Can schools accept printed FAFSA summaries instead of electronic submissions?

U cant do that lol they need the official thing sent from the govt

Great question! Schools need the official FAFSA information sent directly through the federal system. The printed summary won't work for their purposes because they need the complete dataset to calculate your daughter's financial aid package, not just the summary information. However, if you're concerned about deadlines, call the financial aid offices at each school. Many have internal processes to note that you've submitted the FAFSA even if they haven't received it yet. Just be prepared to provide your daughter's FAFSA confirmation number when you call.

We went through this last year with my son. The schools told us they needed the official electronic version, BUT we brought a printed copy to the financial aid office anyway and they put a note in his file. Later when the electronic version came through, they already had him flagged as submitted. Helped us avoid missing scholarship deadlines!

This new FAFSA system is HORRIBLE!!!! My daughter applied to six schools and only two have gotten her information after THREE WEEKS. When I called studentaid.gov they just said "it's processing" and hung up on me. The schools are blaming FAFSA and FAFSA is blaming the schools. Meanwhile scholarship deadlines are passing us by!!!

Financial aid administrator here. While we do need the official electronic FAFSA record to award aid, many schools (including mine) will accept a printed FAFSA confirmation page as proof that you've filed by our priority deadline. This puts a placeholder in our system. Here's what to do: 1. Call each financial aid office directly 2. Explain that you've submitted the FAFSA but are concerned about transmission delays 3. Ask if they'll accept the confirmation page as temporary proof of filing 4. Bring your SAI score and FAFSA confirmation number Most schools understand the issues with this year's FAFSA rollout and have procedures for this exact situation.

I tried reaching the Federal Student Aid office multiple times about a similar issue and kept getting disconnected after waiting forever. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a live person at the FSA. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it works. The agent confirmed that while schools need the official electronic submission, they CAN make accommodations if there are processing delays. The agent helped mark our application for expedited processing too.

I FORGOT to mention - make sure your school actually is listed on the FAFSA! We had to go back and MANUALLY add two schools that somehow didn't save when we submitted initially. You can log in and check the "My FAFSA" page to confirm all schools are listed. If they're not, the schools will NEVER receive it no matter how long you wait!

my sons school took a copied printout but they said it was just temporary until real one came thru. better than nothing i guess

Just to clarify one important point: What you received is likely a SAI (Student Aid Index) which replaced the old EFC. Schools absolutely need the official FAFSA data to calculate aid packages, but showing them your SAI number from the confirmation page can help them estimate your aid while waiting for the official transmission. Also, if you log into studentaid.gov, you can see which schools have successfully received your FAFSA under the "My FAFSA" section. This might save you some phone calls if you see that certain schools already have it.

Completely unrelated but make sure you also check if any of her schools require the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA! My daughter almost missed out on institutional scholarships because we didn't realize some private colleges require both forms. The CSS Profile has different deadlines too.

Quick update on this topic: The Department of Education recently announced they're working to speed up FAFSA processing times. If schools haven't received your daughter's information within 7-10 days of submission, I'd definitely recommend contacting both the schools and FSA directly. Many schools are also extending their financial aid deadlines to accommodate FAFSA delays this year, so don't panic quite yet!