Who initiates the FAFSA process - student or parents? Need login sequence clarification

Your student (daughter) should start the application. Once she begins the FAFSA, she'll have a section where she can add you and your wife as contributors. She'll need your email addresses to send the contributor invitations. Then you and your wife will get emails with links to complete your sections of the FAFSA. Make sure the email addresses she enters match the ones you used for your FSA IDs!

My son started it and then we got emails. But make sure all the emails are right cuz my husband never got his and we had to redo the whole thing!!

The student MUST initiate the FAFSA application since it's technically their application for aid. The process follows this specific order: 1. Student starts the application and completes their demographic information 2. Student adds parent contributor(s) by entering their email addresses 3. Parents receive email invitations and complete their sections independently 4. Student returns to review all information and submit the completed FAFSA Be aware that parent contributors must have their own FSA IDs that are fully verified. Each parent will receive a separate invitation and can complete their section at different times. The student won't be able to submit until all contributor sections are complete. Also, double-check that your daughter correctly identifies which parent is Parent 1 and Parent 2 if you're married/filing jointly. The system can get confused if these are switched between initiation and completion.

Everyone here is right about the student starting, but nobody's mentioned what a NIGHTMARE it is trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid if something goes wrong with the contributor invitations (which happened to us). My daughter sent us invitations three times and they never came through. We wasted WEEKS trying to get help. I eventually used Claimyr to get through to an actual human at FSA. They have this service where they wait on hold for you and call when an agent is ready. Saved me hours of frustration. Their video explains it better than I can: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ and their website is claimyr.com if you need it. Turns out there was some weird email verification issue that the agent fixed in minutes once we actually got through to someone.

lol i tried to start my parents section for them last year and the whole thing crashed. definitely let your daughter start it herself. also make sure u use chrome browser not safari, we had weird glitches with safari.

Just adding that there's a specific timeframe for completing contributor sections. Once your daughter sends the invitations, you and your wife have 14 days to complete your sections before those links expire. If they expire, she'll need to send new invitations. Also, make sure EVERYONE has access to their tax information before starting. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool is available again for the 2025-2026 FAFSA, which makes transferring tax data much easier. You'll each need your 2023 tax return information and possibly W-2s depending on your financial situation.

To answer your question about completing sections separately - yes, you and your wife can complete your contributor sections independently and at different times. The system allows each parent to log in with their own FSA ID and complete just their portion. Your daughter will be able to see when each section is completed in her dashboard.

my dad tried to start mine for me and it was a TOTAL mess because everything was under his name instead of mine and we had to call and get it all cancelled and start over. student HAS to start it!!

One more important detail: If your daughter is applying to any schools that require the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA, she should complete that application separately. Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS Profile process is different - she completes one application and includes information about both parents within it. There's no contributor system for CSS Profile.