FAFSA 2025-2026 submitted January 14th still in review - processing timeline concerns
My family submitted our FAFSA for 2025-2026 on January 14th and we're still showing "in review" status when we check studentaid.gov. It's been over 3 weeks now and I'm getting nervous about meeting priority deadlines for some of my target schools. Has anyone else who submitted around mid-January gotten their SAI score yet? I'm wondering if they're literally just working through applications in chronological order starting from January 1st. The lack of transparency is making me anxious!
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Ravi Patel
same boat here - submitted jan 12 and still waiting 😠my friend who submitted jan 3 already got her SAI last week
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Emma Johnson
•That's actually helpful to know! So they really might be going in order. Did your friend get any kind of notification email when it was processed?
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Astrid Bergström
We submitted Jan 16th and also still waiting. Called FSA twice and both times got disconnected after waiting for 45+ min. SUPER FRUSTRATING! They need to hire more people to handle this rollout disaster. Meanwhile my daughter's housing deposit is due in 2 weeks and we have NO IDEA what our aid will look like.
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PixelPrincess
•I know this is beyond frustrating! I work in a college financial aid office, and we're seeing processing delays across the board this year due to the FAFSA Simplification changes. From what we can tell, they are absolutely processing in chronological order starting with January 1st submissions. Applications submitted mid-January are just now starting to come through our system. For your housing deposit situation, I'd recommend contacting your daughter's school directly. Many institutions are making accommodations for these FAFSA delays.
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Omar Farouk
I submitted January 7th and just got my SAI this past Monday. It took exactly 24 days for processing. Based on what I've seen on other forums and from friends, they are indeed working through applications chronologically. The Department of Education confirmed they're processing applications in the order received. If you submitted on the 14th, I'd expect you'll see results within the next week, assuming they maintain the same processing pace. Remember that after your FAFSA is processed, it still takes a few days for schools to receive your information and generate aid packages.
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Chloe Martin
•thx for info! do they email when its done or do u have to keep checking?
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Omar Farouk
•In my experience, you should receive an email notification when processing is complete, but the system isn't always reliable. I recommend checking your studentaid.gov account every couple of days. Also check your spam folder for emails from noreply@studentaid.gov - mine ended up there!
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Diego Fernández
Ugh Im so tired of this new system!! submitted Jan 9, still showing "in review" and my son's college is asking for it by February 15 for priority consideration. called the FAFSA helpline three times this week and either get disconnected or they say "just keep waiting" HELPFUL THANKS
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Anastasia Kuznetsov
•I was in the same situation last week and found a service called Claimyr that helped me actually get through to a FAFSA agent. Through them I was able to speak with someone who confirmed my application was in the queue but hadn't been flagged for any issues. They gave me documentation to send to my daughter's school explaining the delay. Saved me hours of redial frustration - check out their demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ or their website claimyr.com if you're still trying to get answers about your specific application.
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Diego Fernández
•thank you! ill look into that, at this point id try anything to get actual answers!
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PixelPrincess
Financial aid counselor here - I can confirm they are processing in chronological order. The new system implementation has created significant backlogs. For those waiting: 1. Yes, January 14th submissions are likely to be processed in the next 7-10 days based on current patterns 2. Contact your schools about their priority deadlines - many institutions are extending them due to FAFSA delays 3. Documentation of your submission date (screenshot of your confirmation) can help if you need to request extensions The Department of Education has added staff to address the backlog, but they're still catching up. This new FAFSA process will be more efficient long-term, but this transition year has been challenging for everyone.
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Emma Johnson
•Thank you so much for this detailed response! It makes me feel a lot better knowing they're making progress. I'll take your advice and contact my schools directly about their priority deadlines. Do you know if schools will start sending out financial aid packages as soon as they receive our information, or do they wait until their priority deadline passes?
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PixelPrincess
•Great question! It varies by institution, but most schools begin generating aid packages as soon as they receive your FAFSA data, especially for admitted students. Some may wait until their priority deadline to ensure they're allocating institutional funds appropriately, but they can still generate preliminary packages with federal aid information. I recommend emailing the financial aid offices directly at each school to ask about their specific timeline.
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Ravi Patel
just got my SAI today!! submitted Jan 13th so you should be next!
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Emma Johnson
•That's awesome news! Thanks for letting me know! I'll keep checking my account. Did you get an email notification or did you just happen to check the website?
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Ravi Patel
•no email! just randomly checked this morning and it was there! SAI lower than i expected too so thats good
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Astrid Bergström
UPDATE: Just spoke to someone at FSA (finally!) who confirmed they ARE processing in order of submission date. They said applications from mid-January are being processed this week. She also mentioned that verification requests are causing additional delays for some applications, so if yours gets selected for verification, it might take longer.
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Emma Johnson
•Thanks for this update! That's actually really helpful information. I'm going to prepare my tax documents just in case I get selected for verification - better to be ready than scrambling later.
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