FAFSA SAI green check confirmation - are we REALLY done or is there more to do?
Got the email for my daughter's FAFSA with the green checkmark and SAI number yesterday. It says 'submitted' but after the nightmare of getting to this point (3 attempts, website crashes, verification issues with the IRS data retrieval), I'm super paranoid there's some other step I'm missing. Does the SAI number + green check mean we're 100% done? Or is there something else we need to do now? The email just says to check with schools for next steps but I want to make sure the federal part is actually COMPLETE. My husband says I'm overthinking this but last year we thought we were done and then found out in April that something was wrong and almost missed deadlines. Anyone who's been through this process for 2025-2026 - are we good to go or is there more to the FAFSA part?
20 comments
Join the conversation
Luca Romano
Yes, you're done with the federal portion! The green checkmark with the SAI number means your FAFSA has been successfully processed by Federal Student Aid. That SAI number is what colleges will use to determine aid packages. The next steps are indeed on the college side - they'll use your FAFSA data to create financial aid offers. Just make sure your daughter has added all her potential schools to the FAFSA. If she needs to add more later, she can log back in and update the school list without redoing the whole application.
0 coins
Zara Rashid
•Thank you so much! That's a relief. She has all 7 schools added. Do you know if we should be getting any other emails from FSA or studentaid.gov? Or is this really it until we hear from schools?
0 coins
Nia Jackson
ur good! got the same thing for my kid last week. green check = done with fafsa part. colleges take it from here
0 coins
Zara Rashid
•Thanks! Did your kid's schools send any confirmation emails that they received the FAFSA info? Just wondering if I should be watching for those.
0 coins
Nia Jackson
•nope not yet. one school has a portal where i can see 'fafsa received' but thats it
0 coins
Mateo Hernandez
You're technically done with the FAFSA submission, but I'd recommend taking two more steps: 1. Log into studentaid.gov and check your daughter's dashboard. You should see the application status as "Processed" with the same SAI number. 2. Wait about 7-10 days, then check with each college's financial aid office to confirm they've received the FAFSA data. Some schools are having issues with the data transmission this year. While the green check means FSA has processed it, it doesn't guarantee the data has been successfully transmitted to all schools. Better to verify than assume!
0 coins
Zara Rashid
•This is exactly what I was worried about! I'll definitely check the dashboard (didn't even think of that) and follow up with schools next week. Thanks for the specific timeline guidance.
0 coins
Mateo Hernandez
•You're welcome! Also, print or save a PDF copy of the SAI confirmation for your records. If any issues come up later, having documentation of when you completed everything will be helpful.
0 coins
CosmicCruiser
HAHA I FEEL THIS SO MUCH! I also have severe FAFSA PTSD from last year's disaster. My son got the green check/SAI two weeks ago and I STILL keep logging back in to make sure it's real 😂 But yep, we're done until college award letters. The paranoia is real tho. Last year we thought we were done and then got that stupid notification in April saying there was some kind of error and we had to resubmit parts. Almost gave me a heart attack since priority deadlines had passed! This system is TRAUMATIZING!!
0 coins
Zara Rashid
•Oh my gosh YES! That's exactly what happened to us last year too! April surprise "oops something's wrong" after months of thinking we were fine. I'm still having nightmares about it. Glad I'm not the only one with FAFSA anxiety!
0 coins
Aisha Khan
hi! just wondering - what does the SAI number actually mean? is a higher or lower number better for getting more aid? our number seems really high but we're definitely not rich lol
0 coins
Luca Romano
•Great question! SAI (Student Aid Index) replaced the old EFC number. It's a measure of your family's financial strength - lower numbers mean you're eligible for more need-based aid. The number represents what the formula calculates your family can contribute annually toward college costs. If your number seems unexpectedly high, it could be worth checking if there were any unusual one-time income events that affected your tax return (like retirement account withdrawals, property sales, etc.) that don't reflect your normal financial situation. In those cases, you can file a Professional Judgment appeal with individual schools to explain your actual financial situation.
0 coins
Ethan Taylor
I had the same anxiety after submitting my son's FAFSA last month. The green check with SAI means you're done with the federal submission, but I ran into an issue where three of his six schools claimed they never received his FAFSA data despite it showing as "processed" on studentaid.gov. I spent HOURS trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid to figure out what was wrong. After being on hold for 2+ hours multiple times and getting disconnected, I tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a live agent. They have this service that holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is about to answer. Saved me so much time - you can see how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent confirmed there was a data transmission glitch affecting some schools, and they resent his information. Worth checking with your daughter's schools in about a week to confirm they actually received everything!
0 coins
Zara Rashid
•Thank you for sharing this! I'm definitely going to check with all her schools next week. That service sounds helpful - I've wasted so many hours on hold this year trying to sort out FAFSA issues. Bookmarking that for if we run into problems with the schools receiving her info.
0 coins
Yuki Ito
Anyone know what happens if your kids SAI number changes??? We got the green check and SAI number last month, but then yesterday got ANOTHER email with a different (higher) SAI number! No explanation why it changed. Are we in trouble???
0 coins
Mateo Hernandez
•That usually happens when there's been a correction or update to your application - either something you edited or sometimes an automatic correction if their system detects a discrepancy between reported information and IRS data. The most recent SAI is the one that will be used. It's not necessarily bad, but if the number increased significantly and you didn't make any changes, you might want to check your application to see what changed. Log in and view the "processed results" to compare.
0 coins
Zara Rashid
UPDATE: I checked the dashboard like someone suggested, and it does show "Processed" with the SAI number matching the email. I think we really are done! Thanks everyone for helping calm my paranoia. I'll still check with her schools next week just to be 100% sure they received everything.
0 coins
CosmicCruiser
•Yay!!! Now we just wait for the award letters and hope for the best! 🤞 This part of the process is so stressful.
0 coins
Haley Bennett
Congrats on getting through the FAFSA gauntlet! I totally understand the anxiety - after all the horror stories from previous years, it's hard to trust that anything with FAFSA actually works smoothly. The green check + SAI number combo is indeed the finish line for the federal side. Just went through this with my daughter last month and had the same "is this really it??" moment. One thing I'd add to the great advice already given: keep screenshots of everything! Your confirmation email, the dashboard showing "Processed" status, the SAI number - everything. If any issues pop up later (hopefully they won't!), having that paper trail will save you hours of explaining to various offices what happened and when. The waiting for financial aid packages is its own special kind of torture, but at least the FAFSA nightmare is behind you! 🎉
0 coins
Amelia Dietrich
•Yes, screenshots are such a good point! I learned that lesson the hard way last year when we had issues and couldn't prove what we had submitted or when. This time I'm documenting everything - even took photos of my computer screen with my phone as backup 😅 The paranoia is definitely justified given how many people have had problems, but it sounds like we're finally in the clear. Thanks for the encouragement!
0 coins