Problems with the fafsa website, can i file without a pin?

Question

i can't get the page to apply for a pin to show. i am trying to file my fafsa and what not, but everytime i try to go to the link to apply for a pin, i get 'the website cannot display this page.' i can't find anything about any error messages in the faq's, and i tried to contact them through the website and when i submitted my message, i got the same error message.

Answer 1

I think the Fafsa website was down for three days, meaning it should be back up totally tomorrow.

Just wait a day or so before filing.

To answer your question: yes you can file without a pin, but it's much slower.

Answer 2

A careful look at the front page of the FAFSA site shows that the website is down for scheduled maintenance this weekend:

Scheduled Maintenance:

FAFSA on the Web will be unavailable every Sunday from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Eastern Time). There are also scheduled outages on April 4, 2008 from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Eastern Time), May 16, 2008 from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Eastern Time), and June 20, 2008 5 p.m. to June 23, 2008 8 a.m. (Eastern Time). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

As for your second question, this is answered in one of the helpful FAQs:

Do I need a PIN?

We encourage you to apply for a PIN. You are not required to have a PIN to complete a FAFSA, but it is the fastest way to have your FAFSA processed because it allows you to sign your application electronically. Your PIN also gives you access to your Federal Student Aid information on the Internet.

So - the best advice - if you can wait - is to revisit the FAFSA site at 8am tomorrow morning (Monday, June 23rd), when all of the functionality should be available again.

I hope this helped.