Great news! Just so you're prepared for when your SAI does show up, remember that the number might look different than you expect. The SAI can range from -1500 to 999999. Lower numbers (especially negative ones) indicate higher financial need. Don't be alarmed if you see a negative number - that's actually potentially good for your aid eligibility. The SAI replaced the old EFC calculation and uses a slightly different formula.

I'm dealing with the exact same issue right now! Submitted my FAFSA on March 5th and still no SAI showing up anywhere. I've been checking my studentaid.gov account daily and there's literally nothing in the My Documents section except the initial confirmation. My school's financial aid office told me they're seeing this with tons of students this year - apparently the new FAFSA system is causing major delays. They actually suggested I bring them my FAFSA confirmation email and they'll note in my file that I'm waiting on federal processing. Might be worth asking your school if they'll do the same while you wait for your SAR to finally appear!

Update from my financial aid office: As of yesterday (5/2), Federal Student Aid has acknowledged system-wide issues with notifications and school transmission. They're working on fixes, but in the meantime, they've advised schools that we can accept screenshots of the processed SAI as temporary verification until the system catches up. So definitely take screenshots of your daughter's processed application showing the SAI and send those to her school's financial aid office. Most institutions are being very flexible with deadlines this year because these problems are happening nationwide.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! My FAFSA shows processed with an SAI, but my school's financial aid office says they haven't received it yet. The constant emails about "missing information" are so frustrating when everything appears to be complete on my end. I'm a first-generation college student so this whole process is already overwhelming, and these technical issues are making it so much worse. Reading through all these responses is actually really reassuring - at least I know it's not just me! I'm going to try emailing my school's financial aid office with screenshots of my processed application like everyone suggested. Has anyone had success with that approach yet? Really hoping they can pull it manually from their end because I'm worried about missing deadlines too.

One additional point: remember that the CSS Profile (used by many private colleges) DOES count home equity, unlike the FAFSA. So if your daughter is applying to private schools that use the CSS Profile, the refinance might actually help in that case by reducing your home equity. Just something else to consider in your planning.

Just wanted to add from our experience - we went through something very similar last year. We ended up doing a smaller cash-out refinance ($25K) and made sure to spend it all on documented home improvements before filing FAFSA. Keep ALL your receipts and contractor invoices! Our financial aid officer at my son's college said having that paper trail was really helpful when we explained the situation during our aid review. Also, don't forget that you'll be filing FAFSA again each year your daughter is in college, so you might want to plan the timing of any major financial moves around those annual filing dates too.

UPDATE: Success! I finally got it to work using a combination of suggestions from this thread. What worked for me was: 1. Using Firefox (not Chrome) 2. Disabling my ad blocker 3. Using my son's laptop while he was logged in on his phone 4. Completing it at 6:30am when server traffic was low For anyone else struggling with this issue, try different combinations of browsers/devices/times. And definitely contact your student's financial aid office to let them know about the technical problems - my son's school said they're aware of the issues and are being flexible with parent contribution deadlines. Thank you all for the helpful suggestions!

So relieved to see you got it working! I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now and have been pulling my hair out for days. Going to try your combination approach - Firefox + no ad blocker + early morning timing. The fact that using your son's laptop while he was logged in on his phone worked is really interesting - makes me wonder if there's some kind of session validation issue happening. Thanks for sharing your successful solution, this gives me hope that I can get through this nightmare too!

One last thing to consider: most private lenders offer a 0.25-0.50% interest rate reduction if you sign up for automatic payments. This can save hundreds or even thousands over the life of the loan. And if you have excellent credit (which it sounds like you do), don't be afraid to negotiate! I actually called College Ave after getting approved and asked if they could beat a competitor's rate. They lowered our rate by 0.30%!

As someone new to this process, this thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation with my son starting college next fall. Based on what I'm reading here, it sounds like the key takeaways are: 1) Apply annually rather than per semester to minimize credit hits, 2) Consider applying for the full annual amount even if you're not sure you'll need it all, and 3) Don't forget to explore all federal options first (including Parent PLUS) before going private. One question I haven't seen addressed - for those who went with private loans, how long did the approval and disbursement process typically take? I'm wondering if there's a deadline I should be aware of for getting applications in before the fall semester starts.