FAFSA delay preventing federal student loans - can we still apply for fall semester?

Unfortunately, there's no way to get federal student loans without a processed FAFSA. All federal aid - including Direct Loans, Parent PLUS loans, and Pell Grants - require the FAFSA to be fully processed with an official SAI score. Have you asked the financial aid office at your son's school about their late payment policies? Many schools have procedures for students with pending financial aid and can put a temporary hold on your account while waiting for FAFSA processing.

ur not alone, same exact thing happened to my daughter. electronic app in feb, got stuck in verification, sent paper in april, nothing for months. ended up taking out a private loan for first semester which SUCKED bc interest rates way higher than federal loans. try privat loans as backup plan maybe?

Have you tried reaching out to your local congressional representative's office? They often have staff dedicated to helping constituents with federal agency issues, including FAFSA problems. I've seen several cases where congressional inquiry helped expedite FAFSA processing. You should also request a specific 'application status check' when you call FSA - general inquiries often don't get you to the right department that can actually see where your application is in the queue.

I was in this EXACT situation last year with my twins. After dozens of failed calls to FSA (always disconnected after 1-2 hour holds), I found Claimyr.com which completely saved us. They have a system that holds your place in the FSA phone queue and calls you when an agent is actually available. Check out their demo: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ We got through to an actual FSA agent who found both our electronic and paper applications were stuck because of a name mismatch (my daughter's hyphenated last name). They fixed it while we were on the phone and our SAI scores showed up three days later. Worth every penny to not spend another week on hold!

THIS IS WHY THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!!! They make it IMPOSSIBLE to get help by design!!! My daughter lost her scholarship because FAFSA took 4 MONTHS to process our application and the school gave her scholarship to someone else!!!!! The whole thing is designed to make us give up. Paper applications are thrown in a pile and IGNORED. Electronic ones get stuck in "verification" FOREVER. I'm so angry about the whole system.

One option nobody's mentioned - most schools have emergency short-term loans specifically for students waiting on financial aid. My son's university offers 60-day interest-free loans up to $2,500 through their financial aid office to cover expenses while waiting for aid to process. It's not enough for full tuition, but it could help with books, housing deposit, etc. while you're waiting. Definitely ask if that's available at your son's school.

Just as an update on timeline expectations - the Department of Education announced last week that they're still working through a backlog of paper FAFSAs from April-May submissions. Their current processing time is running 12-14 weeks for paper applications. Electronic applications with verification flags are taking 8-10 weeks. If you haven't already, make sure you've created an FSA ID for both you and your son, and check studentaid.gov daily for updates, as sometimes they don't proactively notify you when processing is complete.

After reading through your situation more carefully, I have one more suggestion. Ask your school's financial aid office specifically about a "Professional Judgment Review" or "Special Circumstances Review." Explain that you've submitted FAFSA but it's delayed in processing. Some schools have authority to make provisional financial aid offers based on estimated information, which can later be adjusted once your official SAI comes in. They might be reluctant to mention this option unless you specifically ask for it by name.

i had this same issue but with verification that took forever!!! finally got through on the phone after trying for weeks and they told me my fafsa was selected for verification but they never sent me the notification!! like how was i supposed to know?? maybe yours is stuck in verification too? worth asking when u finally reach someone