That makes sense, thank you for explaining! I'll definitely contact the schools directly about their policies. It's so complicated when these systems change and every school seems to have different approaches.

for the CSS Profile question you asked - only some schools need it, mostly private ones and some competitive public universities. it does cost money like $25 for the first school and $16 for each extra one i think. but they have fee waivers if your income qualifies

Here's exactly what you need to know about FSA IDs: 1. Yes, each person needs their own FSA ID (you, your father, and your mother if she's contributing information) 2. Each FSA ID must be linked to a unique email address and phone number 3. Parents CANNOT create an FSA ID for their child, and students CANNOT create FSA IDs for their parents - it's against the rules and can cause major issues 4. Each person's FSA ID is linked to their Social Security Number, which is why they must be separate 5. Save all usernames, passwords, and challenge questions somewhere secure The new FAFSA requires each contributor to individually authenticate their identity and authorize their tax information being used. This is actually more secure than the old system.

When I did my FAFSA I created accounts for my parents because they're not tech savvy AT ALL. I just used different emails and made up their passwords. It worked fine for me but technically you're not supposed to do that lol

After dealing with this exact issue, I discovered a workaround. Log out completely, clear your browser cache and cookies, then log back in using a different browser (if you used Chrome before, try Firefox or Edge). For some reason, this forced a refresh on our application view and suddenly the specific errors appeared in the Next Steps section. They were minor issues that took 5 minutes to fix, and our SAI appeared 3 days later.

Oh wow, I'll definitely try this! It sounds like it might be a technical glitch rather than an actual problem with our application. I'll report back if this works for us!

UPDATE FOR EVERYONE: FSA just announced this morning that the correction period will officially open on April 24th. Corrections made that week should be processed in time for May 1st deadlines, though it will be tight. \n\nAgain, please contact all schools immediately and explain your situation. Most financial aid offices are prepared for this scenario and have procedures to accommodate students affected by FAFSA delays. Some schools have even extended their May 1st deposit deadlines to May 15th specifically because of these issues.\n\nAnd remember that completing the signature requirement will be the highest priority processing-wise, so that should move through the system relatively quickly.

THANK YOU for this update!!! April 24th gives us a little breathing room. I've already reached out to three of her schools, and you're right - they've been understanding. One even told us they can provide an estimated aid package based on the info we give them directly while waiting for the official FAFSA. This community has been so helpful!

wait I'm confused, aren't contributors and parents the same thing? or is a contributor someone else who gives you money? my mom is helping me with college but she filed as parent not contributor lol did i mess up?

UPDATE: We finally fixed it! Turns out it was exactly what @helpful_advisor said - the name mismatch. My dad goes by his middle name so I entered that, but his FSA ID had his legal first name. I cancelled the invitation, sent a new one with his exact legal name, and it worked immediately. Also had to make sure he was using the exact link from the email, not just logging into studentaid.gov normally. Thanks everyone for your help! Hope this helps someone else with the same problem.