FAFSA only took 7 minutes - did my husband skip important sections?

The new FAFSA for 2025-2026 is SIGNIFICANTLY streamlined compared to previous years. They reduced the questions from over 100 to about 36, and if you had your tax information already linked through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, it can absolutely be completed that quickly. As long as you got a confirmation number and it says submitted, you're likely fine! The Department of Education made these changes specifically to reduce completion time.

lol same happened with me! was expecting this whole ordeal and it took like 10 min tops. i was like... did i miss something??? but got my SAI score like 5 days later so guess it was fine

Financial aid advisor here - the new FAFSA is indeed MUCH faster to complete, especially if you: 1. Had your tax info transferred directly from the IRS 2. Have a relatively straightforward financial situation (standard W-2 income, not self-employed) 3. Don't have unusual circumstances requiring explanations 4. Only have one student in college The system now automatically pulls most of the information that used to require manual entry. However, it's always worth doing a quick review to ensure nothing was missed. Log back in and use the "View FAFSA" option to check that all sections show as complete.

Don't trust it!!!! I finished mine super quick too and got an email 3 weeks later saying there were "inconsistencies" in my application and had to submit a bunch of verification documents. The whole thing ended up delaying my daughter's financial aid package by 2 months and almost cost her a scholarship deadline. I'd call them directly to verify everything is actually good.

I'm a financial aid counselor at a community college and see this ALL THE TIME now with the new FAFSA. The form is much faster, BUT there's a catch - it's easy to miss the "additional information" sections which don't immediately appear as required. While the basic submission might be complete, you may want to check if there are sections about: - Additional financial assets beyond what IRS reported - Special circumstances that would affect aid eligibility - Housing plans during enrollment If your situation is straightforward, 7 minutes is totally realistic, but it never hurts to review the submission for completeness.

My son did ours in like 12 mins and I freaked out too lol!! But when the SAI came back everything seemed fine. I think they really did make it faster. One thing - make sure he entered the correct school codes for where your daughter is applying! That's the one thing people forget when they rush through it.

The government claims they "simplified" the FAFSA but really they're just collecting LESS information which means LESS accurate aid calculations. I spent an hour with the old form making sure every detail of our complicated financial situation was correctly represented. The new form doesn't capture nearly as much detail which means many students are getting LESS aid than they deserve. Don't trust the "quick and easy" propaganda.

To follow up on my earlier comment, here's what you should check even with the simplified form: 1. Login to studentaid.gov and view your submitted FAFSA 2. Verify all student and parent information is correct 3. Confirm the correct schools are listed to receive your information 4. Check that your tax information transferred correctly 5. Review the confirmation page for any warning messages If all that looks good, you're all set! The new system is designed to be much faster while still gathering the essential information needed for your SAI calculation.

As someone who just went through this process with my own kids, I can totally relate to that panic! The new FAFSA really is that much faster - we completed ours in about 8 minutes and I had the same "did we miss something important?" feeling. One tip that gave me peace of mind: after you submit, you should receive an email within 24-48 hours with your submission summary. If there were any issues or missing required information, it would be flagged there. Also, your daughter's college financial aid office can see your FAFSA status once it's processed, so they'll reach out if anything looks incomplete on their end. The quick completion time is actually one of the few things that worked well with the FAFSA overhaul this year!

I completely understand your anxiety! I just went through this exact same situation last month with my daughter's FAFSA. My wife finished it in about 6 minutes and I was convinced she had missed something crucial. But here's what I learned: the new FAFSA really is that streamlined, especially if you have straightforward finances and use the IRS data retrieval. What gave me peace of mind was logging back in and doing a quick review - you can see exactly what information was submitted and if any sections show as incomplete. Also, the colleges will contact you directly if they need any additional documentation during their verification process. The key thing is that you got the confirmation page saying "submitted" - that means the essential information is there. The Department of Education wouldn't let you submit an incomplete application. Try not to stress too much about the timing - focus on whether the information that WAS submitted is accurate!