This is my ninth year doing FAFSA. Never taken me more than 15 minutes. Survived the transition to data retrieval a couple years ago. Nothing painful. But OMG this year. It didn’t recognize passwords, usernames, nothing. I’ve reset my password and user name 3 times. Finally got through most of it and suddenly it thought it was my son…that graduated college in 2011…all the data was correct but it was HIS social securitiy number. Tried 3 different browsers, never could data retrieve at all, it didn’t recognize the passwords or user names for my last kid or for us. Manually entered everything and it didn’t recognize my user name and password to sign it. I give up. I’m going to work tomorrow using a different IP address and hope beyond hope I can at least submit it…then wait a week or so and go in and maybe, just maybe data retrieve. What a pain in the butt…glad it’s over next year, one more FAFSA. All this for the ability to take a loan ;-( if desired.
Oh brother! Hope it all gets sorted out!
Momofthreeboys: Glad to know I’m not the only one who felt completely baffled by the process this year. This is year four for me, and I, too, struggled with the new layer of security via the FAFSA ID. Finally completed for two kids yesterday and was shaking by the time I got it all done. Then IDOCS… The thing that gets me is that we are educated and relatively affluent… What can this possibly be like for first generation families? All this press about trying to make college more accessible and then this crazy FAFSA barrier – how nuts! The stakes are so high, and the process is so Byzantine - someone has to do something about this.
Pretty flabbergasted this year. If the system is still connecting a kid into this year’s FAFSA who hasn’t had a fafsa in over 6 years, let alone the “new” enhanced user name and login (all that kid had was the 4 digit pin)…how good can the security really be?
momofthreeboys, you are not alone. My particular issue was being kicked out to a screen indicating the possibility of maintenance on the FAFSA site at random points in the interview. I switched from Firefox to Internet Explorer, and so far (knock on wood), no issues.
I did not have any troubles with 2016-2017 FAFSA (know on wood). FSA ID worked for us; and I prepaid my daughter’s tax due, so that I could use DRT about 3 weeks after we filed our taxes.