Corrections: If You Made an Error on Your FAFSA

After your FAFSA form is processed, you can make a correction by doing the following steps:

1. Log in to StudentAid.gov using your FSA ID (account username and password).
2. Navigate to the Status Center Dashboard.
3. Select your processed FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” page, this will bring you to the Status Center “Details” page.
4. If you have an action required, start a correction by selecting “Start Your Correction.”
5. If you are starting a voluntary correction, select the “Take Action” button, and then start a new correction by selecting “Make a Correction.”
6. Submit your corrected information.

Note: Contributors can only correct their own section of the FAFSA form.

Note: Federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS cannot be changed on your online FAFSA form.

Corrections: If FAFSA^® Form Is Missing a Contributor’s Consent and Approval

If your FAFSA form is missing a contributor’s consent and approval, your contributor must do the following:

1. Log in and go to their account Dashboard.
2. Select the FAFSA form that indicates “Action Required” under the “My Activity” section.
3. Select “Approve.”
4. Provide their consent and approval.
5. Navigate through the form.
6. Sign and submit their section of the form.

Corrections: If You Filed a FAFSA^® Form Using an Incorrect Social Security Number (SSN)

If you filed a FAFSA form using an incorrect SSN, do the following:

1. Log in and update your information in your Account Settings.
2. Once the Social Security Administration (SSA) verifies your account status, update the information on your FAFSA form by selecting “Make a Correction.”
3. Once the information on your FAFSA form has been updated, navigate through the rest of the form.
4. Sign and submit the form.

If you believe that the SSN you reported is correct, then follow the instructions for updating the SSA and the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC):

1. Contact the SSA by calling 1-800-772-1213 or by visiting ssa.gov to either confirm your SSN or request that they update their records.
2. Once SSA resolves the issue, contact the FSAIC at 1-800-433-3243.
3. Ask the FSAIC to manually sync their data with the SSA. You’ll be notified by email once a match is confirmed.
4. Reach out to your college’s or career school’s financial aid office to inform them of the update.

Corrections: If You Want to Add or Delete a School

If you want to make your FAFSA information available to an additional school after filing the FAFSA form, you may add that school’s Federal School Code.

Once your FAFSA form is processed, you can add or delete a school on your FAFSA form by doing the following steps:

1. Log in and go to your account Dashboard.
2. Select the submitted FAFSA form.
3. Select the processed FAFSA submission in the “My Activity” section.
4. Select the “Add or Remove Schools” button.
5. Search for the school by entering either the school code or the state, city, and/or school name and then select “Search.”
6. Select the school from the search results. The school’s Federal School Code will appear in the form.
7. Submit the update.

Note: No more than 20 schools may be listed on your FAFSA form at one time. (The FAFSA PDF has space for only 10 schools, while the online FAFSA form allows 20 to be listed.) If there are 20 schools on your FAFSA form, any new school codes that are added will replace one or more of the school codes already listed. Any school removed from the list won’t have automatic access to new FAFSA information you provided after you removed that school. However, the school will still have the data you submitted when you listed that school on the FAFSA form.

Updates: If Your Situation Has Changed

Most information cannot be updated because it must be accurate as of the day you originally signed your FAFSA form. For example, if you spent some of your savings after filing the FAFSA form, you may not update your information to show a change in that amount. You should speak to the financial aid office at the college or career/trade school you plan to attend before making significant changes to your FAFSA form.

Corrections: If You Want to Change the Answer to “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” Question

On the FAFSA form, dependent students have the option to indicate that their parents are unwilling to provide their information and therefore want to apply for only a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. However, if a dependent student doesn’t provide parent information, their eligibility for other types of federal student aid can’t be calculated. This means they won’t be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study, or a Direct Subsidized Loan.

If you selected to apply for only a Direct Unsubsidized Loan by mistake, follow the steps at the following link to change your answer to this question and invite your parent(s) to your form: How to Change Your Answer to “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” Question

Corrections: If You Need to Add a Missing Signature

All required contributors (you, your parent[s], your spouse) must provide a signature on your FAFSA form. If your form is missing one or more required signatures, it isn’t complete, and you won’t be eligible for federal student aid.

Once your form is processed, you and your contributor(s) can follow the steps at the following link to add a missing signature: How to Add a Signature to Your FAFSA.

Help Video: How to make corrections and add colleges and universities to your FAFSA