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i accepted my loans last semester but then got a scholarship later and didnt need them, financial aid office said i could just decline them after accepting no problem. but different schools probly have different policies
About your work-study question - typically these positions are reserved exclusively for students with work-study awards, so yes, there is preference built into the system. You'll likely need to provide your financial aid award letter or some verification when applying. Many departments hire work-study students because the federal government subsidizes a portion of your wages (usually around 75%), making it cheaper for the department to hire you compared to regular student workers. This is why these positions are specifically reserved for work-study eligible students.
I'm having the exact same issue with my son's account right now! Been locked out for about 10 days. What worked for me was calling the FSA technical support line (not the main number) at 1-800-433-3243, option 7. Got through after only 20 minutes and they confirmed there was an "account verification hold" that wasn't visible to me but was blocking login. They manually removed it and I could log in immediately after. Definitely mention your daughter is a student athlete with an urgent scholarship timeline. They prioritized my son's case when I mentioned his music scholarship had a deadline.
THANK YOU for the specific number and option! I just called and although I was on hold for 45 minutes, I finally got through to someone who confirmed exactly what you said - there was a verification hold on our account. They removed it and I was able to log in right after the call ended! Now I can send the SAI to my daughter's school. You literally saved her summer housing situation!
the new fafsa sucks so bad lol. took me 3 tries just to get logged in right. but ya just have him sign his part and keep trying with urs. or just submit it with only his signature and deal with parent signature later
Quick update based on the conversation: If your name has a hyphen as you mentioned, that could definitely be causing the issue. The current FAFSA system has known problems with special characters in names. To fix this, you have a few options: 1. Try entering your name without the hyphen to see if it processes 2. Contact FSA directly to have them manually verify your information 3. Some users have reported success by using a different browser in incognito/private mode And yes, your son can still sign his portion now - the consensus from most users (including financial aid professionals) is that this is fine and won't affect your ability to complete your section.
UPDATE: Success! I used Claimyr this morning and got through to an FSA agent in about 20 minutes. Turns out both applications were held up because they couldn't match one of my W-2s to the IRS data (I had a job change mid-year). The agent manually verified everything and said the SAIs should appear within 3-5 business days. Just wanted to update in case anyone else runs into similar issues. Thanks everyone for your help!
Yara Haddad
Another thing to try - ask the financial aid office specifically which FAFSA year they're looking for. With the academic calendar crossing years, sometimes they look at the wrong aid year. Make sure they're checking for the 2025-2026 FAFSA and not 2024-2025.
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Ava Rodriguez
•I'll double check this too. I'm pretty sure we were both talking about 2025-2026 since that's what we completed, but it doesn't hurt to be specific when I call tomorrow. Thanks!
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Amina Sow
just went thru this nightmare!! turns out my sons social security number was entered with a typo on his college application but correct on fafsa. school couldn't match them up. worth checking if any info is slightly different between systems.
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Ava Rodriguez
•Oh wow, I hadn't even considered that possibility! I'll definitely ask them to verify all his personal info in their system. Even a small typo could explain everything.
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