I called our university's financial aid office yesterday about my son's delayed SAI, and they said they're accepting screenshots of the "FAFSA submitted" confirmation page as proof that students have completed their financial aid application requirements by the priority deadline. Then they'll process the actual awards once the SAI comes through. Might be worth asking your daughter's schools if they have a similar policy in place.

In response to your question about contacting FSA directly - yes, it can help, especially if your daughter's application might have an issue that's not displaying in the system. Many families are discovering their applications are stalled for verification or inconsistencies that aren't being clearly communicated. If you do manage to speak with an agent, ask them to check if the application is truly "in process" or if it's flagged and waiting for additional information. Also ask them to verify that all parental contributions and signatures are properly recorded in the system. By the way, most colleges have established workarounds for these delays, so don't panic about the deadlines. Just make sure your daughter communicates proactively with each school's financial aid office.

Just wanted to update - I tried the "Make FAFSA Corrections" button yesterday for my signature issue and it worked! Took about 24 hours for the status to update to "processing" instead of the signature error. Make sure both you and your son go through the signature process again, and double-check that you're actually clicking the "I agree to sign electronically" checkbox. It's small and easy to miss.

Quick update for anyone with this issue: The Department of Education just released a statement acknowledging the signature error affecting thousands of 2025-2026 FAFSA applicants. They're implementing a system fix this weekend. If you've been experiencing this problem, check your status again on Monday - many applications should be automatically corrected without further action needed. They're also extending all internal processing deadlines by two weeks to accommodate these delays.

they should really make this more clear!!! i was so confused by the black vs blue too, ended up starting over TWICE thinking i did something wrong!!! 😤

To address a few questions that came up in this thread: @user109: The EFC (Expected Family Contribution) was replaced by the SAI (Student Aid Index) starting with the 2024-2025 FAFSA as part of the FAFSA Simplification Act. It's essentially the same concept but with some calculation changes that better account for family size and multiple students in college. For everyone having trouble reaching Federal Student Aid by phone: they're experiencing extremely high call volumes due to all the questions about the redesigned form. In addition to the Claimyr option mentioned above, you can also try: 1. Using the virtual assistant on studentaid.gov (it's actually pretty helpful) 2. Calling during off-peak hours (early morning or late evening) 3. Contacting your school's financial aid office for guidance The new system has a learning curve, but once you understand the blue/black field system and the contributor model, it's actually faster than the old version.

Just to follow up on my earlier comment - make sure when you contact your son's financial aid office that you specifically ask about an \

Thank you for the follow-up! I just spoke with my son, and we're going to his financial aid office first thing Monday morning with all his documentation about the retirement account. I'll specifically ask for an \

i'm a student who just went through this mess last year. don't forget to look for additional scholarships outside your school! i found about $2500 from local organizations and random places like my dad's credit union and my mom's professional association. even small scholarships add up.

Another important point: if your daughter's school has a financial aid priority deadline that's passed, make sure you contact them directly. Many schools are being flexible with their internal deadlines because of the FAFSA delays, but you need to be proactive in communicating with them. Don't just assume they'll automatically consider her for all available aid if the application comes in late due to FAFSA processing issues.