I work at a community college financial aid office (not a CSU), but I can tell you that this year has been exceptionally slow for all schools processing financial aid. The 2024-2025 FAFSA had major changes, and many schools are running behind their normal timelines. A few things to know: 1. The SAI (Student Aid Index) replaced the old EFC this year 2. System-generated corrections often trigger verification requirements 3. Each individual school must review your FAFSA before creating an aid package 4. Schools are processing applications in chronological order based on when they were COMPLETED (not just submitted) I strongly recommend checking each school's student portal for verification requirements. With the May 2nd completion date, I'd expect packages to start arriving in mid-June at the earliest.

UPDATE: You all were right! I checked my daughter's student portal for Northridge and there was a verification request from May 17th sitting there that we never knew about! They needed copies of our 2022 tax transcripts and her birth certificate. Just uploaded everything. Thanks everyone for your help!

Update: I finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid after trying for WEEKS! The agent confirmed they're seeing unusual verification rates for NYC zipcodes (validation that we're not imagining this!). I've submitted the additional documentation they requested:\n- Rent stabilization rider from our lease\n- Letter from my daughter's school confirming her address\n- A statement explaining our housing situation \n- Birth certificate and tax returns showing dependent status\n\nThe agent said to expect 2-3 weeks processing time, which pushes us past NYU's deposit deadline. I called NYU financial aid and explained everything, and they've granted us a 3-week extension pending our FAFSA verification! Relieved but still stressed about getting everything resolved in time.

This is great progress! I'm glad NYU extended your deadline. That documentation package looks thorough and should resolve the flags. One more tip: follow up weekly by phone until it's resolved. The squeaky wheel approach really does help move verification cases along faster.

From what I understand based on the Department of Education's public statements, the 2025-2026 FAFSA will likely open on December 1st, 2024. This isn't just a temporary change - the December opening is now part of the permanent FAFSA calendar following the implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act.\n\nThe key dates you should be aware of:\n- December 1, 2024: FAFSA likely opens\n- Using 2023 tax information (prior-prior year)\n- Most state aid deadlines remain in February-March 2025\n- CSS Profile (required by some private schools) typically opens October 1\n\nMy advice would be to prepare your tax documents and other financial information in advance, and set a calendar reminder for December 1st. Also check your specific colleges' financial aid deadlines, as they may have adjusted their timelines to accommodate the new FAFSA schedule.

Thank you for the detailed information! I didn't realize the CSS Profile opens earlier - my son is applying to a couple private schools so that's good to know. I'll mark my calendar for both dates.

One additional consideration: if your student will be living on campus, the financial aid formula already factors in that they won't be living at home, which partially (though not completely) accounts for the reduction in household expenses. The real issue is that your household income has decreased while your expenses may not have decreased proportionally.\n\nWhen speaking with financial aid officers, emphasize how this unexpected income reduction affects your ability to pay the Expected Family Contribution. Most financial aid offices have discretionary funds specifically for situations like this, but they're limited, so being clear and specific about the financial impact helps your case.

That makes a lot of sense. I'll make sure to clearly explain how our household finances are affected overall, not just the dollar amount of the lost support. This thread has been so helpful - I feel much more prepared to advocate for my son now!

The FAFSA system this year is COMPLETE GARBAGE. My daughter's application has been "under review" for TWO WEEKS after I corrected my signature issue. Meanwhile her priority scholarship deadline passed and they wouldn't extend it!!! $7000 down the drain because this stupid broken system can't process a signature in a reasonable timeframe. I've called FSA six times and get different answers every time. One agent told me there's a huge backlog, another said there was an "issue" but wouldn't tell me what it was, a third said everything looked fine and to just keep waiting. I HATE THIS SYSTEM.

Update: Just wanted to share that our application moved from "review" to "processed" this morning! It took exactly 3 business days after my dad's signature was added. My daughter was able to add all her schools. We also followed the advice to contact the financial aid offices at the schools with close deadlines, and they were very understanding. Both granted us extensions since we could prove we had submitted the FAFSA and were just waiting for processing. Thanks everyone for your help!