FAFSA resubmission without changes - did I delay my daughter's financial aid packages?

Dont panic!! The same thing happened to me last year with my son's application. When you resubmit without changes, it doesnt always restart the whole review process from scratch. Sometimes it just does a quick verification check. For us it took about 5-7 days to go back to "processed" status. The schools still had the original info and it didnt delay anything for us.

I'm a college financial aid counselor, and I can help clarify this situation. When you resubmit a FAFSA without changes, it does generate a new processing date, but it doesn't necessarily mean starting over completely. Here's what happens: 1. Your daughter's SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation won't change since you didn't modify any information 2. Schools that already downloaded her previous FAFSA will receive an electronic notification that an update exists 3. Some schools automatically download these updates, while others may wait until they're ready to package aid 4. The reprocessing typically takes 3-5 business days While this isn't ideal timing, it's not the disaster your daughter fears. The most important thing is that your information is correct, which it was all along. I recommend having your daughter contact her top choice schools' financial aid offices directly to explain the situation if she's concerned about timing.

I HATE that the FAFSA website doesn't make this clear!!! Literally nowhere does it warn you that reviewing and signing again creates a new submission. Last year my husband did the exact same thing and our daughter's aid WAS delayed at two schools because they waited for the "updated" FAFSA. The whole system is ridiculous - they should either warn you clearly or not count it as a new submission if NO CHANGES were made!!!

I've been calling the Federal Student Aid hotline all week for a different issue and haven't gotten through once. Always disconnected after 2+ hours on hold. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that held my place in line and called me back when an agent was available. Took less than an hour total. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ I asked the FSA agent specifically about resubmissions, and she confirmed that when no changes are made, it's flagged for expedited processing. She recommended calling to verify the status if it doesn't update within a week.

Speaking as someone who works in higher education IT systems, I can explain what's actually happening on the technical side: When you resubmit without changes, the system generates what's called a "duplicate ISIR" (Institutional Student Information Record). The schools' financial aid management systems can detect this. Most modern systems automatically flag identical resubmissions and don't treat them as new applications requiring full review. The delay is generally just the federal processing time (typically 3-7 days) for the data to be transmitted back to schools. Schools that use automated systems will simply verify the data matches and continue processing. Some smaller schools with manual processes might take a few extra days. The most important factor is timing in relation to the school's internal aid packaging timeline. If they're actively packaging aid right now, a brief delay could potentially impact priority consideration. That's why it's good advice to contact financial aid offices directly.

One more thing to add - when this happened to us, I panicked and made it worse by calling schools everyday asking about it. My son was embarrassed and it actually caused more confusion. The best approach is one calm email to financial aid offices explaining the situation, then be patient. Eventually everything worked out fine and he got the same aid package he would have anyway.