The whole setup is BACKWARDS. Schools expect you to commit before you know if you can actually afford to attend. Then they act shocked when students back out or have to take massive loans. I honestly think schools delay aid packages on purpose to force families to commit, knowing some won't back out even if the aid is terrible. Just another symptom of how broken the entire higher education financing system is.

To directly answer your original questions: 1. FAFSA processing (to get your SAI) typically takes 3-7 days, but can take up to 2-3 weeks during peak periods (which we're in right now for 2026-2027 applications). 2. After FAFSA processing, schools need time to create aid packages, which can take anywhere from 1-8 weeks depending on the school. 3. Whether to enroll before seeing aid packages depends on several factors: - How certain you are that you can make it work financially - Whether the enrollment deposit is refundable - If it's your daughter's absolute first choice regardless of aid - If the school allows enrollment deadline extensions I recommend contacting each school's financial aid office directly - they deal with this situation regularly and often have procedures to help families in your position.

Another thing to consider - if your daughter does enlist and then decides to use her military education benefits later, having FAFSA on file can actually help! Many veterans use both GI Bill AND traditional financial aid. My nephew is doing this now and gets way more support than his battle buddies who only use GI Bill.

Thank you all for the advice! I'm definitely going to complete the FAFSA now just to be safe. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. We'll plan to submit as soon as it opens in December so we don't miss any priority deadlines if she does end up going to college instead of the Air Force.

just so u know the student aid index (SAI) replaced the old EFC this year so if ur looking at old info online it might be confusing. my kids financial aid office said alot of parents are getting confused about this

After reviewing the entire thread, here's a simple checklist for next steps: 1. Log into studentaid.gov using your son's account 2. Go to "My Documents" and look for the Student Aid Report (SAR) 3. Review the SAR to find his Student Aid Index (SAI) number 4. Check if he was selected for verification (will be clearly stated on the SAR) 5. Confirm the schools he wants to attend are listed in his FAFSA 6. Wait for schools to send financial aid award letters If you don't see the SAR within 7-10 days of showing "processed," or if you're selected for verification, that's when you might need to contact Federal Student Aid directly. Otherwise, the process should continue automatically from here.

i totally waited till may last year and regretted it sooooo much!! some of the campus housing grants were already gone :( dont be like me lol

My daughter's in college right now and honestly the whole FAFSA thing gets so much easier after the first year. The first application is stressful but renewal is way simpler. Just make sure you know your school's priority deadline - that's what really matters! Our school in Texas requires it by January 15th for priority consideration.

@OP - University of Michigan typically has a very reliable financial aid process, but they're also known to run out of certain institutional grant funds later in the season. Definitely contact them ASAP and express your concerns. If you're an in-state student, their aid tends to be more generous than for out-of-state. One option some families use: commit with the deposit to secure the spot, but continue to work with financial aid and be prepared to withdraw if the package makes attendance impossible. Yes, you might lose the deposit, but it protects your son's spot while you wait for the official numbers.

@OP Most schools process aid packages as they receive FAFSA information and will notify you as soon as your package is determined. However, some schools do batch their notifications, especially for incoming freshmen. The best approach is to call Michigan's financial aid office directly and ask about their specific notification timeline. One more thing to consider: If your son's SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) is already available on studentaid.gov, you could share that number with Michigan's financial aid office. Sometimes they can provide a rough estimate based on that figure, even if they haven't processed your full package yet.