FAFSA not sent to all 20+ colleges - need manual submission help?
So my son got ambitious and applied to 22 different schools (only 12 through Common App, the rest directly). We completed the FAFSA a few weeks ago and selected 10 schools, but I just realized we can only list 10 schools max on the FAFSA! How do I send his FAFSA information to the remaining 12 schools? Is there a way to manually submit this information or do I need to update the FAFSA form somehow? I'm worried some schools will start making financial aid decisions without having his complete information. Any advice would be really appreciated!
19 comments
Join the conversation
Javier Torres
You don't need to panic! This is actually a common situation with students applying to many schools. You can easily add more schools to your FAFSA after submitting. Just log into studentaid.gov, go to your FAFSA application, and select "Add or Delete a School." Remove some of the original schools and add new ones from your list. Your FAFSA information will automatically be sent to these new schools within 3-5 business days. Just a heads-up though - the schools you remove won't know they've been removed, but they'll still have access to the FAFSA data you already sent them. It's really just making room to add new schools.
0 coins
Natasha Volkov
•Thank you so much for explaining! That makes perfect sense. So I can basically do this in batches until all 22 schools receive his information? Do I need to wait until the first batch of new schools gets the data before adding more, or can I keep changing the list whenever?
0 coins
Emma Wilson
Are you sure all 22 schools even require the FAFSA? Some private schools use the CSS Profile instead of or in addition to FAFSA. I wasted time sending FAFSA to schools that didn't even use it for their financial aid decisions. Double check each school's financial aid page first!
0 coins
Natasha Volkov
•That's a great point I hadn't considered. I know several of the private schools did mention the CSS Profile too, which we completed. I'll check each school's requirements to make sure we're sending the right forms. Thanks for pointing this out!
0 coins
QuantumLeap
my daughter aplied to 17 schools last year and we did exactly what the other person said. just rotate schools in and out. but make sure you keep track of which ones youve added! we messed up and forgot 2 schools and almost missed a scholarship deadline. good luck!!!
0 coins
Natasha Volkov
•Oh, good tip about keeping track! I'll make a spreadsheet to mark off each school as we add them. Did all the schools eventually get her information in time for aid decisions?
0 coins
Malik Johnson
As others have mentioned, you can rotate schools in and out of your FAFSA. But there's something important to note: when you make these changes, the newly added schools won't receive your son's information immediately. It typically takes 3-5 business days for processing. Also, while you can add and remove schools whenever you want, I recommend checking each school's financial aid deadline. Some schools have early priority deadlines for maximum aid consideration, so you'll want to make sure they receive the FAFSA data well before those deadlines. Additionally, you might want to call each school's financial aid office after making these changes to confirm they received the FAFSA data. Sometimes there can be processing delays on their end as well.
0 coins
Isabella Santos
•this is super helpful! never thought about checking with each fin aid office after submitting. I did this for my kid last year and just assumed everything went through ok 😬
0 coins
Ravi Sharma
Has anyone tried using Claimyr to call the Federal Student Aid helpline for this issue? I was having a similar problem with adding schools and kept hitting busy signals for days. Used claimyr.com and got through to an agent in minutes who helped me confirm all my schools had been added correctly. There's even a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Worth it to avoid the stress of wondering if everything went through properly.
0 coins
Freya Larsen
•I've never heard of this service before. Does it actually work? I've been trying to get through to FSA for THREE DAYS about verification issues and I'm about to lose my mind with all the busy signals.
0 coins
Ravi Sharma
•Yeah it definitely worked for me! Instead of waiting on hold forever, they call you when an agent is ready. The FSA agent helped me confirm which schools had received my son's FAFSA and which were still pending. Saved me tons of time.
0 coins
Freya Larsen
THE 10 SCHOOL LIMIT IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING EVER!!! In what universe do they think students only apply to 10 schools?? My daughter applied to 15 schools last cycle and it was SUCH a hassle dealing with this stupid limitation. The fact they haven't updated this system in decades shows how out of touch these organizations are with the actual college application process!!
0 coins
Emma Wilson
•I understand your frustration, but I think the limit exists because of how the system processes and distributes information. Each school gets a detailed data package, and managing that across thousands of applicants requires significant processing power. They're actually working on an improved system for the 2026-2027 application cycle that might address this limit.
0 coins
Freya Larsen
•That's not an excuse in 2025! Every other online system can handle way more complex data than FAFSA. They just don't want to invest in proper infrastructure because they don't care about students.
0 coins
Javier Torres
One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - when you're swapping schools, the SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) calculation doesn't change, so you don't need to worry about that. All schools will receive the same financial information regardless of when you add them. Also, for keeping track, I found it helpful to take screenshots of the confirmation page each time I added new schools to my son's FAFSA. That way I had proof of submission dates if any questions came up later.
0 coins
Natasha Volkov
•That's really reassuring about the SAI staying the same - I was wondering if multiple updates might somehow affect his numbers. The screenshot idea is brilliant! I'll definitely do that as we work through all the schools. Would you recommend waiting a few days between batches of schools or can I do multiple updates in the same week?
0 coins
Isabella Santos
wait tho can't u just call each school directly and give them ur fafsa confirmation number? i thought that works too
0 coins
Malik Johnson
•Unfortunately, that's not how the FAFSA system works. Schools can only access your FAFSA information if you specifically list them on your FAFSA application. The confirmation number is just for your records - it doesn't grant schools access to your data. The only way to share your FAFSA with additional schools is to add them to your FAFSA through the studentaid.gov website as others have described.
0 coins
Natasha Volkov
Thank you everyone for the amazing advice! I've started rotating schools in batches of 10 after removing the original set (except for his top choices). I'm keeping a detailed spreadsheet with dates of when each school was added and plan to follow up with financial aid offices to confirm receipt. I've also discovered that 4 of the schools actually don't require the FAFSA at all (they use CSS Profile exclusively), so that reduced my list a bit. For the remaining schools, I'll probably try that Claimyr service mentioned earlier if I run into any issues confirming everything went through properly. This process is so much more complicated than I expected, but I feel much better equipped now. Thank you all again!
0 coins