FAFSA already processed for 2025-2026 - what steps to accept loans come next?

You're actually at a good point in the process! Once the FAFSA is processed and you have your SAI score, the next step is waiting for your daughter's school to create her financial aid package. Each school has their own timeline, but most send award letters by April/May. When she receives that, she'll need to log into her school's financial aid portal (not studentaid.gov) to accept or decline each award component. Regarding the loan counseling and MPN (Master Promissory Note) - good news! Those are generally valid for 10 years, so she shouldn't need to redo them for her sophomore year unless she's changing loan types. However, if she's taking out a PLUS loan for the first time, that would require a separate MPN.

youll get an email from the school when the aid pkg is ready. my kid is junior now and we just click accept on the school portal every year. the promissary note is good for all 4 years unless ur doing grad plus loans those r different

Your school's financial aid office should send notification when your daughter's aid package is ready to review, typically via her student email. Each school has their own timeline - some as early as March, others not until June/July. One important thing to note: while the MPN is valid for 10 years, many schools require students to complete Annual Student Loan Acknowledgment (ASLA) each year before loans disburse. This is a quick online process where students review how much they've borrowed so far and acknowledge the new amount. It's on studentaid.gov but isn't required until after she accepts the loans on her school portal. Also, if your daughter had any verification requirements last year, don't assume she won't have them this year - the selection process is often random, so check her studentaid.gov account for any additional requirements.

wait i thought you had to do the promissory note every year?? my kids school made her do it again sophomore year or they wouldn't release her funds. maybe its different for each school??

The financial aid system is RIDICULOUS! Every school has different timelines, different portals, different requirements. My son's school didn't send his sophomore year package until JULY and expected tuition payment by August 1st!!! How are families supposed to plan? And then when you try calling the Federal Student Aid number to ask questions - GOOD LUCK getting through. I spent 3 hours on hold last year just to ask a simple question about why his SAI was different than expected. Just be prepared to keep checking your daughter's student portal AND email regularly because important deadlines can come out of nowhere.

So I'm the one who does financial aid at a small private college, and I just want to clarify a few things: 1. The Master Promissory Note (MPN) is valid for 10 years for federal Direct loans 2. Entrance counseling is only required once per school 3. The Annual Student Loan Acknowledgment (ASLA) is currently optional federally, but some schools require it 4. Award letters typically go out after schools receive your ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) which comes from your processed FAFSA Schools create their financial aid packages based on your SAI and their own funding formulas. Each school has their own timeline, but you should expect to see something by May for most returning students. After you receive the award letter, your daughter will need to log into her specific school's portal to accept or decline each component of aid. If you have specific questions while waiting, I recommend contacting your daughter's financial aid office directly rather than the Federal Student Aid helpline, as the school can give you specific information about their timeline and process.

my kids school makes them do this weird extra step where they have to click like 5 different places to accept each part of the loan and grant package separately. make sure ur daughter checks all the tabs on the school portal! my son almost missed his work study award cuz it was under a diff tab than the loans lol

dont 4get 2 check if her scholarships from freshman yr automatically renew! my daughter lost her merit scholarship bc she didnt know there was a gpa requirement and the school didnt tell her until it was 2 late 😠

One thing I learned from going through this process with my twins last year - make sure your daughter's contact information is up to date in both her studentaid.gov account AND her school's student portal. My son almost missed his award notification because it went to his old high school email address that he wasn't checking anymore. Also, some schools send award letters as secure messages through their portal rather than regular email, so she'll need to log in periodically to check for new messages. The whole system definitely feels overwhelming at first, but you're asking all the right questions!