FAFSA aid acceptance deadline vs. enrollment deposit deadline confusion - can we still decide on loans?
We recently paid the $500 enrollment deposit for my daughter's college choice (due May 1), but we're still weighing whether to accept the Federal Direct Loans in her financial aid package. The aid portal shows a separate June 15 deadline for financial aid decisions, but the admissions counselor made it sound like everything had to be decided when we paid the deposit. Can we really take more time to decide about the loans? The Parent PLUS loan interest rates seem high right now, so we're considering other options, but don't want to lose the Direct Loans if we need them later. Anyone know if these deadlines are truly separate?
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Hailey O'Leary
At my son's school last year, the deposit deadline (May 1) was definitely different from the financial aid acceptance deadline (July 1 for us). We paid the deposit to secure his spot, then spent like 6 more weeks researching loan options before accepting just the subsidized loans and declining the unsubsidized ones. Your college's June 15 date sounds right to me.
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Marcus Marsh
•That's such a relief to hear! Did your son's school allow partial acceptance too? Like could we accept the subsidized loans now but decline the unsubsidized ones until we figure out our final numbers?
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Cedric Chung
Financial aid counselor here. These are almost always separate deadlines. The enrollment deposit secures your daughter's place in the incoming class, while the financial aid acceptance deadline relates specifically to what parts of her aid package you want to utilize. The June 15 date in your portal is likely accurate, but I recommend taking a screenshot of that page showing the date, just in case there's ever a question. Regarding the loans: Yes, you can typically accept only portions of the aid package. You can accept grants/scholarships while declining loans, or accept subsidized loans while declining unsubsidized ones. Some schools even let you accept a partial amount of each loan type.
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Marcus Marsh
•Thank you SO much for clarifying! The screenshot idea is smart - just did that. One more question: if we decline the loans now but have unexpected expenses later, can we go back and request them during the school year, or once declined are they gone forever?
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Cedric Chung
•You can usually request the loans later in the academic year if you initially declined them, as long as the student maintains eligibility. However, there may be processing delays, so you wouldn't have immediate access to those funds. Each school has different procedures for this - some require a simple email request, others have formal loan adjustment forms. I'd recommend accepting at least the subsidized loans now (since they don't accrue interest while in school) and then you can always decline to use them if you find better options.
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Talia Klein
The May 1 deposit and financial aid acceptance are definitely separate processes! The deposit is paid to the admissions office while the financial aid acceptance goes through the financial aid office - two separate departments with their own timelines. For my twins, we paid deposits at two different schools on April 30 (last minute, I know), but didn't finalize our loan decisions until mid-June. We accepted the subsidized loans for both but declined the unsubsidized for one and accepted for the other based on their different costs of attendance. One important thing to know: the federal loan interest rates for 2025-2026 will be announced around May 15, so waiting until early June gives you the advantage of knowing the exact rates before deciding.
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Maxwell St. Laurent
•wait the interest rates arent set until may 15??? i already accepted everything in my package..... can i still go back and change it??
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Talia Klein
•Yes, you should be able to change your loan acceptance decisions until your school's final financial aid deadline! Just contact your financial aid office right away. Interest rates for next year aren't finalized yet, but they're based on the 10-year Treasury note auction in May plus a fixed add-on percentage.
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PaulineW
I'm dealing with the EXACT same issue and its driving me NUTS!! Called the financial aid office 12 times last week and NEVER got through!!! Just endless hold music then disconnected. The school website says June 1 for aid decisions but we need to know NOW because we're trying to sell stock to pay without loans if possible but that takes time. SO FRUSTRATING!!
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Annabel Kimball
•Have you tried using Claimyr for getting through to financial aid offices? I was having the same endless hold issues with my daughter's FAFSA verification, and it was a lifesaver. Their system waits on hold for you then calls you when an actual human picks up. Just go to claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Saved me hours of waiting on hold.
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PaulineW
•Omg thank you!!! Never heard of this but will try anything at this point. So tired of being on hold for 40+ minutes just to get disconnected!
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Chris Elmeda
dude just take the loans... you can always pay them off early if you end up not needing them. thats what i did. accepted everything they offered, then ended up getting a scholarship later and just paid back the loans i didnt need right away. no penalties for early payoff. way easier than stressing about deadlines.
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Marcus Marsh
•That's a really good point I hadn't considered. I guess there's no origination fee on the Direct Subsidized loans anyway, right? So we wouldn't lose anything by accepting and then paying them back if we don't use them.
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Chris Elmeda
•yeah exactly. direct sub loans have like a 1% fee or something small, but the peace of mind knowing you HAVE the money if you need it was worth it for me. plus the subsidized ones don't even start charging interest until after graduation so there's literally no downside if you pay them back during school
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Maxwell St. Laurent
i got SO confused by all this last year!!! signed up for a parent plus loan but then found out my credit wasn't approved so had to do all these extra steps for my daughter to get more unsubsidized loans. the whole system is a mess tbh. but yes the deposit deadline and aid acceptance are different things.
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Marcus Marsh
•Sorry you had to deal with that extra stress! If you don't mind sharing, what were the extra steps when your Parent PLUS was denied? I'm a little worried about our approval since we're self-employed with somewhat complicated finances.
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Maxwell St. Laurent
•when my plus loan was denied my daughter automatically qualified for $4000 more in unsubsidized loans. had to fill out a form saying we were declined plus but wanted the extra unsubsidized loans. took like 2 weeks to process. not the end of the world but just more paperwork during an already stressful time!!!
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Cedric Chung
One more important detail: make sure to complete the FAFSA every year by the priority deadline (usually between Dec 1 - Mar 1 depending on the school). Your financial aid package can change significantly year-to-year based on your financial situation, so staying on top of those annual deadlines is crucial for maintaining aid eligibility throughout your daughter's education.
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Marcus Marsh
•Thank you! We already have a reminder set for October 1st to complete next year's FAFSA. Hoping it goes smoother than this year's application with all the changes they made. Appreciate all the helpful advice!
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