FAFSA delay and college financial aid offer timing - will I miss deadlines?

First, congratulations on your daughter's acceptance! The timing varies by school, but generally, once your FAFSA is processed (which takes about 3-5 days for electronic filing), the schools will prepare financial aid packages within 2-4 weeks after receiving your FAFSA data. Many schools send financial aid offers in March-April, but it depends on when they receive your information. Your acceptance is separate from financial aid - so her spot is secure regardless of when your FAFSA is processed. However, completing it ASAP is important because: 1. Some schools have priority deadlines for maximum aid consideration 2. Some aid is first-come, first-served (especially institutional funds) 3. You need time to compare offers before the May 1 commitment deadline I'd recommend contacting each school's financial aid office directly after submitting your FAFSA to let them know it's coming and ask about their specific timelines.

Idk if this helps but my son got accepted to 3 schools and each one had completely different timeframes for the financial aid stuff. One sent it like 2 weeks after we submitted FAFSA, another took like 6 weeks! And one actually sent an estimated package before they even got our FAFSA (which was way off btw). So it's all over the place really.

The schools won't know your Student Aid Index (SAI - the new name for what used to be EFC) until you complete and submit your FAFSA and the school receives your information. Your daughter's spot at the college is secure with her acceptance, but you really need to get that FAFSA done ASAP. Schools typically begin sending financial aid packages to new students in March through early April. Since your daughter was already accepted, they're probably waiting on your FAFSA to finalize her package. Make sure when you submit to include ALL the schools she applied to on her FAFSA. Even if she's only been accepted to one so far, include every school she's waiting to hear from. You can list up to 10 schools on the FAFSA form itself, and if you need to add more later, you can do that after your initial application is processed. Once you submit, give it about 3-5 days to process, then follow up with each school's financial aid office by phone. They can often pull your information manually if they know you need a faster decision.

I submitted our FAFSA in OCTOBER and still waiting on aid packages from 2 schools!! This whole system is ridiculous. One school told me they don't even START looking at financial aid until AFTER acceptances go out. Maybe yours will be different tho

The timeline varies by institution, but here's a general order of operations: 1. Student applies to colleges 2. Student/parent completes FAFSA 3. Federal processor calculates SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) 4. Schools receive your FAFSA data (3-5 business days after submission) 5. Schools prepare aid packages based on your SAI and their available funds 6. Financial aid offers sent to accepted students Completing your FAFSA this weekend should be fine for most schools, though you've missed priority deadlines for maximum consideration at many institutions. The 3-month FAFSA delay this year has pushed back everyone's timeline. As for your May 1st concern - most schools understand this year's unusual circumstances and will work with you. After submitting your FAFSA, I recommend: 1. Email each financial aid office confirming your FAFSA submission date 2. Ask about their specific timeline for generating aid packages 3. Inquire if they can expedite your package if the timeline approaches May 1st The key is proactive communication with each financial aid office.

what ever you do DONT waste ur time trying to call the fafsa 800 number... legit was on hold for 2 hours and then they hung up on me lol. just submit online and pray i guess

Don't panic! You're not alone in this situation - the FAFSA delays this year threw everyone's timeline off. Here's what I'd recommend: 1. Complete your FAFSA this weekend as planned. Have all your 2023 tax documents ready to make it go smoothly. 2. Immediately after submitting, contact each school's financial aid office. Let them know your FAFSA is submitted and ask about their specific timeline for your daughter's aid package. 3. Many schools are being flexible this year due to the widespread FAFSA delays. If you're cutting it close to May 1st, most will work with you on timing. 4. Remember that her acceptance is secure regardless of when financial aid is processed - those are separate processes. The good news is that once you submit, processing usually takes 3-5 days, and then schools typically have aid packages ready within 2-4 weeks. You should have plenty of time before the May 1st deadline if you get it done this weekend. Breathe! This is totally manageable, and your proactive approach shows you're on the right track.