Can I send FAFSA to potential transfer school before my daughter applies?

Yes you can absolutely add schools to the FAFSA before your daughter applies! I did this exact thing with my son last year. The FAFSA just sends your financial information to the schools you list - it doesn't commit your daughter to attending and the schools don't care if she hasn't applied yet. They just store the information until they have an application to match it with. I would definitely add the local university to her FAFSA now so they have her SAI score on file. It doesn't cost anything extra to add more schools, and this way if she does decide to transfer, her financial aid won't be delayed.

You can definitely list the local university on the FAFSA even before she applies for transfer. Actually, it's smart planning! The FAFSA allows up to 10 schools to receive your financial information. Adding a school just means they'll receive her SAI score and financial data - it doesn't trigger any kind of application process or commitment. Make sure you're submitting the 2026-2027 FAFSA for the fall semester, not the 2025-2026 one. And remember that each school has their own priority deadlines for financial aid, so getting it in before your local university's deadline is a good move even if she's still deciding.

just make sure ur not removing any schools when u add the local one. u can have up to 10 schools on fafsa. my brother almost lost his aid package when he removed a school to add another one, it was a whole mess

Adding to what others have said, I work in a university financial aid office, and we regularly receive FAFSA data for students who haven't applied yet. It's completely normal and actually preferable in transfer situations like your daughter's. One thing to note: if your daughter does decide to transfer, she should contact both financial aid offices. The current school needs to know she won't be returning so they can cancel future aid, and the new school needs to know she's accepting admission so they can prepare her aid package. Also, watch out for school-specific scholarships that might have different deadlines than the general financial aid priority date. Sometimes transfer students miss out on institutional scholarships because those deadlines can be earlier.

I DID THIS EXACT SAME THING and it was a NIGHTMARE!!! The school got my FAFSA but then said they couldn't process it because there was "no active application" and I ended up having to send it AGAIN after my daughter applied. The whole system is rigged to make everything as complicated as possible. Just be prepared for a fight with the financial aid office if your daughter does decide to transfer.

If you're having trouble getting through to the financial aid office (which is pretty normal this time of year), I discovered a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to a FAFSA agent when my daughter's application had issues. They basically hold your place in the phone queue and call you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of waiting. Their site is claimyr.com and they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ if you want to check it out. Only sharing because the wait times are brutal right now with all the FAFSA changes.

Hey there! Just went through this with my son who transferred mid-year! Yes, definitely add the local university to her FAFSA now. One thing to watch for though - her SAI score will stay the same, but the actual financial aid package can vary dramatically between schools. My son's new school offered about $3,500 less in grants than his original school, even though they were looking at the exact same FAFSA information. Also, I'm not sure if your daughter has scholarships at her current school, but she should check if any of those might transfer or if the new school has transfer student scholarships specifically. Some of those have separate applications apart from the FAFSA.

One additional thing to consider: if your daughter is receiving any state-specific financial aid at her current out-of-state university, that will almost certainly change when she transfers to your in-state university. She might lose some state grants from the original state, but could gain eligibility for your home state grants and scholarships. Make sure to check your state's higher education agency website for state-specific financial aid programs. These often have different application processes separate from the FAFSA, and sometimes earlier deadlines.

btw when my sister transferred the new school wanted her to submit a financial aid transcript from her old school. idk if all schools require this but might wanna ask about it

Hi Cynthia! I'm new to this whole process but wanted to share what I learned when my nephew went through something similar. You can definitely add the local university to the FAFSA before she applies - it's actually really smart planning! One thing I wish we had known earlier is that some schools have "preferred filing dates" that are different from their priority deadlines, and meeting the earlier date can sometimes make a difference in aid amounts. Also, if your daughter is considering other transfer options too, you might want to add those schools to the FAFSA as well while you're at it, just to keep all doors open. The whole transfer financial aid process seems overwhelming at first, but reading through everyone's advice here is really reassuring that it's more straightforward than it appears. Good luck with everything!