Daughter deleted schools on processed FAFSA, now back in review - will aid offers be delayed?

This happens quite often! When you delete schools from an already processed FAFSA, the system does put it back into review, but it's usually a much faster process than the initial review. It's more like a verification that nothing substantial changed. In my son's case last year, it took about 4-5 days to go from "under review" back to "processed" after he removed some schools.

ur daughter shouldnt have done that!! my financial advisor said never touch a processed fafsa no matter what ur friends say. hope it gets fixed fast for u

To clarify what's actually happening here: Schools that already received her processed FAFSA information before the deletion will still have that data. The colleges don't lose access to her SAI score or information just because she removed them from her current list. However, if she was planning to add NEW schools, those will be delayed until after the new review is complete. The re-review process typically takes 3-7 days in my experience working with students, as long as no other information was changed besides just removing schools.

When this happened to me last spring the review went on for THREE WEEKS because they decided to verify my income or something during the second review!! It was a nightmare and totally messed up my aid timeline. I hope your daughter doesn't have the same bad luck I did but just warning you that sometimes it isn't just a quick check. 😩

I think it depends if anything else changed when she deleted the schools. My daughter did the same thing and it went back to processed in like 2 days, no big deal at all.

If you're worried about timeline, you should call the Federal Student Aid Information Center directly to ask about your specific case. Unfortunately, their wait times are ridiculous - I was on hold for over 2 hours last month trying to fix a similar issue. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that held my place in line and called me back when an agent was available. Their video shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was happening with my application review and gave me a timeframe for resolution.

this whole system is DESIGNED to trip students up!!!! theres no reason removing schools should trigger a whole new review period but thats how the govt makes sure fewer students get their aid on time 🙄 its all about making the process as complicated as possible

just wondering did she change anything else like income or family size when she removed the schools?

One more important point: even if there's a delay in reprocessing, your daughter should proactively contact the financial aid offices at her chosen schools if payment deadlines are approaching. Many schools have procedures for students whose FAFSA processing is delayed, including payment extensions or provisional financial aid packages. They deal with these situations regularly and would much rather work with you than have a student unable to register due to processing delays.

Update: My daughter's FAFSA was reprocessed overnight and is now showing as complete again! Looks like it was a quick review after all. Thanks for all the helpful advice!