Well, he is the listed as the main parent contributor. But now the new FAFSA requires signature from the parent spouse too…
@kelsmom is this another new change. It used to be that ONE parent competed the FAFSA with the kid, both were not needed.
Did your father file taxes as head of household (or married filing separately), or did your parents file as married filing jointly? I’m guessing perhaps the filing status was head of household/married filing separately, in which case the mother will be required to complete her own income section.
Is your mother unable to set up an FSA account? If so, here is a step by step process : StudentAid.gov Account Creation for Individuals without a Social Security Number Beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA Processing Cycle (Updated Dec. 27, 2023) | Knowledge Center.
If she is unable to work on the FAFSA itself, this is unfortunately a known issue with no resolution yet (but a workaround if you need to submit by a particular date). From the Federal Student Aid page for schools:
PARENT WITH NO SSN UNABLE TO START FAFSA FORM FOR STUDENT OR CONTRIBUTE TO AN EXISTING FORM (Updated Feb. 23, 2024)
Status: Open
Description: If a parent with no Social Security number (SSN) starts the 2024-25 FAFSA form for a student, the parent will receive an error message on the “Student Information” page. This incorrect error message states that the user is “unauthorized to act on behalf of the student since they already have a 24-25 FAFSA form” even if the student has not started an application. A parent with no SSN also is not able to contribute to the form, even if the student starts the application and invites the parent to contribute.
Workaround: There is currently no workaround for a parent without an SSN. A student may start the application, but the parent will not be able to contribute the parent information. The student and parent will be able to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA form online once the issue is resolved.
Feb 23, 2024 Note for Impacted Students Who Must Submit 2024-25 FAFSA Form to Meet Critical Deadlines for Non-Federal Aid:
The Department will resolve 2024-25 FAFSA submission issues for students who have a contributor without an SSN in the first half of March. At that time, students will be able to submit a fully completed form that includes contributor information.
Students who need to immediately submit the 2024-25 FAFSA form online to meet critical deadlines for non-federal aid may use the tips FSA published in How To Submit the 2024–25 (FAFSA®) Form if Your Contributor Doesn’t Have an SSN as a workaround.
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I think this was meant to be directed to @nmxsel 
No clue how I connected my response to that post! 
Hi thanks for the info. Yes, my dad did file tax as the Head of Household. And yes, my mom does have an account but her account isn’t verified yet, so she cannot contribute to my FAFSA form. I have consulted with my counselor today and hopefully she will hear back from someone soon, because apparently, my counselor said that FAFSA is a requirement for colleges?
it is required if you are applying for need based aid at almost every college.
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The filing status is the reason your mom has to also be a contributor for your FAFSA. It sounds like there may not be much she can do on your FAFSA until early March. But you said that you started the process of verifying her identity, though, and haven’t heard back. It’s important to try to resolve that issue so that everything will be set once you can access your FAFSA to complete her section. Here is the information about the process of verifying identity: StudentAid.gov Account Creation for Individuals without a Social Security Number Beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA Processing Cycle (Updated Dec. 27, 2023) | Knowledge Center. Call that number as much as you need to until your mom is able to get an answer. I’m sorry you are having these issues, and I hope that they can be resolved soon.
Sounds good. Thanks for your help!
@nmxsel I hope that your father met the criteria to file as Head of Household (as a married person).
We filed the FAFSA in January and it’s still under review. I understand that everyone’s likely is. The problem is that when it was filed, parents were not able to sign. It was submitted without us ever having the chance to provide a signature. Now it sits in review and will have to be “updated” once it’s processed and then we will be able to sign it. Any one know how long that will take? To be able to sign and then to have it reprocessed? This whole thing is a nightmare!
Once the FAFSA is available for everyone, you’ll be able make any necessary corrections right away. The submitted updates SHOULD process in a couple days.
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Any news on FAFSA processing? I guess I was hopeful they’d be on the earlier end of the first two weeks of March!
It will be an intentionally slow ramp up. It’s difficult to know the actual timeline. Nothing to date has actually been accomplished as announced. But fingers crossed!
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We submitted the FAFSA in Jan and it still shows ’ in review’, deadline for few colleges is approaching soon, what do we do? What happens if we are not able to get it on time,
Most schools are being very flexible with deadlines. All the FA offices know students can’t make updates until at least April 1.
If you are still worried, it’s ok contact the FA offices and ask about their deadlines.
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Hi,
D24 has an update in FAFSA today -
FAFSA form processed.
Errors found in your application.
Student Will Be Ineligible for Federal Student Aid
The student should access their FAFSA Submission Summary to see what errors need to be addressed on the FAFSA form. The student can access their FAFSA Submission Summary by selecting the “Actions” button or scrolling to the “FAFSA Submission History” section and selecting “View FAFSA Submission Summary” in the “Actions” column.
Student Will Be Ineligible for Federal Student Aid
In order to process the FAFSA® form, you need to provide a signature. Without it, the student won’t be able to receive federal student aid. Select “Provide Signature” to do so now.
But the ProvideSignature is greyed out.
Anyone else seeing this ?
She will be able to click that button soon. Things are moving slowly, with some students getting emails like this - but the system is not yet ready for the required updates. Hang in there & keep watching for emails (and watch CC for info, as well).
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Thank you for watching over us all with good info. That link you posted above has been helpful, showing the progress, even if just a little.
Hi All,
In the FAFSA page on “find an affordable school” I find it hard to believe these numbers:
UMassAmherst the avg annual cost is $6k. The in-state cost is $35k(tuition+boarding/food). For 4 years this totals to $140k. But the media debt upon completion is $23k. Likewise for UConn. Any comments on what these numbers from FAFSA mean ?
Also I find it interesting that WPI is more expensive than NorthEastern and median debt is more or less same upon completion.
Any insight ?
BTW, are these numbers different based on financial circumstances of each student ?