Do colleges send financial aid offer letters every year or just freshman year with FAFSA?

Yes, colleges typically send financial aid offer letters every year, not just for freshman year. The timing can be different for returning students compared to incoming freshmen. Many schools prioritize getting award letters to incoming students first (for recruitment purposes), then process continuing students afterward. If your daughter is returning to the same school, you should definitely receive a new aid package for 2025-26, but it might come later in spring or even early summer. If you haven't received anything by mid-May, I'd recommend contacting the financial aid office to check on the status.

We got my son's sophomore year package last week but his freshman one came in February. I think they do returning students later?

You should definitely call the financial aid office! My daughter almost lost half her aid package sophomore year because they "lost" part of her FAFSA verification documents and never bothered to tell us!!! If we hadn't called to check on the status, we would have shown up in August with a MASSIVE unpaid balance. The financial aid system is BROKEN and you need to stay on top of them!!!!

Your timeline sounds normal. Every school is different, but most send returning student aid packages in April-June. They prioritize freshman packages earlier (Jan-March) for recruitment reasons. Your daughter's school probably just hasn't processed continuing students yet. One important note: make sure your daughter checks her student portal and student email regularly. Many schools no longer mail physical award letters - they just upload them to the student portal and send an email notification. My son missed his sophomore year package for weeks because he wasn't checking his student account!

yes they send them every year but its different for every school my daughters school does them super late like june for returning students but my sons school does them in march for everyone

Weird, my daughter's school doesn't send offer letters at all after freshman year. They just update her account with the new amounts and she has to log in to see it. No notification or anything. We almost missed the deadline to accept her loans because we didn't know the new amounts had been posted! Maybe check your daughter's student account?

I've been calling my daughter's financial aid office for weeks trying to get information about her sophomore year package, but I can never get through - always on hold forever or get disconnected. Last week I tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) after someone recommended it here, and they got me connected to a live person at the financial aid office in under 10 minutes! There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Turns out our daughter's aid package was ready but they were waiting on some tax verification document they never told us about. Got it sorted immediately once I actually spoke with someone.

One more important thing to know: aid packages can change significantly year to year, even if your financial situation stays the same. This happens because: 1) Some scholarships are freshman-only and don't renew 2) SAI calculations might change slightly even with similar income 3) Schools often have different fund availability each year 4) Some merit scholarships require maintaining certain GPAs So be prepared that the sophomore package might look different than the freshman one. If the difference is substantial, you can always appeal the aid decision with the financial aid office.

dont 4get to check if they need you to do the css profile again too some schools need that every year not just fafsa

As a newcomer to navigating financial aid for college students, this conversation has been incredibly enlightening! I'm currently going through the same situation with my son who's also finishing his freshman year. Based on what everyone has shared, it sounds like the key takeaways are: 1) Schools do send aid packages every year, but timing varies significantly 2) Returning students often get their packages later than incoming freshmen 3) Always check the student portal - many schools have moved away from mailed letters 4) Don't hesitate to call if you're concerned, as documents can get lost in the system 5) Aid packages can change year to year even with similar finances I'm definitely going to have my son check his student portal this week and will keep the Claimyr suggestion in mind if we need to contact the financial aid office. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - it's so helpful to know we're not alone in this process!

As someone who just went through this process with my daughter last year, I can confirm that schools definitely send aid packages annually! The timing can be frustrating though - we didn't get her sophomore package until late May, which made summer planning stressful. One thing I wish I'd known earlier: if your daughter's school uses work-study as part of her aid package, those positions fill up fast! Even if the aid letter comes late, it's worth having her check with the student employment office early to see what work-study jobs might be available. We learned this the hard way when all the good on-campus jobs were taken by the time we got her package. Also, don't assume the aid will be exactly the same as freshman year. Our daughter's package actually improved slightly because she qualified for some sophomore-specific scholarships we didn't know existed. Every school handles this differently, so hang in there!