Galaxy S5 :: Set To Use Fingerprint And Now Only Asks For Alternate Password?

My friend had his Galaxy S5 set to unlock with a fingerprint, however yesterday the strangest thing happened. It no longer asks for a fingerprint, it goes directly to the alternate password. I would like to clarify again that its not that it does not accept his prints like happens to a lot of people, it simply does not give the choice to use them. Now I don't know if he forgot his password or the phone wont accept it (like he claims) but he can't use the alternate password to log into the phone. He is completely locked out. As a last case resort I will back up whatever I can using my computer and reset it to factory defaults.

As a final note I've tried the google device manager to reset the password, his S5 does not appear on his account. I expect that is because it is not a gmail account but a school account using google apps.