FAFSA website maintenance until 1/20 - can't access my application!
I'm freaking out right now! I just tried to log into studentaid.gov to finish my 2025-2026 FAFSA that's due in a few days, and I got this message saying the site is down for maintenance until January 20th?! That's AFTER my college's priority deadline! Has anyone else seen this? Is there any way to access the site during maintenance? I really need to submit my SAI calculation before the deadline or I might miss out on financial aid for next semester!
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Malik Robinson
Take a deep breath. The StudentAid.gov site does regular maintenance, but it's usually only for a few hours, not days. Are you sure you read the date correctly? It might be 1/20 as in 1:20 AM tonight, not January 20th. Can you share exactly what the message said?
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GalaxyGlider
•Oh my god you might be right. It said 'System maintenance until 1/20' and I assumed that meant January 20! I didn't even think about it being a time. That would make so much more sense. Let me check again...
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Isabella Silva
same thing just happened to me!! so frustrating, why do they always do maintenance right when deadlines are approaching??
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Ravi Choudhury
•They typically schedule maintenance during off-peak hours (like overnight) to minimize disruption. But I agree the timing can be frustrating when you're on a deadline!
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Freya Andersen
This is a common misunderstanding. The maintenance message uses 24-hour time format, so "1/20" means 1:20 AM, not January 20th. The site should be back up in a few hours at most. For future reference, if you're ever in a situation where you absolutely need to reach FSA and the website is down, I'd recommend using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com). They help you skip the phone queue to reach a live FAFSA agent quickly. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ But in this case, just wait a few hours and you should be fine.
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GalaxyGlider
•Thank you so much! That's a huge relief. I'll wait a few hours then. And thanks for the Claimyr tip - I've been trying to call them about another issue for days and keep getting disconnected. I'll check out that service.
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Omar Farouk
I HATE THE NEW FAFSA!!!! Last year I could access it anytime I wanted but ever since their "simplified" version the site is constantly down or giving errors. And don't get me started on the contributor section - my parents had to try 6 TIMES to add their tax info and it kept freezing. I'm convinced they're trying to stop people from getting financial aid 😡
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CosmicCadet
•totally agree. spent 3 hrs last week trying to figure out the contributors section
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Malik Robinson
@OP - Were you able to get back into the site? Just curious if it was indeed just a few hours of maintenance as expected.
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GalaxyGlider
•Yes! You were right - it came back online after about 3 hours. I was able to complete my application and submit it before the priority deadline. Thanks everyone for your help and for stopping me from having a complete meltdown over nothing lol
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Chloe Harris
This happened to me last month too! Turned out the maintenance was only for like 2 hours in the middle of the night. But seriously why do they put dates like "1/20" instead of just saying "1:20 AM"??? The FAFSA is already stressful enough without cryptic maintenance messages.
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Ravi Choudhury
•It's actually standard format for system maintenance notifications to use 24-hour time. But I agree they could make it clearer, especially since most people are unfamiliar with the StudentAid.gov system maintenance schedule. Glad to hear OP got it resolved!
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CosmicCadet
when mine was down i just used the mobile app and it worked fine
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GalaxyGlider
•Wait, there's a mobile app?? I didn't even know that! I'll have to download it for future reference.
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Diego Mendoza
my daughter had this problem last week and we missed her Cornell deadline bc of it. had to request an extension. they should really be more clear about when the site is down. btw anyone know if they really check parent's retirement accounts on the new FAFSA? i think i entered mine wrong
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Freya Andersen
•Regarding retirement accounts - if they're designated retirement accounts (401k, IRA, etc.), they typically aren't counted as assets on the FAFSA. However, if you're concerned about an error, you can submit a correction to your FAFSA after it's processed. You might want to contact your daughter's financial aid office directly about the missed deadline as well.
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