Based on your follow-up comments about having multiple jobs and divorced parents, I'm almost certain your application is going through additional verification steps. This isn't necessarily bad - it's just part of ensuring aid is distributed accurately. If your housing deposit is due soon, I'd recommend: 1. Contact your school's financial aid office directly - they can sometimes access more information about your FAFSA status than you can see 2. Ask if they offer any temporary aid determinations for students with pending FAFSAs 3. See if they have a housing deposit deferment program for students awaiting financial aid decisions Many schools have processes in place specifically for students in your situation.

After reading through your comments, it definitely sounds like your application is under additional review due to your more complex financial situation. When I worked in financial aid, applications with multiple income sources and divorced parents almost always took longer to process. One important point: if your application has been selected for verification, you should have received a notification. Since you haven't, it's possible there's a communication issue. Double-check your spam folder and make sure your contact information is updated in your FSA profile. If you haven't been able to get through on the phone, I'd try early morning (right when they open) or use Claimyr (claimyr.com) which can help get you through to an agent faster. Getting direct confirmation from FSA about what's happening with your application will give you peace of mind and potentially help resolve the issue sooner.

You might also want to check if your daughter qualifies for independent status due to the death of a parent. I'm not 100% sure about the rules, but I think if one parent is deceased and the student isn't living with or receiving financial support from the other parent, they might qualify as independent. That would completely change the SAI calculation.

Thank you all for the helpful advice! I've started reaching out to the financial aid offices at each school. One has already responded and sent me their Special Circumstances form, which specifically has a section for "Death of spouse" and "Loss of employment." Feeling a bit more hopeful now. I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

btw what was ur SAI if u dont mind me asking? wondering if im in the high or low range compared to others. mine was 4290

Update: I just called my top choice school's financial aid office and they confirmed they've had my FAFSA information since March 18th (2 days after processing) and can see my SAI just fine on their end. They said they've seen this display issue a lot this year and it doesn't affect anything on their side. So relieved!

my cousin had this problem and it turned out his application was actually incomplete even though he thought he was done! the FAFSA website is THE WORST. make sure you've actually completed everything before freaking out about the signature.

Hey did you get this resolved? I had a similar issue and realized I needed to complete the "Agreements" section first before I could sign and submit. Just checking if you were able to submit your application!

you should look into if he qualifies for a dependency override maybe? my brother got one when my mom couldnt help with his college anymore and he got way more financial aid

Update for anyone who finds this later: We had success! After meeting with Yale financial aid (and yes, they had a separate summer aid form due in March that we just barely made), they're covering about 60% of the summer costs through a combination of loans and a small grant. For the remaining amount, we're using the consortium agreement idea to have him take one class at our local community college that will transfer back. Thank you all SO MUCH for your help - we're looking at about $3,800 out of pocket instead of $9,000+. Still not cheap but manageable with a payment plan.