FAFSA application processing timeframe - filed in March and waiting for results
Just wondering if anyone has insight on the current FAFSA processing times? My daughter submitted her application on March 3rd without any issues (thank goodness this is our LAST year dealing with this!). We both received confirmation emails about our tax data being retrieved from the IRS shortly after. She got an initial email with her SAI score, but nothing since then. I'm assuming they haven't fully processed it yet since she hasn't received any further communication. Has anyone who filed around early March seen complete processing yet? I could just ask my daughter to check her account, but she's swamped with finals right now lol. 😅 UPDATE: She finally logged in last night - application was fully processed on March 26th with no errors! Seems like submitting in March rather than January/February was the key to avoiding all those glitches everyone's talking about. Thanks everyone for your input!
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Anastasia Sokolov
Filed for my son on March 5th and we're still waiting too. The DOE is WAY behind this year with all the formula changes and website problems. Last year we submitted in February and had everything processed by mid-March. This new system is a mess.
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Diego Rojas
•Seems like they're slowly catching up but still behind. I'm just grateful we didn't try to file in January when all those major glitches were happening!
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StarSeeker
From what I'm seeing in my work (college financial aid office), applications submitted in March are actually moving faster than the January/February ones because they got stuck in a backlog with all the system issues. The Department has been prioritizing newer applications that don't have the same technical issues. If your daughter received an SAI, that's actually a good sign - it means the core calculation has been completed. The schools should have access to her information already, even if she hasn't received a final confirmation email. Have her check with her school's financial aid office to see if they've received her FAFSA data.
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Sean O'Donnell
•thx for this info!! i submitted on march 12 and was freaking out. good to know march apps are moving faster
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Zara Ahmed
I CANNOT BELIEVE how badly they've botched this rollout!!! My son applied in January and STILL doesn't have a completed application. Meanwhile people who applied later are getting processed?? This is EXACTLY why I don't trust the government to run ANYTHING efficiently. They had THREE YEARS to prepare for these changes and we're all suffering because of their incompetence!!
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StarSeeker
•Unfortunately, the January applications got caught in the worst of the technical issues. You might want to consider having your son create a new application if it's still showing as incomplete. At this point, a fresh March/April application will likely process faster than a stuck January one.
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Luca Esposito
I'm a financial aid counselor, and I can provide some insight on the current processing timelines. The FAFSA Simplification Act created major changes to the form and calculation methodology this year. The Department of Education has been prioritizing applications in somewhat unexpected ways: 1. March applications are currently processing in about 2-3 weeks (which aligns with your daughter's March 3 to March 26 timeline) 2. February applications are taking 3-4 weeks 3. January applications unfortunately got caught in major technical problems and many are still being resolved The good news is that once an SAI is calculated, the schools can generally access the information even if the final confirmation hasn't been sent to the student. Your daughter should be able to see her processed application if she logs into studentaid.gov and checks her dashboard.
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Diego Rojas
•Thank you! That's really helpful. She did check last night and everything is processed - March 26th was the completion date. I'm so relieved this is our last year dealing with this process!
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Nia Thompson
my brother applied in feb and got his sai in like 10 days but then my application from jan is still stuck?? make it make sense lol
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Mateo Rodriguez
•If your January app is stuck, you should definitely be calling Federal Student Aid. I had the same issue and was getting nowhere until I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual person at FSA. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. The agent found that my application had a verification flag that wasn't showing up on my dashboard, and they helped clear it. Got my SAI 3 days later!
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Sean O'Donnell
i submitted march 15 and mine just got processed yesterday!! looks like march apps are moving pretty quick compared to the jan/feb disaster lol
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GalaxyGuardian
•Same! March 10 submission and processed on April 2. I think we dodged a bullet by waiting out the initial chaos.
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Zara Ahmed
Wait so they're actually processing NEWER applications FASTER than the early ones??? What about those of us who tried to be responsible and file early? My student's financial aid package is going to be delayed because we followed the "file as early as possible" advice that THEY'VE been pushing for years! This is absolutely ridiculous!
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Luca Esposito
•I understand your frustration. The early applications encountered numerous technical issues related to the new calculation methodology and system implementation. The Department of Education has stated they're working through the backlog, but yes, many March applications are processing more smoothly because many initial bugs were already fixed by then. If your January application is still stuck, I'd recommend contacting Federal Student Aid directly to have them check for any hidden issues that might be holding it up.
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Anastasia Sokolov
My nephew filed in late February and got his SAI within two weeks, but my daughter's January application is still stuck in processing limbo. The whole system seems completely random this year.
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Diego Rojas
•It really does seem random! I'm just glad we waited until March. I almost pushed my daughter to file in January when the form first opened, but we got busy and procrastinated. Turns out procrastination worked in our favor for once! 😂
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