Wrong parent email on FAFSA submission - can we fix while in review?

dont worry too much, my son did something similar last year. you'll have to wait till its processed then you can make corrections. the system wont let you touch anything while its in review.

You have two options here: 1. Wait until the FAFSA is fully processed (usually 3-5 business days) and then submit a correction to update the parent email address. The correction process is straightforward - just log in to studentaid.gov with your daughter's account, select "Make FAFSA Corrections" and update the email field. 2. If you're really concerned, you can contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 to explain the situation. They might be able to note this in your file, though they typically can't make changes until processing is complete. The good news is that your SAI calculation won't be affected by an incorrect email. Email addresses are just for communication purposes - they don't impact your aid eligibility or calculation at all.

lol my daughter put MY email wrong when she applied and I only found out 2 weeks later when her school called asking why we hadnt responded to their financial aid emails!! it was a mess but we fixed it eventually

I work in a college financial aid office. This happens ALL THE TIME. Don't stress about it. The wrong email won't affect the processing or your daughter's aid eligibility at all. As others mentioned, just wait until it's processed (status will change from "in review" to "processed") and then make the correction. One thing to note: if your daughter listed any colleges on her FAFSA, they won't receive her information until after processing is complete anyway. And most schools won't start sending important communications until much closer to their financial aid deadlines. You have plenty of time to fix this!

I had a NIGHTMARE with this exact issue last year. Waited for processing, tried to make the correction online, but then got stuck in an endless verification loop. Spent HOURS trying to call FSA and kept getting disconnected or put on hold forever. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual agent in about 10 minutes. They helped me fix everything right over the phone. Here's their video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Not saying you'll need it, but if you get stuck in verification limbo like I did, it's worth knowing about.

Just to clarify some misinformation I'm seeing: The FAFSA doesn't actually send many communications to the parent email at all. Most important notifications go to the student's email, including the processed notification. The parent email is primarily used for the FSA ID account management and some secondary communications. Here's what you should know about the 2025-2026 FAFSA specifically: 1. Processing times are averaging 5-7 business days currently (not 3-5 as mentioned above) 2. Parent email corrections won't trigger any verification flags (this is a common misconception) 3. The correction won't change your SAI calculation at all 4. You can make this correction yourself once processing is complete by selecting "Make FAFSA Corrections" 5. If your daughter is applying for CSS Profile schools too, make sure the email is consistent there Hope this helps!

wait i just remembered something else - when my son fixed his fafsa last year, we had to verify our identity again when making corrections. make sure your husband has his FSA ID login info ready and access to whatever email he DID use for his FSA ID (not the wrong one on the fafsa).

The whole FAFSA system is such garbage this year. My daughter's app has been "processing" for THREE WEEKS now and we can't get any help. Good luck with yours!

UPDATE: Our FAFSA was processed this morning (took 4 business days) and we were able to successfully update my husband's email! For anyone finding this thread later - the correction process was really simple. My daughter logged into studentaid.gov, clicked on "Make FAFSA Corrections," updated the email, and submitted. It's already showing the new email in the system. Thanks to everyone who helped calm my nerves about this!

So glad to see your update that everything worked out! This is such a common worry for families and your experience shows exactly how manageable these corrections really are. Thanks for coming back to share the resolution - it'll definitely help other parents who find this thread when they're in the same panic mode you were in a few days ago. The 4-day processing time sounds pretty typical for what we're seeing this year too.

Thanks for sharing your experience Connor! As someone new to this whole FAFSA process, it's really reassuring to see that what seemed like a major mistake turned out to be such an easy fix. I'm sure I'll make my own share of errors when we fill out our application next month, so it's good to know the correction process is straightforward. Did you notice any delay in communications from your daughter's colleges after you fixed the email, or did everything flow normally from that point on?

This whole thread has been so helpful to read through! As a parent who's about to go through the FAFSA process for the first time with my son, it's really reassuring to see how supportive this community is and how manageable these kinds of corrections actually are. Connor, thanks for sharing your experience and coming back with the update - that's exactly the kind of real-world timeline information that helps calm the nerves. I'm definitely going to bookmark this thread for reference and make sure we have all our FSA IDs set up well in advance like some of the commenters suggested. It's nice to know that even when mistakes happen, there are straightforward ways to fix them!

This is such a valuable thread for newcomers like me! I'm getting ready to help my daughter with her FAFSA application and honestly had no idea that email corrections were even possible after submission. Reading through everyone's experiences really helps set realistic expectations about processing times and the correction process. It's also great to see the financial aid professional's perspective - knowing that this happens "ALL THE TIME" definitely takes some of the pressure off. I'm going to make sure we create all our FSA IDs early and maybe even do a practice run through the application to catch any potential errors before the real submission. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here!

As a newcomer to this community and the FAFSA process, I just wanted to say how incredibly helpful this entire thread has been! Reading through Connor's initial panic (which I totally understand) and then seeing the supportive responses from everyone really shows what a great resource this community is. I'm planning to start my daughter's FAFSA application in the next few weeks, and all the practical advice here - from setting up FSA IDs early to doing practice runs - is going to save us a lot of stress. It's especially reassuring to hear from Vincent who works in financial aid that these email mistakes are common and easily fixable. Thanks to everyone for sharing their real experiences and timelines!