As someone who went through a similar professional judgment process two years ago, I want to emphasize something that hasn't been mentioned yet: keep detailed records of EVERY interaction you have with each school's financial aid office. I created a simple spreadsheet with columns for date, school name, person I spoke with, what was discussed, and what documents were requested or submitted. This saved me when one school claimed they never received my paperwork (they had), and when another school's financial aid officer left mid-process and I had to start over with someone new. Having that paper trail helped me quickly bring the new person up to speed. Also, don't be discouraged if the first person you talk to seems unfamiliar with professional judgment - it's a specialized process and not all front-line staff are trained on it. Politely ask to speak with someone who handles "special circumstances" or "professional judgment reviews" specifically. Your 50% income drop is exactly the type of significant change this process was designed for. Start making those calls this week - you've got this!

I'm going through something very similar - my income dropped about 45% after being laid off from my marketing job last year. I waited too long to start the professional judgment process and really regret it. Based on what everyone has shared here, I'd definitely recommend being proactive and contacting schools NOW rather than waiting for aid packages. One tip I learned the hard way: when you call, have all your documentation ready to reference specific dates and amounts. The financial aid officers will often ask detailed questions right on that first call, and being prepared with exact figures makes you sound more credible and organized. Also, if a school says they can't consider professional judgment until after admission, ask when exactly that process opens up and put a reminder in your calendar to follow up immediately. The process is definitely worth it though - even starting late, I was able to get an additional $4,200 in grants from my school. With your 50% income drop, you should be in a strong position for adjustments. Good luck!

I'm also navigating this exact situation with my twin daughters who will be starting college next fall. Our household income is around $158k and I was initially hesitant about completing the FAFSA for similar reasons. After reading through all these responses, I'm convinced we need to push through and complete it. The stories about families receiving $12k-23k in institutional aid at our income level are eye-opening! I had no idea private schools might be so generous to middle-income families. We're looking at both state schools and some private colleges, so it sounds like the FAFSA could open doors we didn't even know existed. For those dealing with FSA ID password issues - we actually just went through this process last month. Creating a new FSA ID was definitely the faster route, though it was frustrating to lose the saved school list. The whole process took about 30 minutes once we decided to start fresh, versus the weeks we spent trying to recover the old account. One question for those who received institutional aid - did you need to submit any additional documentation beyond the FAFSA, or did the schools automatically consider you based on the FAFSA submission alone?

As someone who works in college financial aid, I want to emphasize that the FAFSA is absolutely worth completing at your income level! I see families making $150k+ receive aid all the time, especially from private institutions. Here are a few key points: **Password Recovery Alternative**: Instead of struggling with the broken FSA phone system, try contacting your son's high school guidance counselor. Many have direct contacts at Federal Student Aid and can expedite account recovery issues. **Income Threshold Misconceptions**: The "you won't get anything over $150k" advice is outdated. With the new Student Aid Index calculations, many middle-income families are seeing better outcomes than expected. Plus, unsubsidized federal loans alone can save you thousands compared to private loan interest rates. **Timing Consideration**: Even if you create a new FSA ID now, you're not too late. Most schools have March/April FAFSA deadlines, and some rolling deadlines extend even later. **Merit Aid Connection**: Many merit scholarships require FAFSA completion regardless of need. I've seen students lose out on $10k+ merit awards simply because families assumed they "made too much" for the FAFSA to matter. The password hassle is frustrating, but don't let it cost you potentially tens of thousands in aid opportunities!

I'm new to this FAFSA process and seeing this thread is actually really reassuring! My daughter is a high school senior and we just submitted her 2025-26 FAFSA last week. I was already worried about whether we did everything correctly, so if we get one of these "reminder" emails I would have probably panicked too. Thanks everyone for explaining that this is normal - it's so helpful to have a community where parents can share these experiences. The government really should fix their email system though... seems like it causes unnecessary stress for families during an already overwhelming time!

I can totally relate to this confusion! We went through the exact same thing with my daughter's FAFSA this year. Got the application processed back in early December, everything looked good in the portal, and then BAM - got that "start your form" email yesterday and my heart just about stopped. I immediately logged into studentaid.gov thinking something had gone wrong, but everything was still there showing as processed. It's such a relief to see I'm not the only one! The government really needs to get their act together with these automated emails - they're causing way more stress than they're helping. But at least now I know for next year when my younger son applies that these emails don't mean anything if your status shows processed.

Make sure your husband creates his FSA ID ASAP and completes his section. Our son's SAI calculation was delayed by almost 3 weeks because my husband didn't complete his portion, and we almost missed priority deadlines for several schools. Once both parent sections are complete, the SAI calculation should happen within 3-5 days (though some are reporting longer times this year).

Just wanted to jump in as someone who went through this exact same confusion last month! Yes, both spouses absolutely need separate FSA IDs and must complete their individual sections even when filing jointly - it's one of the most frustrating changes to the new FAFSA system. What helped us was setting aside about 30 minutes one evening to get my husband's FSA ID created and his section completed. The good news is that once the first parent enters the tax info through IRS DRT, the second parent doesn't have to re-enter all those numbers - they just need to give consent and answer some personal verification questions. Don't wait though - our daughter's aid package was delayed by 2 weeks because we didn't realize this requirement! The sooner your husband completes his part, the sooner you'll get that SAI calculation and can move forward with financial aid applications.

UPDATE: We got it working!! After trying basically everything suggested here, what finally fixed it was: 1. Waiting 24 hours with no login attempts (thanks financial aid office worker!) 2. Using my dad's phone instead of his laptop (thanks for that suggestion!) 3. Making sure he was on our home WiFi, not his cellular data Not sure which of these was the actual fix, but the combination worked. He was able to log in, get past the secure code screen, and complete his section of my FAFSA. My application is finally submitted! Thank you all for the help - this forum saved us from missing my deadline!

Wow, this thread is a goldmine of information! I'm dealing with the exact same parent login issue right now and was getting so stressed about it. Reading through everyone's experiences makes me feel less alone in this mess. The combination of solutions that worked for Andre gives me hope - I'm definitely going to try the 24-hour reset approach first since that seems to be a common theme. It's really frustrating that the FSA support line doesn't mention these technical details about security flags and soft-locks. You'd think they would know their own system better! Has anyone else noticed if this problem is worse during certain times of the year? I'm wondering if it's related to high traffic periods when everyone's trying to submit their FAFSAs at once.