New FAFSA form not recognizing my dependent - stuck with 'No' greyed out

This is a MAJOR issue in the new FAFSA that's been driving people crazy. The system is supposed to automatically detect dependent status based on your family size and household information. When you listed your daughter in the household section, did you specifically identify her relationship to you as 'child'? That's the trigger that should change the dependent indicator. Also, make sure you've completed the 'Support' questions correctly. There should be questions asking if you provide more than 50% support for any household members. Answering yes there should activate the dependent flag. If you've done all that and it still shows 'No', you might need to contact FSA directly to fix it - but good luck with that given their current wait times.

OMG same problem here!!!! I've been fighting with this stupid form for DAYS trying to get it to recognize my two kids as dependents. The FAFSA website keeps crashing too which makes everything 1000x worse. My brothers financial aid advisor told him this is causing HUGE problems for parents all over the country. Apparently the dependent status directly effects your SAI calculation by like thousands of dollars so this isnt a minor glitch!!!!

I'm a financial aid counselor, and this is unfortunately a widespread issue with the redesigned FAFSA. The dependency section is supposed to automatically update based on other information you provide, but there's clearly a bug in the system. Here's what we're telling our students: 1. Complete and submit the FAFSA even with this error 2. Take screenshots of all relevant sections showing your child's information 3. Immediately after submitting, use the correction feature to attempt to update the dependent status 4. If the correction feature doesn't work, contact your school's financial aid office with your documentation Schools have been given some guidance on how to handle these system errors during processing. The important thing is to get your application submitted, then work on fixing the errors. Just make sure you document everything thoroughly.

when i did mine i had to go all the way back to the household section and make sure i selected that i support my kid more than 50%. then i had to go through each section again (super annoying) but then it finally updated on the review page. doesnt make any sense how they organized this form!

After battling this same issue for days, I finally got through to a FAFSA agent by using Claimyr (claimyr.com). They have this service that basically holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of hold time. The agent confirmed this is a known system bug they're working to fix. They told me to submit anyway and then file a correction. They said schools are being notified about this issue so they can adjust during review. You can see their video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ to see how it works. Honestly wish I'd known about this service weeks ago instead of burning up my cell minutes on hold.

I was having the EXACT SAME ISSUE with my son's FAFSA application (I'm helping him complete it as a parent contributor). What FINALLY worked for us - and this is bizarre - was completing the form using the FAFSA mobile app instead of the website. For some reason, the app properly recognized my dependents when the website wouldn't. The whole redesign is a disaster. I've been filing FAFSA forms for years (have older kids too) and this is by far the worst implementation I've seen. The old form was straightforward - it just ASKED if you had dependents and you said yes or no!

Has anyone noticed that even when you fix this dependents issue the SAI calculation still seems wrong? My friend and I have almost identical financial situations (both single parents with one kid) and she got an SAI about $3000 lower than mine even though I actually make less money! I think the whole system is just broken. They should just go back to the old EFC system witch wasn't perfect but at least it WORKED!!

UPDATE: I tried the mobile app suggestion and IT WORKED! The app let me clearly indicate my dependent status, and when I logged back into the website, the review page now correctly shows 'Yes' under dependents. I have no idea why the website and app would behave differently, but I'm just relieved to have it fixed. I'm going to finish and submit now, but will definitely take screenshots of everything just in case. Thanks everyone for your help with this frustrating situation!

This is such a relief to see that the mobile app solution worked for you! I'm a new parent going through the FAFSA process for the first time and this thread has been incredibly helpful. I was starting to panic thinking I'd mess up my daughter's financial aid chances because of this glitch. It's really concerning that there's such a significant difference between the website and mobile app functionality - you'd think they'd be synchronized! I'm definitely going to start with the mobile app based on everyone's experiences here. For other newcomers like me who might be reading this: it sounds like the key takeaways are 1) try the mobile app first, 2) document everything with screenshots, 3) submit even if there are errors and then use corrections, and 4) contact your school's financial aid office if problems persist. Thanks to everyone who shared their troubleshooting steps!