How do I fix my FAFSA error(s)?
So, you have submitted your student’s FAFSA, and now there’s an error. You may be frustratedly thinking, “Submitting the FAFSA was hard enough, and now I have to do something else?” If this is you, then you are not alone. Like so many other families, on top of the FAFSA delay, you may be dealing with the need for FAFSA corrections. Just recently, students and families were given access to make 2024-2025 FAFSA corrections. Now that you are able to make corrections, you may be asking, “How?” Here are few tips that will help you through the FAFSA correction process:
How do I know if my student’s FAFSA requires a correction?
To confirm that your student’s FAFSA has been submitted, and to verify the status of the form, have your student login to the StudentAid.gov website using their FSA ID and password. Then, navigate to the account Dashboard, and select “2024-2025 FAFSA Form” on the “My Activity” page. Here is a guide to the status codes you may see:
- Draft – The FAFSA has been started, but not completed and submitted.
- In Progress – The FAFSA has been completed, but not submitted.
- Action Required – The FAFSA was submitted, but a correction is required.
- In Review – The FAFSA was submitted but is not yet processed.
- Processed– The FAFSA was processed successfully and contained no known errors.
What if my student’s FAFSA status is “Action Required”?
There are a number of FAFSA errors that could result in an “Action Required” status, ranging from simple to more complex corrections required. Here are instructions to fix a few of the most common errors:
- The FAFSA is missing parent consent and approval. Once starting the FAFSA, student’s must invite (provide consent for) their parent to contribute required parent information to the FAFSA. If your student submitted their FAFSA without doing this, then this will likely require a correction before the form will be processed successfully. Login to the StudentAid.gov website using your parent FSA ID, and navigate to the Dashboard. Under the “My Activity” section, select the 2024-2025 FAFSA. Select “Approve” and navigate through the form. Last, you must sign and submit the parent section of the form.
- The FAFSA was submitted with an incorrect Social Security Number. If a Social Security Number reported on the FAFSA was incorrect, have the applicable individual login to the StudentAid.gov website using their own FSA ID and password. Then, update the incorrect SSN under “Account Settings”. Once the Social Security Administration verifies that the SSN is now correct, you must update the FAFSA by selecting “Make a Correction”. Any time you are making corrections, make sure to navigate through each page of the form and re-sign and submit the FAFSA.
- You forgot to add a prospective college or need to add/delete a college. Have your student login StudentAid.gov using their FSA ID and password and select the 2024-2025 FAFSA form in the Dashboard. Under the “My Activity” section, select the processed FAFSA submission you want to correct. Then, select “Add or Remove Schools” and search for your student’s school. Once added or removed, you must submit the update to the FAFSA.
As stated previously, these are just a few of the FAFSA errors you may encounter. If you are having a difficult time correcting your student’s FAFSA, or if you have submitted your student’s FAFSA more than one to two weeks ago, and have not yet heard anything from your student’s college by email, reach out to the college’s Financial Aid office.
We know this information is critical to your college choice, and we are doing everything we can to get the information to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you have questions, please contact us at 843-953-5187 or at financial_aid@citadel.edu. We’re here to help in any way we can.