After SAI received, when will schools send financial aid packages for 2025-2026?

each skool does it dfferently. my son got his finaid package about 3 weeks after SAI came in from his top choice but still waiting on 2 others and its been over a month

Financial aid counselor here. Schools receive your SAI data electronically from the Federal Student Aid office, but the timing varies. Most schools receive batched data several times a week. Once received, each institution has their own timeline for processing and creating aid packages. Typically, you can expect 2-4 weeks after your SAI is processed, but it can vary significantly based on: 1. The school's financial aid office staffing 2. How many applications they're processing 3. Whether additional verification is required 4. The time of year (peak periods take longer) If May 1st is approaching and you haven't received packages, I'd recommend contacting each school's financial aid office directly. Most schools will work with you if aid packages are delayed due to FAFSA processing issues this year.

You should absolutely be proactive here! Call every single financial aid office and confirm: 1) They've received your FAFSA/SAI data, 2) Ask if they need any additional documentation, and 3) Request an estimated timeline for when aid packages will be sent out. This year has been exceptionally chaotic with all the FAFSA delays. Many schools are extending their May 1 deposit deadlines because of it, so ask about that too. Also, an SAI of 4352 is indeed very good! That suggests you'll likely qualify for significant need-based aid at most institutions. Just make sure you're checking your student portal and email accounts daily - sometimes schools will request additional verification documents that can hold up your package if not submitted promptly.

My son applied to 8 schools and we got his aid packages anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks after our SAI was processed. Honestly the whole FAFSA situation is a DISASTER this year!!! The Department of Education should be ASHAMED of themselves for this terrible rollout of the "simplified" FAFSA!!! My advice - CALL EVERY SCHOOL REPEATEDLY until they give you answers about your aid package!!!!!

your school should have a finanical aid portal on their website. u need to log into each one and check the status there. sometimes they don't email u when stuff is ready or when they need more documents. my daughter almost missed a big scholarship cuz we didn't see they wanted her to upload her transcript again even tho they already had it ??!!

Quick update on this year's timeline: I'm working with several families right now in this exact situation. Here's what I'm seeing across different colleges: - Public state universities: 2-3 weeks after SAI receipt - Private non-selective colleges: 1-4 weeks after SAI receipt - Highly selective private colleges: 3-6 weeks after SAI receipt The good news is that most schools are being very understanding about the May 1 deadline this year due to the FAFSA delays. If you explain your situation, many are granting extensions or allowing provisional deposits that can be refunded if the aid package doesn't work financially.

just wanna say that an SAI of 4352 is really good! my daughter had around 12000 and still got decent aid at her state school. you'll probably get a good package!

One thing I should add - many schools release financial aid packages in large batches rather than one-by-one as SAIs come in. Some schools wait until they have a critical mass of processed FAFSAs before sending out a wave of aid packages, especially if they're trying to analyze their overall aid budget. That could explain some of the variation in timing you're hearing about. Also, your SAI of 4352 puts you in a favorable position for need-based aid at most institutions. Federal Pell Grants typically go to students with SAIs below 6000, so you're likely in range for that as well as institutional grants at many schools.

one weird thing - my son's SAI showed up differently at different schools?? like one school had him at 6300 and another had 6850. same FAFSA but different numbers. anybody else see this??

My daughter went through this last year. After we got the SAI we called all the schools to confirm they received it, and they all had different timelines. The most frustrating part was that some schools required additional paperwork like the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA (mostly private schools). Make sure you haven't missed any school-specific financial aid forms!

UPDATE: I called two schools this morning and had completely different experiences. First school confirmed they received our SAI data last week and said aid packages should go out in the next 7-10 days. Second school couldn't find any record of receiving our FAFSA data and asked me to call back tomorrow when their system updates. So I guess the answer is...it varies completely! Thanks everyone for your advice. I'll be calling the remaining schools today and checking all their portals.

This whole thread is so helpful! I'm a new parent going through this process for the first time and honestly had no idea what to expect after getting our SAI. Our daughter just got accepted to her dream school but we're still waiting on the financial aid package. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like I should be calling them directly instead of just waiting around. Quick question - when you call the financial aid offices, are you speaking to actual counselors or just general staff? I want to make sure I'm getting accurate information about timelines. Also, has anyone had luck getting fee waivers for application deposits while waiting for aid packages? We're in that awkward spot where we want to secure her spot but can't afford multiple deposits if the aid doesn't come through.