Can I add a community college to FAFSA after application has been processed?

Yes, you can definitely add more schools to a processed FAFSA! Log into studentaid.gov, go to the FAFSA form, and click on "Make FAFSA Corrections." You'll be able to add more schools (up to 10 total) without starting over. The community college will receive her FAFSA data within a few days after you submit the correction. Her SAI score won't change - just the list of schools receiving her info.

i did this last yr with my son lol. its super easy just go to make corrections and add the school code. community college was the best choice he made btw saved us like $20k

Watch out though - some colleges have SEPARATE financial aid deadlines that are different from the FAFSA deadlines!!! My daughter almost missed out on some institutional grants because we added a school late and didn't realize they had an earlier priority deadline for their own aid applications. The federal aid was fine but the school's special scholarships had a March 1 cutoff and we added the school March 15. DOUBLE CHECK with the community college about any separate deadlines they might have!!!!

Another option if you're having trouble with the online FAFSA correction process is to call Federal Student Aid directly. I had a similar situation when my son decided to add schools after his FAFSA was processed, and the website was giving me errors. I was able to get through to a live agent who helped add the schools over the phone. I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to avoid the long wait times - they have a system that calls you back when an agent is available. Saved me hours of hold time. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ But definitely try the online correction method first since that's the standard approach.

I work at a community college financial aid office and you'd be SHOCKED how many students we get who add us late to their FAFSA. It's super common! One thing to know - some community colleges have automatic scholarship consideration when you apply early, so do check with them. But for basic Pell Grants and loans, adding the school code now is totally fine. Make sure you use the correct school code though - some community colleges have multiple campuses with different codes. Double check the exact code on the college's financial aid webpage or call them directly to confirm.

FAFSA is such a pain this year! My son applied to 12 schools and we could only put 10 on FAFSA. Had to go back and remove schools then add different ones. The whole system is frustrating. Why even have a limit?? And the new SAI calculation is totally different from the old EFC. My son's number is way higher than I expected and now we're scrambling to figure out how to pay for everything. Good luck with community college - at least it's cheaper!

Update: I was able to add the community college through the correction process! It was actually really simple - just logged in, selected "Make FAFSA Corrections," and added the new school code. The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes. I also called the community college's financial aid office, and they said we're well within their priority deadline for fall semester. Thanks everyone for your help!

So glad to hear your update worked out! Just wanted to add for anyone else reading this - when you add schools through the FAFSA correction process, make sure to print or save a copy of the confirmation page. I learned this the hard way when there was a technical glitch and one school didn't receive my daughter's FAFSA data. Having that confirmation helped us resolve it quickly with Federal Student Aid. Also, keep checking your Student Aid Report (SAR) to make sure all the schools you want are listed there. Community college was the best decision my daughter made too - she's now at her dream university as a junior with zero debt from her first two years!