FAFSA website won't accept financial information for renewal application - required yearly?

Yes, you absolutely need to submit FAFSA every year with updated financial information! The 2025-2026 FAFSA has been having serious technical issues since the January rollout. A few things to try:\n\n1. Try using a different browser (Chrome or Firefox seem to work best)\n2. Clear your browser cache and cookies completely\n3. Make sure you're using the FSA ID associated with your parent information\n4. Try accessing the site during off-peak hours (very early morning or late night)\n\nIf none of that works, you'll likely need to call Federal Student Aid directly at 1-800-433-3243. But be prepared to wait - hold times have been 2+ hours for many people.

Thanks for confirming! I've tried three different browsers and clearing cache multiple times. Even tried at 1am thinking the site would be less busy. Still no luck. I'll try the FSA ID suggestion and see if that helps. I did try calling that number twice but got disconnected both times after waiting over an hour. So frustrating!

had same issue last week!! the site is TRASH this year. kept freezing when i entered my w-2 info. what finally worked was using incognito mode on chrome and filling out the ENTIRE form in one sitting. don't save and come back or it gets corrupted somehow

I didn't think to try incognito mode! That's a great suggestion. I'll attempt this tonight when I have a few hours to sit down and complete it all at once. Did you have any other weird glitches when you finally got it to work?

yeah the contribution calculator seemed way off compared to last year. my daughters SAI was like 3k higher even tho our income went down?? makes no sense but at least it went thru finally

I just had to help my son with his junior year FAFSA and ran into similar issues. The financial data import feature from the IRS was especially problematic. What I found is that their system is especially sensitive to any special characters in the form fields. If you have any apostrophes, dashes, or dollar signs that you manually typed in, try removing those and just use plain numbers.\n\nAnd yes, you absolutely must submit FAFSA every year with updated financial information. Each year's aid calculation is based on the prior-prior year's tax data (so 2023 taxes for the 2025-2026 academic year).\n\nThe college financial aid office might be able to offer some help too - some schools have dedicated FAFSA support staff who can troubleshoot these issues.

the real problem is the horrible rollout of the new FAFSA system. Education Department totally botched this whole thing. Been working in financial aid office for 17 years and I've never seen such a mess. We've had students lose grants because of these technical issues. Absolutely disgraceful.

That's extremely concerning. Do you know if there are any accommodations being made for students who are experiencing these technical difficulties? My nephew lost a significant portion of his aid package last year due to a late FAFSA submission that wasn't his fault.

My cousin works at a university financial aid office and she said they're seeing tons of these issues. Apparently the system update is causing major headaches! Hope you get it figured out.

I was having the EXACT same problem with my son's FAFSA renewal. After trying all the browser tricks and waiting forever on hold, I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual FSA agent in about 15 minutes. They were able to help me troubleshoot the issue which turned out to be a verification flag from last year that wasn't properly cleared. The agent manually released the hold so I could proceed with the application.\n\nHere's their site if you want to check it out: claimyr.com - they have a video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ \n\nJust sharing since it saved me hours of frustration. And yes, you 100% need to submit financial info every year for FAFSA - that part hasn't changed with the new system.

Thank you so much for this suggestion! I've been avoiding calling again because of those ridiculous wait times, but getting through in 15 minutes would be amazing. I'll check out that service today. Really appreciate the tip!

The new FAFSA is absolutely not working as intended. Let me break this down for you:\n\n1. Yes, you MUST submit the FAFSA every year with updated financial information\n2. The 2025-2026 FAFSA is using the new Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC) formula\n3. Many parents are experiencing technical issues specifically with the financial information section\n4. The Direct Data Exchange with the IRS (which should automatically import your tax data) is failing for many users\n\nI recommend taking screenshots of the errors you're experiencing. Document everything including dates and times. This can be important if you need to file an appeal with your daughter's financial aid office due to processing delays.\n\nIf you do manage to connect with FSA by phone, request a case number for your issue. This will be crucial if you need to follow up.

This is really helpful information. I've started taking screenshots of the errors as you suggested. I didn't realize they changed from EFC to SAI - is that calculation significantly different? Will it affect how much aid my daughter receives compared to previous years?

Great question about the SAI vs. EFC. The basic concept is similar, but there are several important differences in the calculation:\n\n1. The SAI can now go as low as -1,500 (EFC couldn't go below zero), which helps identify students with the greatest financial need\n2. The income protection allowance has increased, meaning more of your income is sheltered from aid calculations\n3. The number of family members in college now affects Pell Grant eligibility differently\n4. Some untaxed income is now excluded from calculations\n\nFor many middle-income families, the new formula is actually more favorable. But without seeing your specific financial details, it's hard to say exactly how it will impact your daughter's aid package. The biggest concern right now is just getting your application processed correctly so the school can prepare her package.

Thank you for explaining the differences! We're solidly middle-income so hopefully it works in our favor. I'm going to try all these suggestions tonight and hopefully get through to someone at FSA tomorrow if needed.

why is this stuff so complicated?? my kids in 3rd year and i still dont get half the fafsa stuff. its like they deliberately make it confusing so people give up and dont get aid

You're not wrong. The system is incredibly complex and the new \

exactly!!! my daughter almost lost her pel grant this year cause of website errors. had to beg financial aid office to help us

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet: check if your daughter's school has a FAFSA priority deadline you might have missed. Many schools have earlier FAFSA deadlines for continuing students than for new admits. Even though it's not your fault the website is failing, you should contact her financial aid office ASAP to document these issues. Some schools can place a hold on your file while you resolve the technical problems so you don't lose priority consideration.\n\nAlso, verify with the school which academic year you're trying to complete. The 2025-2026 FAFSA should be used for Fall 2025 through Spring 2026. If she's entering her sophomore year this fall (2025), that's the correct form. Just making sure you're working on the right year's application.

Great point about contacting her financial aid office directly. I just emailed them explaining the situation and they responded quickly saying they're aware of the widespread issues and will note our account. They confirmed I need the 2025-2026 FAFSA for her sophomore year starting this fall. At least they're being understanding about all these technical problems!

Quick update: I just read that the Department of Education recently released a patch for some of the financial information entry issues. Before you try again, log completely out of your account, clear browser data, wait about 30 minutes, then log back in fresh. Several parents in my Facebook group reported this helped resolve similar problems.\n\nAnd remember - you're not alone in this! Thousands of families are hitting the same roadblocks with the new system. The financial aid offices are aware and most are being quite flexible with deadlines this year because of all the technical difficulties.

Thank you for this update! I'll definitely try the log out and wait method before attempting again. It's somewhat comforting to know we're not the only ones dealing with these problems, though I wish the whole system worked better for everyone. I'm going to try all these suggestions tonight.

UPDATE: Success! After trying multiple approaches from everyone's suggestions, what finally worked was:\n\n1. Using incognito mode in Chrome\n2. Logging in at 5:30am when the site traffic was low\n3. NOT using the IRS data transfer tool (I manually entered all tax info)\n4. Completing the entire application in one sitting (took about 40 minutes)\n\nThe application has now been submitted and shows as

Excellent news! So glad you got it submitted. Just a heads-up - processing time is running about 7-10 days for many applications, which is longer than previous years. You can check the status on the dashboard, and once it shows

Thanks for the processing time info! I'll keep checking the dashboard. Her school already confirmed they'll expedite her package once they receive it, so hopefully we'll have everything in place before the payment deadline.

Glad it worked! Side note - manually entering tax info instead of using the data transfer tool can sometimes increase your chances of being selected for verification later. If you receive a verification notice, don't panic - just respond promptly with the requested documentation.

Oh no, I hadn't considered that about manual entry! If we do get selected for verification, I'll make sure to respond quickly. Thanks for the heads up!