New to this community and what a lifesaver this thread is! My daughter submitted her FAFSA in early December and we've been anxiously waiting for financial aid packages from her 4 accepted schools. I was convinced we'd made some mistake when March rolled around with no award letters. Reading everyone's experiences here - especially the insight about FAFSA implementation delays causing 2-3 week setbacks - has been incredibly reassuring. I had no clue about checking separate financial aid portals vs admissions portals, so I'm heading to do that right now! It's nerve-wracking with the May 1st deadline approaching, but knowing this timing is completely normal makes me feel so much better. Thank you Sofia for asking this question and thanks to everyone sharing their knowledge. This community is exactly what stressed parents like us need!

Hi everyone! I'm completely new to this community but stumbled upon this thread and it's like finding an oasis in the desert of college financial aid stress! My son submitted his FAFSA in late December and we've been refreshing our email constantly since February waiting for award letters from his 6 accepted schools. I was honestly starting to panic that we'd somehow messed up the process. Reading all these responses has been incredibly reassuring - especially learning about the FAFSA implementation issues causing delays this year and the fact that March-April timing is actually normal. I had absolutely no idea about checking separate financial aid portals either - that's such a game-changing tip that I'm going to act on immediately! The professional insight from Jace about the 2-3 week delays has been particularly helpful. It's terrifying how quickly May 1st is approaching when we have no clue what's financially feasible, but knowing we're part of a much larger group experiencing the same delays makes this so much more bearable. Thank you Sofia for asking the exact question that's been keeping me up at night, and thanks to this amazing community for all the wisdom and support!

I've been experiencing this exact same issue! Started about 10 days ago for me. Every single login triggers that "FSA ID changed" email even though I haven't modified anything. At first I thought maybe someone was trying to access my account, so I changed my password three times and even checked all my login activity. But the emails kept coming! It's been really stressful because I'm in the middle of reviewing my financial aid offers and need to access my account frequently. Thanks for posting about this - it's such a relief to see I'm not alone and that it's just a technical glitch. Hopefully they fix it soon because those emails give me a mini heart attack every time!

I just wanted to jump in and say thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with this issue! I'm a newcomer to this community and stumbled across this thread while frantically googling "FSA ID changed email every login" at 2am last night. I've been getting these emails for about 5 days now and was absolutely convinced my account had been hacked. I was planning to drive to my school's financial aid office first thing Monday morning in full panic mode! Reading through all these responses has been such a huge relief - especially hearing from @Oliver Zimmermann who works in financial aid and confirmed it's a known system bug. This community seems like such a supportive place for navigating all the FAFSA chaos this year. Looking forward to participating more and hopefully helping others who might be dealing with similar issues!

This is such a common frustration! I went through the exact same thing with my daughter's FAFSA last year. The disconnect between what the FAFSA portal shows and what schools actually need is incredibly confusing. What worked for me was calling the financial aid office directly and asking them to walk me through their specific verification requirements over the phone. Don't just rely on their portal or emails - sometimes the requirements aren't updated in real-time. When I called, they were able to tell me exactly which forms they needed and email me direct links to download them. Also, keep copies of everything you submit! Schools sometimes "lose" documents during busy processing periods, and having your own records makes resubmission much easier. The whole system really needs to be more user-friendly, but at least once you know what they want, it's usually pretty straightforward to submit.

This exact situation happened to me with my daughter's application too! The FAFSA site showing "complete" while the school keeps emailing about missing info is SO confusing. What I learned is that "verification" is basically a separate process that happens AFTER your FAFSA is submitted - the Department of Education randomly selects about 30% of applications for additional document verification, and each school handles it differently. The frustrating part is they use misleading language like "missing FAFSA info" when they really mean "we need extra paperwork for verification." Definitely check her UCR student portal for a verification checklist or to-do list - that's where you'll find exactly what they want. Don't stress too much, you're not behind on anything critical, just need to submit whatever verification docs they're requesting!

I'm completely new to FAFSA and this discussion has been such a relief to find! My wife and I are just beginning this process for our daughter's college applications, and honestly, we had no clue about these new contributor requirements. Like so many others here, we assumed our joint tax filing status would simplify things on the FAFSA too. It's really reassuring to see that we're not alone in this confusion - seems like the Department of Education could have done a much better job explaining these changes to families. Based on everyone's experiences, I'm going to get my wife started on creating her FSA ID right away so we don't get caught off guard by the verification timeline. This thread has probably saved us weeks of frustration and missed deadlines. Thank you to everyone for sharing your real-world experiences - it's made this intimidating process feel much more manageable for newcomers like us!

I'm new to this community and going through my first FAFSA experience! This entire thread has been incredibly helpful - my husband and I are in exactly the same situation as so many of you. We've been married for 10 years, always file jointly, and I had absolutely no idea that both of us would need separate FSA IDs and contributor sections. The "FAFSA Simplification Act" is definitely a misnomer! Reading through everyone's experiences has saved us from making some major mistakes (like me almost creating my husband's account for him). Based on all the advice here, we're starting his FSA ID process this weekend and planning to set aside a full evening to work through everything together once his verification comes through. It's so reassuring to know that thousands of other families are figuring this out for the first time too. Thank you to everyone for sharing your real experiences - this community is making what seemed like an impossible process actually feel doable!

Update: I just checked the mobile app and my SAI is actually showing there! It's $4,352. Thank you all so much for your help, especially the tip about checking the app! Now I can finish those scholarship applications in time.

Wow, this thread is so helpful! I'm dealing with the exact same issue right now - my FAFSA shows processed but no SAI visible on the website. I'm definitely going to try the mobile app trick that worked for Zara. It's crazy how buggy this new system is, but at least there are workarounds. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions!