One tip - don't just assume everything is fine because the FSA website says "processed." My daughter's application said that, but when we finally got through to someone on the phone, they said there was actually a verification flag on her account that wasn't showing up on the dashboard. We had to submit her tax return transcripts and my ex-husband's W-2 forms. Better to double-check than find out later you're missing a deadline!

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences! This is really helpful. I'm a new member here and going through this exact same situation with my son's FAFSA. It's been "processed" for about 2 weeks but none of his colleges show they've received it yet. Reading through all these responses makes me feel so much better knowing this is normal for this year. I was starting to panic that we'd missed some deadline or made an error. Sounds like we just need to be patient and wait for the colleges to get their data batches at the end of February. Really appreciate this community for providing such clear explanations about what's actually happening behind the scenes!

UPDATE: I just checked with our systems team at the college. This exact bug was acknowledged by FSA in their latest technical bulletin. They're supposedly rolling out a fix next week, but that might be too late for your deadline. If you get through to an agent, specifically mention "Technical Advisory 2025-06B regarding contributor permission persistence after application deletion." This lets them know you're aware of the documented issue and they'll have specific protocols to follow.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My son's application was processed and then I got confused by all the emails saying forms were incomplete. I made the mistake of deleting it too and now we're stuck in the same loop - he can see me as a contributor but can't send me an invitation to actually complete anything. Reading through all these responses, it sounds like calling FSA with that technical bulletin number Steven mentioned is our best bet. I'm going to try first thing Monday morning and if I can't get through, I might have to try that callback service Grace recommended. This whole system is such a mess - how are families supposed to navigate this when even the support reps give bad advice? At least now I know we're not alone in this frustration. Good luck getting this sorted out before your deadline!

So glad to see you have a plan! Just wanted to add that when he talks to financial aid, he should ask specifically about "additional unsubsidized loan eligibility due to PLUS denial" - using those exact words helps ensure they process it quickly. Also, many schools have hidden work-study spots that open up throughout the year, not just at the beginning. My daughter found a great library position in October that wasn't posted anywhere - she just walked in and asked if they needed help. Best of luck to your grandson!

Another option to consider is contacting your grandson's school's student success center or dean of students office - they often have emergency funds or know about scholarships that aren't widely advertised. Also, if your daughter's credit denial was recent, she might want to consider getting an endorser (someone with better credit) to co-sign the PLUS loan rather than taking it off the table completely. The endorser doesn't have to be family - it could be a trusted friend or family member with good credit. This would give access to the full PLUS amount needed rather than trying to piece together the gap with multiple smaller options. Just make sure everyone understands the endorser would be fully responsible for the loan if payments aren't made.

One more important point - while the Common App and FAFSA can have different parent information, make sure your FAFSA and CSS Profile (if required) are consistent with each other in terms of which parent is considered custodial. Those two forms are both specifically for financial aid, so inconsistencies there could trigger verification flags.

Just wanted to add that you should also double-check which parent you actually lived with most in the past 12 months for FAFSA purposes! It's not always obvious - like if you split time 50/50 between divorced parents, you'd use the parent who provided more financial support. The "custodial parent" for FAFSA isn't necessarily the same as legal custody arrangements. I had a friend who almost got this wrong because she assumed it meant the parent with legal custody, but FAFSA has its own specific definition.

I went through this exact nightmare scenario last month with my twins. After multiple calls to FSA, I discovered that using the same parent information for multiple students is causing system conflicts. The temporary solution is to use different parent FSA IDs for each application, even if it means creating artificial email addresses. What worked for us was: 1. I used my FSA ID for my daughter's application 2. My husband used his FSA ID for our son's application 3. We entered identical financial information on both 4. After submission, we called FSA to ensure both applications were properly linked for accurate SAI calculation It's definitely not intuitive, but it does work. Don't give up - the financial aid is worth fighting for!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with the exact same issue with my two kids and was ready to give up. It's frustrating that the FAFSA system wasn't designed with multiple-student families in mind, but at least there are workarounds. For anyone else struggling with this, it sounds like the consensus is: use separate parent FSA IDs (different emails) for each student's application, enter identical financial information, then call FSA after submission to ensure proper linking. Has anyone had success with the verification process after using this workaround? I'm worried about potential complications when schools request documents if the parent information appears different across applications.