Student not appearing on parent's FSA account for FAFSA - husband can't link to dependent?

I had this EXACT problem last month! It turned out my husband needed to be formally added as a contributor through my daughter's account, not mine. Even though I listed him as her parent on the FAFSA, the system required a separate contributor invitation. Have your daughter log into her studentaid.gov account, go to the FAFSA form, and specifically add your husband as a contributor with his email. He'll get an email with instructions to complete his portion.

my kid had the same issue last week. the FSA ID system is glitchy as hell. try having your husband clear his browser cache or use a different browser. that worked for us!

This is a common issue with the new FAFSA system. The parent-child linking isn't automatic anymore even if the parent has an FSA ID. Each contributor needs a specific invitation. Make sure the email address used for your husband's FSA ID matches exactly what you enter when sending the invitation. Even a slight difference can cause this problem.

I work at a financial aid office and see this issue constantly. Here's what you need to do: 1. Your student (not you) needs to log into her FAFSA application 2. Go to "Contributors" section 3. Add your husband with EXACTLY the same email address associated with his FSA ID 4. He'll receive an email invitation with a specific link 5. He must use that link to access the application If he tries to access it through his regular FSA account dashboard without using the invitation link first, he won't see your student. This is by design for privacy reasons but confuses everyone!

has your husband tried clicking on the "I am a contributor" button on the FAFSA login page? thats different than just logging into his FSA account. my ex had this same problem and that fixed it for him.

When I had this exact issue, I spent HOURS on hold with Federal Student Aid trying to get it resolved. They eventually fixed it but it was a nightmare getting through to someone. I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent explained that parent accounts don't automatically link to student FAFSA applications even when listed as parent/contributor. The student has to send a specific invitation as others mentioned.

This is definitely a common issue with the redesigned FAFSA. Another thing to check: make sure your husband's FSA ID is fully verified. Sometimes parent FSA IDs are created but not completely verified with SSN matching, which can prevent proper linking to student applications. He might need to go through the verification steps again.

UPDATE: We got it working! You were all right - my daughter had to specifically invite him as a contributor through her account. The invitation email went to his spam folder (of course), but once he found it and clicked the link, he could access her application. Thanks everyone for your help!

So glad you got it sorted out! This is such a helpful thread - I'm bookmarking it for when my younger son starts his FAFSA next year. The spam folder thing is so typical too. It's crazy how unintuitive the new FAFSA system is compared to the old one. At least now other parents dealing with this same issue will have all these great troubleshooting steps in one place!