FAFSA expiration notice with 4 days left - but we already got SAI report?
I'm totally confused and starting to panic. My daughter got her SAI score and processed FAFSA confirmation email about 3 weeks ago. We've already submitted everything to her colleges. But today I got an email saying her FAFSA will expire in 4 days if we don't complete it?? The studentaid.gov account shows her application as complete and processed. Has anyone else gotten these weird expiration notices after already having a completed application? Is this a glitch or do we actually need to do something before it expires? She's already been accepted to two schools with financial aid packages based on her FAFSA!
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Molly Chambers
Don't panic yet - this happened to me last month! The system sometimes sends these automated expiration emails if you have an incomplete draft saved somewhere in the system. Log into her account and check under "My Documents" to see if there's a saved draft application that's different from her completed one. The completed application with the SAI score is safe, but the system wants to delete any incomplete drafts.
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Adrian Hughes
•Oh thank goodness. I'll check for drafts right now. What a relief if that's all it is. These notifications are so scary when they don't explain what's actually expiring!
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Ian Armstrong
It's most likely a phishing email - be very careful! The FAFSA doesn't "expire" after being processed. Double check the sender email address carefully. If it's not exactly studentaid.gov (no misspellings or extra characters), it's fake. Never click links in these emails. Always go directly to studentaid.gov by typing the address in your browser.
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Eli Butler
•THISSSS!!!! omg so many scam emails going around about fafsa this year. my brother almost clicked one last week that looked super legit but the email was from studentaid-gov.com not .gov
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Adrian Hughes
•I didn't even think about that possibility! The email looked so official. I'll double check the sender address when I get home.
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Marcus Patterson
Check if she started two different FAFSA applications for different years. My son filled out both the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 FAFSA forms, and we got an expiration notice for the 2025-2026 one because he hadn't submitted it yet, even though his 2024-2025 was fully processed with SAI.
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Adrian Hughes
•That's actually a good point. She might have started the wrong year application at some point. I'll check both years when I log in.
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Eli Butler
the exact same thing happened to us!!! we panicked for nothing lol. turns out my mom started a fafsa for me back in october but never finished it. then in january i did a whole new application and got my SAI and everything. then we got that scary email about expiration. it was just that old incomplete one from october. dont worry your daughters real fafsa is fine!!
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Adrian Hughes
•That's so reassuring to hear! I think this is probably what happened since my husband might have started one before I took over the process.
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Lydia Bailey
FAFSA is such a nightmare!! Every step of this process has been nothing but confusion and stress. Why can't they design a system that doesn't send panic-inducing emails for no reason?? I got the same notice last week and spent HOURS on hold trying to talk to someone. No one ever answered.
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Mateo Warren
•I had the same issue trying to call them about verification documents. After 3 failed attempts, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual FSA agent in under 20 minutes. They basically hold your place in line and call you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Worth checking out if you need to talk to someone at FSA directly.
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Adrian Hughes
•I'll keep that service in mind if I need to call them! The hold times are absolutely ridiculous.
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Sofia Price
I work in a college financial aid office. Most likely explanation is that she started an application but didn't complete it, then started a new one that was successfully processed. The system is trying to delete the incomplete draft. Your daughter's processed FAFSA with the SAI score is completely safe and won't be affected. However, I recommend logging in to verify. Go to studentaid.gov (typing it directly, not clicking email links), log in with her account, and check under "My FAFSA" section. You should see her completed application with "Processed" status, and possibly another one with "Started, not submitted" status. The expiration notice is for the unsubmitted one only.
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Adrian Hughes
•Thank you so much for this expert explanation! I just checked and you're exactly right - there was an incomplete application from October that's about to expire. The completed one from January is still there with "Processed" status. What a relief!
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Ian Armstrong
Did you resolve this issue? I'm curious what the outcome was, as it might help others who get similar notices in the future.
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Adrian Hughes
•Yes! Mystery solved. It was exactly what several people suggested - she had an incomplete draft from earlier in the year that we had forgotten about. Her actual processed application with the SAI score is completely fine. Just a needlessly scary notification that could have been worded much better!
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Marcus Patterson
This is why i HATE the new FAFSA. The entire system is filled with these kinds of confusing notifications. My daughter got an "action required" email that made it sound like her application was going to be rejected, but it was just asking her to fill out an optional survey. The stress these vague emails cause is ridiculous.
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Eli Butler
•omg those action required emails are THE WORST!!! i legit had a panic attack over one last month and it was just asking me to update my email preferences lol. like WHY make it sound so scary???
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