Hi Lia! I just went through this same process with my son last year, so I completely understand your confusion. Yes, you absolutely must report your daughter's savings account on the FAFSA - all student assets need to be included regardless of the amount, even though the new FAFSA has simplified some areas. The good news is you don't need the actual account number for the application - just the balance as of the day you submit. But here's a crucial tip I learned the hard way: take a screenshot or print out the balance on the exact day you file! If your daughter gets selected for verification (about 30% chance), they'll want documentation from that specific date, not just any recent statement. One thing that shocked me was learning that student assets are assessed at 20% while parent assets are only around 5%. So her $3,800 could potentially add about $760 to your Student Aid Index. If she needs any legitimate college expenses like a laptop, textbooks, or test prep materials, you might want to consider purchasing those before filing since it reduces the reportable assets. The verification process isn't as scary as it sounds - we went through it and it took about 3 weeks total. Just be accurate with everything and respond quickly if selected. Good luck with the application!

Hi Lia! I just completed the FAFSA process with my daughter a few weeks ago and had the exact same questions you do. Yes, you absolutely need to report that savings account - all student assets must be included on the FAFSA regardless of the amount. Here's what I wish I had known upfront: You only need the account balance for the FAFSA form itself, not the account number. However, definitely take a screenshot or print the balance statement on the exact day you submit - this saved us during verification! About 30% of applicants get selected for verification, and they'll want documentation from your submission date specifically. The biggest surprise for me was learning that student assets are assessed at 20% versus parent assets at around 5%. So your daughter's $3,800 could potentially increase your Student Aid Index by about $760. If she needs any legitimate college expenses (laptop, textbooks, calculator), you might want to consider the timing of those purchases before filing since it would reduce reportable assets. Also don't forget about any digital wallet balances - Venmo, PayPal, CashApp all count as assets too! The whole process seems overwhelming at first but once you gather everything and submit, it's a huge relief. You've got this!

This is such great timing! I'm having the exact same issue with my mom right now - she got the invitation yesterday and the link just shows a blank page. Based on all the advice here, I'm going to have her create her FSA ID first at studentaid.gov and then I'll resend the invitation once it's verified. It's frustrating that the system doesn't make this requirement clear upfront, but at least now I know what to do instead of wasting more time clicking the same broken link. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is so helpful!

This thread is incredibly helpful! I'm a junior starting my FAFSA early and bookmarking this for when I need my parents to contribute next year. It's really concerning how many technical issues the new system has - you'd think something as important as financial aid would be more reliable. The fact that multiple people had to figure out the FSA ID requirement on their own instead of having clear instructions is pretty frustrating. Thanks to everyone who shared their solutions, especially the step-by-step breakdown from Nia. Hopefully they'll fix these bugs before more students run into deadline stress!

Quick update - just received the invitation email this morning (took about 30 hours). For anyone else having this issue, all the suggestions here were really helpful! The email did come from [email protected] and was in my promotions folder in Gmail, so check there if you use Gmail. Also, I called my son's school financial aid office and they said they're aware of the FAFSA delays and are being flexible with the priority deadline for students who can document when they started the process. Very relieved!

So glad you finally got the email and that the school is being flexible! This gives me hope as a parent just starting this process with my youngest. For anyone else reading this thread - it seems like the key takeaways are: 1) expect 24-48 hour delays for parent invitation emails, 2) check all email folders including promotions/spam, 3) take screenshots for documentation, and 4) contact your school's financial aid office early if you're worried about deadlines. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is so helpful during these stressful times!

As someone who just went through this process with my son in February, I can confirm what others have said about the timing and steps. One additional tip I haven't seen mentioned: when your daughter logs in to send the parent invitation, make sure she double-checks that your email address is entered correctly. We had a typo in my email and didn't realize it for three days when I never received the invitation. The system doesn't give any error messages if the email is invalid - it just sends the invite into the void. Also, keep in mind that if you're traveling, you can complete the parent portion from anywhere as long as you have internet access and your tax documents. The mobile version of the site works fine for the parent section, though it's a bit easier on a computer if you have the option.

Just wanted to add a heads up for anyone dealing with divorced parents - the process gets a bit more complicated. The student needs to determine which parent to invite based on who they lived with most in the past 12 months, not necessarily who claims them on taxes. If that parent is remarried, the stepparent will also need to be invited as a contributor. I learned this the hard way when my ex-husband completed his portion but we still couldn't submit because the system was waiting for his new wife's information too. Make sure you understand which parent(s) need to be involved before starting the invitation process to avoid delays!

I'm brand new to this community and currently dealing with this exact same FAFSA editing nightmare! I made multiple errors in my daughter's 2025-2026 FAFSA parent financial section last week and have been completely stuck trying to figure out how to fix them without starting over. This thread has been absolutely incredible - reading through everyone's detailed solutions and experiences has given me so much relief! I had no idea about the FAFSA Review sidebar at all. Like so many others here, I've been frantically clicking through the main navigation for hours and getting nowhere. The step-by-step instructions from community members like Jamal and Liam are clearer and more helpful than anything I could find through official channels. I also had the same terrible helpline experience - called twice, waited over 90 minutes each time, and got completely conflicting advice that made no sense. One representative told me to delete my FSA ID and start over (thankfully I didn't follow that advice!). It's honestly shocking how unreliable the official support is. I'm going to try the FAFSA Review sidebar method right now, along with switching to Firefox and taking screenshots as recommended. The specific tips about not including decimal points in dollar amounts and double-checking that I'm using 2023 tax information are exactly what I needed to hear. With our priority deadline coming up next month, I was really starting to panic, but this community has provided actual working solutions when the official help failed completely. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their experiences and detailed instructions - this support has been absolutely invaluable for struggling parents like me!

Welcome to the community, Avery! I'm also new here and currently going through this exact same FAFSA editing struggle with my son's application. This thread has been absolutely amazing - I was at my breaking point before finding all these detailed solutions from other community members! I completely relate to your frustrating helpline experience. The advice to "delete your FSA ID and start over" is absolutely terrible - that would have been a disaster! It's really unacceptable that we're getting such unreliable and potentially harmful advice from the official support channels. The FAFSA Review sidebar method is definitely the key to solving this! I just used it successfully yesterday to fix multiple errors in my financial information section. When you log into StudentAid.gov and access your FAFSA, look for that sidebar on the left - you'll see all your sections listed with completion status indicators. Click directly on "Financial Information" and you'll be able to edit everything you need. A few specific tips that really helped me: make sure to hit the "Edit" button at the bottom of the section to unlock any fields that appear grayed out, avoid including cents in dollar amounts (no decimal points!), and double-check that you're using 2023 tax information. The Firefox browser recommendation is spot-on too - much better performance than Chrome. You're absolutely going to get this sorted out before your deadline! This community has been such a lifesaver when the official channels completely failed us. The screenshot tip is brilliant too - I wish I had started doing that from the beginning. Don't hesitate to come back if you run into any other roadblocks - everyone here is incredibly supportive and helpful. Good luck with your daughter's application!