Your situation sounds similar to mine from last year. Since I was the parent with primary physical custody and we were living separately (though not legally separated in our state either), I was able to be the only parent on the FAFSA. Just be prepared that because of the joint tax return, your daughter's Student Aid Index (SAI) might be higher than it would be with just your income. When you get the SAI calculation back, you might want to appeal directly to the colleges if it doesn't accurately reflect your financial situation.

Regarding appeals - wait until you receive the initial financial aid packages, then contact each school's financial aid office about their "professional judgment" or "special circumstances" process. Every school handles these differently, but most will require documentation of your separation, decreased household income, and changed financial circumstances. The most effective appeals include specific numbers showing the difference between the joint tax return and your actual current financial situation. Be prepared to provide bank statements, proof of separate residences, and any relevant court documents.

is anyone else's blue dot stuck at the contribution calculator part? mine gets to that section then freezes every time even in chrome

@profile8 The SAI (Student Aid Index) calculator section is particularly resource-intensive. If you're experiencing freezing at that specific point, try these troubleshooting steps: 1. Use incognito/private browsing mode 2. Close all other browser tabs and applications 3. Ensure your browser is updated to the latest version 4. Try a different time of day (the system is often overloaded during evening hours) If none of those work, you may need to call FSA directly as there could be a data mismatch issue with your specific application.

Quick question for anyone who might know - does this same process apply for the CSS Profile? My daughter needs to correct some information there too since we're applying to some private schools that require it. Would I need to re-sign that as well or is it different from the FAFSA?

Final update - we both signed yesterday and today her application already shows as "processed" with her updated SAI score! That was faster than I expected based on what everyone said. Now I just need to figure out what this SAI number actually means for her financial aid package... but that's probably a question for another thread! Thanks again everyone.

btw has anyone else noticed that the new fafsa portal is like 10000x more glitchy than the old one?? like why would they launch a completely broken system in the most important financial aid year ever?? my counselor said they've never seen this many problems in 15 years working in financial aid

UPDATE: I finally got this resolved! I want to share what worked in case anyone else has a similar issue. First, I took the advice about making a tiny correction (I added my middle initial) instead of adding a school code. After doing that, I called my school's financial aid office and specifically asked to speak with a financial aid counselor, not just the front desk. The counselor was able to see that my application was in their system but was stuck in a processing queue because of a flag related to my parents' marital status (which was correct in my application, just flagged for some reason). She manually reviewed it and cleared the flag. Three days later, I got my official financial aid package with the full Pell Grant amount ($7,395) intact! So thankfully all that worry was for nothing, but the stress was real. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

This whole system is ridiculous! Why can't they make this more straightforward?? My ex refused to provide any information for my daughter's FAFSA and we had to go through so much red tape to get her aid package. The FSA website says one thing, then the helpline says another thing!

To clarify some confusion in this thread: 1. For FAFSA: Only the custodial parent (who the student lived with more in the past 12 months) needs to create an FSA ID and provide information 2. For CSS Profile: Many private colleges require both biological parents' information regardless of divorce status 3. Legal agreements: Your divorce decree may have separate requirements about sharing college expenses that are independent of FAFSA rules 4. Special circumstances: If you can't get information from a non-custodial parent for CSS Profile schools, contact each school's financial aid office directly to request a waiver