Social Security Number mismatch on FAFSA despite correct info - anyone else?

I had the exact same issue last month! The problem might be how the system is matching your name format with what's on file with Social Security. Make sure your name is entered EXACTLY as it appears on your Social Security card - including middle initial, hyphens, or suffixes. Even a tiny difference like having 'Robert' instead of 'Bob' or missing a hyphen in a last name can trigger the mismatch error.

omg same happened to us, turns out my husbands birth date was off by one day on the FAFSA form. check all your personal info not just the ss# itself. also the name formatting like if you have Jr or II or whatever

This is a common issue with the FAFSA system. Beyond checking that your name matches exactly what's on your Social Security card, also verify: 1. Your date of birth format (MM/DD/YYYY) 2. Make sure there are no spaces or dashes in the SS# field 3. Confirm your gender marker matches what Social Security has on file 4. Check if your marital status needs updating If all that information is correct, it could be an issue on their end. The FSA database sometimes has synchronization problems with the Social Security Administration database, especially during high-volume application periods.

My daughter had this problem too! Drove us CRAZY for weeks!!!! It turned out that when she was born, the hospital made a tiny mistake on her SS application and her birth month was wrong in the SS system. We never knew until the FAFSA rejected it! Had to actually go to the Social Security office in person to fix it.

I worked through this exact issue recently! After being disconnected 4 times while on hold with FSA, I found Claimyr (claimyr.com) and it was a LIFESAVER. They connected me directly to a live FAFSA agent in about 15 minutes instead of the hours I was wasting on hold. The agent was able to look up my records and found that there was a transposition in my SS# in their system - two digits were swapped. They fixed it on the spot and my application went through immediately. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Saved me from missing my son's aid deadline!

I'm going to go against what others are saying here. The issue might not be with your personal information at all, but could be related to the parent-student linking process. Did you and your son both create FSA IDs? Sometimes the SSN verification fails if there's confusion about which parent is supposed to be the contributor. Make sure you're using the correct FSA ID that corresponds to the parent listed on the FAFSA form (if you're divorced or if there are multiple parents involved).

After you get this fixed, make sure to check your Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation once it's processed. Sometimes these verification issues can trigger additional scrutiny of your application, which might delay your son's aid package. If possible, also contact his college's financial aid office to let them know you've had technical issues with the FAFSA but are resolving them - many schools will work with you if you're proactive about communication.

Is anyone else concerned about how often these systems have errors??? Like I get that technology isn't perfect but this is literally determining whether kids can afford college! My daughter's friend had her entire financial aid package delayed by MONTHS because of some stupid system error that wasn't her fault. And then they act like we're the problem when we get frustrated! 😤

did u try logging out and back in? sometimes the website glitches and shows errors that arent real. also try a different browser. chrome usually works better than safari for fafsa stuff

One more thing to check: make sure you're on the legitimate studentaid.gov website. There are unfortunately some scam sites that look very similar to the official FAFSA site. The official site will have a .gov domain and a secure connection (https). If you've been using a bookmark, try accessing the site directly by typing studentaid.gov in your browser to ensure you're on the correct site.