If you have contributor/s and can't complete the FAFSA, have the student log in to their FAFSA at https://studentaid.gov, delete the contributor/s information for their FAFSA, and then reenter the information (accurately). This will reset the contributor's information and resend an invitation. Help Video: How to make corrections and add colleges and universities to your FAFSA Additional Guidance:  Quick Reference Guide on Fixing FSA ID and FAFSA Problems

Log in to your StudentAid.gov account using your FSA ID (account username and password).   Go to the “My Activity” section. Go to “Edit Contributor Information”. Go to “Update Information”. Remove the contributor information and then enter the contributor information again. Make sure the information is correct and no fields are skipped.   Removing and adding the contributor resets the information which will cause an invitation to be sent.

By Catherine Mueller February 23, 2024 When all else fails, sometimes it's best to just start over but not give up. For some students and parents encountering errors with their FAFSA (such as greyed-out boxes that don’t allow them to move forward) the best action to take to ensure getting access to financial aid is to start over. However, before starting over and losing what you've already entered on the FAFSA, students and parents should take the following steps: Make sure you have answered all the questions on the page before trying to hit next. If you have left a question unanswered (such as one of the demographic survey questions), you won't be able to move forward. Exit the form and your account, clear history on the browser, close and then restart the browser, re-enter your StudentAid.gov account and go to “My Activity” to resume completing your FAFSA. Follow the same steps but try using a different browser. Exit the form and your account and try again later. If these steps don’t work, then you may want to try starting over and, hopefully, the problem will clear itself, allowing you to finish the FAFSA and submit it for processing. To delete a FAFSA you have started but not finished, go to the FAFSA under “My Activity” in your StudentAid.gov account. Once you are in the FAFSA, click on the three dots next to the “FAFSA Menu” on the upper right of the page. A drop-down menu should appear, and you can select “Delete FAFSA Form.” If you have signed your FAFSA and it has been submitted, click on the FAFSA in “My Activity.” You should receive a page with a “Status Tracker.” Click on “Actions” in the upper right corner and an option to “Delete FAFSA Form” should appear, which you can then select. Even if you do have to delete your FAFSA form and start over, the most important thing is to not give up. This form is critical to your future, possibly giving you access to important money for your education. Link to Original Article at Mapping Your Future.

Students and contributors will get confirmation when they complete their section of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. This confirmation does not mean the form was submitted, only that the section is complete. Once all student and contributor portions of the form are complete, the student or a contributor can submit the FAFSA form. Students The student’s confirmation page will include their estimated Student Aid Index (SAI) and other financial facts. It may mention if further action is needed for the FAFSA form. Students will also receive an email confirming their submission. At any time, students can check the status of their FAFSA form from the “My Activity” page after logging in to StudentAid.gov. Contributors A contributor may submit the FAFSA form on behalf of the student only if all sections are complete. The contributor will see a limited version of the confirmation page and the student will receive an email with their confirmation details. The student and all contributors should check their form in the status center to ensure no further action is needed after submission. Getting Your FAFSA Submission Summary If you have a StudentAid.gov account and your FAFSA information has been processed, you can view your online FAFSA Submission Summary regardless of the method (online or on a FAFSA PDF) you used to file a FAFSA form. View your online FAFSA Submission Summary by logging in to your StudentAid.gov account Dashboard, selecting your processed FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section, and selecting “View FAFSA Submission Summary.” The college(s) or career/trade school(s) you list on your FAFSA form will have access to your FAFSA data electronically within a day after it is processed.

https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/review-and-correct/fafsa-submission-summary After your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form is submitted and processed, you can access your FAFSA Submission Summary—an electronic or paper document that summarizes the information you reported on your FAFSA form. It includes your estimated eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant and federal student loans, your Student Aid Index (SAI), and whether you’ve been selected for verification. Make Sure Your FAFSA® Form Was Processed Check the status of your form by logging in to your StudentAid.gov account and selecting your FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section of your account Dashboard. If you submitted a paper FAFSA form, you can check its status after it has been processed. The status of your application will be one of the following: Draft: Your section of the FAFSA form is incomplete. In Progress: You provided your consent, approval, and signature to your section of the FAFSA form, but the FAFSA form has not been submitted yet. In Review: The FAFSA form was submitted but not processed yet. Action Required: You are missing your consent and approval or signature; or the FAFSA form was processed, but a correction is required. Processed: Your application was processed successfully. No further action is needed. Closed: Your FAFSA form was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline passed. Getting Your FAFSA Submission Summary If you have a StudentAid.gov account and your FAFSA information has been processed, you can view your online FAFSA Submission Summary regardless of the method (online or on a FAFSA PDF) you used to file a FAFSA form. View your online FAFSA Submission Summary by logging in to your StudentAid.gov account Dashboard, selecting your processed FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section, and selecting “View FAFSA Submission Summary.” The college(s) or career/trade school(s) you list on your FAFSA form will have access to your FAFSA data electronically within a day after it is processed. Info in the FAFSA Submission Summary At the top of your online FAFSA Submission Summary, under the “Eligibility Overview” tab, you’ll see the date your application was received, the date your application was processed, and a four-digit Data Release Number. If your FAFSA form is complete and fully processed, your estimated federal student aid and SAI will display under the “Eligibility Overview” tab of your online FAFSA Submission Summary. If your FAFSA Submission Summary indicates action required, it won’t include your estimated federal student aid and SAI. Instead, your FAFSA Submission Summary will request information that you must provide before we can determine your eligibility for federal student aid. Your FAFSA Submission Summary may also contain a note indicating that you’ve been selected for verification. If you’ve been selected for verification, there will be an asterisk by your SAI. Find out what to do if you’ve been selected for verification. Under the “FAFSA Form Answers” tab, you’ll see the answers that you and, if applicable, your contributor(s) provided on your FAFSA form. Federal tax information from the IRS won’t display. Under the “School Information” tab, you’ll see information about the schools that you selected to receive your FAFSA information. You can compare the graduation rate, retention rate, transfer rate, default rate, median debt upon completion, and average annual cost of your selected schools. Under the “Next Steps” tab, you’ll see any comments that pertain to your FAFSA form. Some comments may require you to start a correction or send additional documentation to the college or career school you plan to attend. Other comments may be informational and do not require any further action. Your FAFSA Submission Summary is not a financial aid offer. Unlike the FAFSA Submission Summary, which provides high-level estimates of your eligibility for federal student aid, a financial aid offer tells you exactly what financial aid you’re eligible to receive at a particular college or career school. Most schools will wait to send you a financial aid offer until after they accept you for admission. Reviewing the FAFSA Submission Summary Review your FAFSA Submission Summary carefully to make sure it’s correct. The college(s) or career school(s) you listed on your FAFSA form will use your information to determine your eligibility for federal—and possibly nonfederal—financial aid. A school may ask you to verify the accuracy of your FAFSA data, so you need to be sure the information is correct. Use the checklist and comments under the “Next Steps” tab to make sure all your issues are resolved. If you need assistance, contact the financial aid office at the college or career school you plan to attend. If you don’t have any changes to make to the information listed on your FAFSA Submission Summary, just keep it for your records. What To Do If You Find a Mistake If you review your FAFSA Submission Summary and find a mistake, you’ll need to correct or update your online FAFSA form.

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: Log in to StudentAid.gov using your FSA ID (account username and password). Navigate to the Status Center Dashboard. Select your processed FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” page, this will bring you to the Status Center “Details” page. If you have an action required, start a correction by selecting “Start Your Correction.” If you are starting a voluntary correction, select the “Take Action” button, and then start a new correction by selecting “Make a Correction.” 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: Log in and go to their account Dashboard. Select the FAFSA form that indicates “Action Required” under the “My Activity” section. Select “Approve.” Provide their consent and approval. Navigate through the form. 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: Log in and update your information in your Account Settings. Once the Social Security Administration (SSA) verifies your account status, update the information on your FAFSA form by selecting “Make a Correction.” Once the information on your FAFSA form has been updated, navigate through the rest of the form. 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): 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. Once SSA resolves the issue, contact the FSAIC at 1-800-433-3243. Ask the FSAIC to manually sync their data with the SSA. You’ll be notified by email once a match is confirmed. 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: Log in and go to your account Dashboard. Select the submitted FAFSA form. Select the processed FAFSA submission in the “My Activity” section. Select the “Add or Remove Schools” button. Search for the school by entering either the school code or the state, city, and/or school name and then select “Search.” Select the school from the search results. The school’s Federal School Code will appear in the form. 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

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

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 below to add a missing signature. Note: The images included in these instructions show a parent’s view of the form. However, the steps for adding a signature to the form are the same for students and parents. Step One Log in to StudentAid.gov and select the FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section of your account Dashboard. You’ll then see a submission details page. Under “FAFSA® Form Processed,” select “Provide Signature.” Step Two On the “Correct Your FAFSA® Form” page, select “Provide Signature.” Step Three On the “Review Changes” page, select “Continue.” Note: If a missing signature is your only error, you’ll be taken directly to this page. If your section of the form has other errors, you’ll be taken to the first page that needs additional information and will reach the “Review Changes” page once you’ve fixed all issues. Step Four On the “Signature” page, select “Sign and Submit.” Step Five After selecting “Sign and Submit,” you’ll be taken to a page that confirms the FAFSA form is complete.

If your FAFSA form is missing a contributor’s consent and approval, your contributor must do the following: Log in and go to their account Dashboard. Select the FAFSA form that indicates “Action Required” under the “My Activity” section. Select “Approve.” Provide their consent and approval. Navigate through the form. Sign and submit their section of the 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 below to change your answer to this question and invite your parent(s) to your form. Step One Log in to StudentAid.gov and select your FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section of your account Dashboard. You’ll then see your submission details, including your form’s status. Select “Start Your Correction” from under the “Student Actions Needed” section. Step Two Select “Continue” on the “Correct Your FAFSA® Form” page. Step Three Select “Start Student Section” on the “Error Summary” page. Step Four Navigate through the Personal Circumstances section until you reach the “Your Dependency Status” page. You’ll see that “Yes” is selected as the answer to the “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” question. Step Five Change your answer to the “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” question to “No.” Then, select “Continue” to navigate through the rest of the form and invite your parent(s). Step Six When you reach the “Review Changes” page, confirm that your answer to the “Direct Unsubsidized Loan Only” question has been changed to “No.” Then, select “Continue” to sign and submit your section of the correction. Step Seven Review the next steps included on the “Section Complete” page. To complete your form, your parent(s) must log in, complete their section, provide their consent and approval and signature, and submit the correction.