FAFSA SAI score received but loan options not showing - when do we see what he qualifies for?

The SAI (Student Aid Index) is just the first part of the process. Your son won't see actual loan/grant amounts on studentaid.gov because those are determined by each individual college, not by Federal Student Aid directly. Each school will use his FAFSA information and SAI to create a financial aid package specific to their institution. The schools he listed on his FAFSA will receive his information within 3-5 business days, and then they'll put together aid packages based on: 1. His SAI score 2. The school's cost of attendance 3. Available institutional funds 4. His year in school You'll receive financial aid award letters from each school, typically alongside or shortly after acceptance letters (if he's a first-year student) or in late spring (if he's a continuing student).

yeah the SAI is just a number the colleges use. each place gives different amiunts depending on what they have avaliable. my daughter got 3 totally different packages last year with the same FASFA info. one school offered way more grants than loans and another was mostly loans, its weird

Quick tip: You can actually get a rough estimate of what federal aid your son might qualify for by using the Federal Student Aid Estimator tool on studentaid.gov. It won't be exact and won't include school-specific scholarships, but it gives you a general idea of Pell Grant eligibility and loan limits while you wait for official award letters. With an SAI of 8450, he'll likely qualify for some need-based aid including possibly a partial Pell Grant, but the exact amounts will depend on each school's cost of attendance. Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loan eligibility is pretty standard across schools for the same academic year (freshman, sophomore, etc). Hang tight - the individual school award letters are typically released between February and April for the upcoming academic year.

Congrats on finishing the FAFSA! That's a huge step. When my son applied last year, we were in the same boat - confused about when we'd see actual loan amounts. The answers above are right - each school creates their own package. Just FYI, if his SAI is 8450, that's relatively good (lower is better for aid purposes).

If you need specific info about what federal loans your son might qualify for before the schools send their offers, you can actually call Federal Student Aid directly. I had the same question last month and needed answers faster than waiting for school packages. I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual person at FSA in about 10 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent was able to tell me exactly what federal loan types and maximum amounts my daughter could qualify for based on her year in school, which helped us plan before getting the official packages. They can't tell you grant amounts though since those vary by school cost.

Ok so I had this exact same question literally last week!! What I learned is you don't even get to see the federal loan TYPES he qualifies for until each school makes their package. It's annoying because some schools take FOREVER especially if you submitted the FAFSA early. My daughter's SAI was similar (8750) and one of her schools already sent an aid package with subsidized loans but another school hasn't even processed her FAFSA yet even though it was submitted at the same time!! The whole timing thing is frustrating.

One more important note: Make sure your son monitors both his studentaid.gov account AND his email (including spam folder) regularly. If he gets selected for verification (which happens randomly to about 30% of applicants), he'll need to submit additional documentation before any school can finalize his aid package. The verification notice sometimes comes via email rather than showing prominently in the portal.

The FAFSA is such a nightmare now with all these changes!! My daughter got her SAI number last month but we're STILL waiting for any actual useful information. They totally botched the roll-out of the new FAFSA and now everyone's timelines are delayed. Some schools are saying they won't even have packages ready until APRIL this year because of all the FAFSA delays! How are families supposed to make decisions by May 1st commitment deadline when we might only have a week or two to compare financial packages??

one thing no one mentioned yet is to check each schools financial aid portal too, not just waiting for them to email. sometimse they post the aid package on the portal before sending the official email. my son almost missed a scholarship deadline because we were waiting for an email but the info was already in his school account for like 2 weeks! 😬

Great advice from everyone here! As a newcomer to this process myself, I wanted to add that it's also worth bookmarking each school's financial aid webpage and checking for any FAFSA processing updates they might post. Some schools are being really transparent about their timeline delays this year and posting estimated dates for when aid packages will be ready. Also, if your son is considering any schools that require CSS Profile or additional institutional forms beyond FAFSA, make sure those are submitted too - some schools won't release aid packages until they have ALL required documents. The waiting is definitely nerve-wracking but sounds like it's normal!