we couldn't fix some info later!!! The financial aid office at her school said they see this all the time now with the new system. Wait until everything is 100% ready on both sides!!
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NebulaNinja
•I think there might be some confusion here. If your niece needed to make corrections to her own personal information after signing, then yes, that would require a correction. But the parent having issues with their section wouldn't prevent the student from signing their accurate portion. The two sections are verified independently.
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
•Maybe it was something else then, but all I know is the fin aid officer SPECIFICALLY told us not to do partial signatures on FAFSA anymore with the new system. Just passing along what an actual expert told us!!!
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Dylan Mitchell
I had this exact same problem last month. The SSN verification page kept loading endlessly or cycling back. Turned out there was a mismatch between my name as entered in the FAFSA system and how it appears in the Social Security database (I had a hyphenated last name issue). Calling FSA directly should help, but good luck getting through - their wait times are ridiculous now that everyone's struggling with the new system.
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Sofia Morales
•I had trouble getting through to FSA too, but I tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) to skip the wait. They have a service that holds your place in line and calls you back when an agent is available. Saved me from spending hours listening to that awful hold music! They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Totally worth it when you're stuck with these FAFSA glitches that only an agent can fix.
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Amara Nnamani
•That name mismatch issue sounds possible - I got married last year and changed my name, but my SSN card still has my previous name. I'll check that out. And thanks for the tip about calling service - those hold times are brutal.
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Dmitry Popov
To directly answer your question: Your son can sign his portion now without any issues. The student and parent signatures are completely independent in the current FAFSA system. However, there are two important considerations: 1) If the SSN verification issue is happening because there's incorrect information on your son's application (like a typo in YOUR SSN that he entered), then that would need to be corrected before submitting. 2) Some schools have specific procedures for handling partial signatures, so it might be worth checking with the financial aid offices at the schools he's applying to. For your SSN verification loop issue, this is unfortunately common with the redesigned FAFSA. The most reliable fix is to complete a full system logout (not just closing the browser), wait about 20 minutes, then try again using a different device if possible.
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Amara Nnamani
•Thank you for the thorough explanation! I'm pretty sure the SSN information my son entered for me is correct - we double-checked it together. I'll try your logout suggestion and maybe use my work laptop instead of my personal computer.
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Ava Garcia
We went through something similar in January. The issue for us was that the parent section had a bug that wouldn't properly process the contribution information if there was ANY kind of special character in the name fields (like apostrophes, hyphens, etc.). It would just get stuck in that same loop you described. My son went ahead and signed his part while we were working with FSA to fix my part. It worked fine and didn't cause any issues. Eventually got the parent section resolved and completed everything. Still, the whole redesigned FAFSA is a nightmare! Our SAI calculation ended up being WAY higher than our previous EFC ever was, even though our financial situation is exactly the same.
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Amara Nnamani
•That's really helpful to know! My last name does have a hyphen in it, so maybe that's causing the glitch. And yes, I've heard the new SAI calculations are much less generous than the old EFC system... making me nervous about what kind of aid my son will get.
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Giovanni Mancini
the new fafsa sucks so bad lol. took me 3 tries just to get logged in right. but ya just have him sign his part and keep trying with urs. or just submit it with only his signature and deal with parent signature later
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
•NO!!! Bad advice! If they submit with only the student signature, they'll process it without the parent contribution which could mess up their SAI calculation completely!
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NebulaNinja
Quick update based on the conversation: If your name has a hyphen as you mentioned, that could definitely be causing the issue. The current FAFSA system has known problems with special characters in names. To fix this, you have a few options: 1. Try entering your name without the hyphen to see if it processes 2. Contact FSA directly to have them manually verify your information 3. Some users have reported success by using a different browser in incognito/private mode And yes, your son can still sign his portion now - the consensus from most users (including financial aid professionals) is that this is fine and won't affect your ability to complete your section.
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Amara Nnamani
•Thank you! I'll try the name without the hyphen first - that seems like the easiest solution to test. If that doesn't work, I'll probably need to contact FSA directly. Really appreciate everyone's help here!
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