FAFSA says 'Processed' but school claims it was 'Rejected' - how to fix this discrepancy?

This is actually a common issue! 'Processed' on studentaid.gov just means they received your application and generated an SAI (Student Aid Index), but it doesn't mean it was processed successfully with no errors. There are several reasons why your school might say it was rejected: 1. The FAFSA might be missing signatures (either yours or your daughter's) 2. There could be discrepancies in the SSN or date of birth information 3. Your daughter might need to complete verification if selected 4. The school might not have received the FAFSA even though it was processed (sometimes a school code issue) I recommend calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 to check the exact status and what might be causing the issue. They can see more details than what appears on the dashboard.

samething happen to me!!! they said processed on website but my college financial aid office said they couldnt see it at all. turns out i put wrong school code LOL. check that first maybe?

Have you tried looking at the actual SAI report on studentaid.gov? Sometimes there are error codes or flags there that don't show up on the main dashboard. Click on "View SAI Report" and look for any sections highlighted in red or any notes about incomplete information. Also, when did you submit? My daughter's took almost 4 weeks to actually reach her schools even though it said "processed" after week 1. The new system is SUPER backed up this year.

I spent TWO WEEKS trying to call Federal Student Aid about a similar issue with my son's FAFSA showing processed but the school saying it was incomplete. Impossible to get through - kept getting disconnected after 2+ hour waits. FINALLY used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect me - they got me through to a real person at FSA in about 20 minutes who explained exactly what was wrong. Turns out we had a mismatch between the name on his Social Security card and what we entered on FAFSA. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent walked me through fixing it right on the call. Worth it to avoid the endless busy signals and disconnects!

I'm a financial aid counselor, and this is something we're seeing A LOT with the new 2024-2025 FAFSA. The "processed" status is extremely misleading. Here's what's likely happening: 1. Your FAFSA was processed by Federal Student Aid (generating an SAI) 2. BUT there are issues preventing it from being fully accepted by the school Common reasons in the new system: - Missing parent/contributor information or signature - Incomplete tax information linking with the IRS - Data validation errors (where info doesn't match across systems) - School code errors The fastest solution is to contact both parties: 1. Ask the school's financial aid office SPECIFICALLY what is showing as rejected in their system 2. Contact Federal Student Aid to see what the FAFSA system shows as the issue Don't resubmit a whole new FAFSA - that will just delay things more. You likely just need to submit a correction once you know what's wrong.

I know everyone's saying check for errors but honestly it might just be the delay. My daughter's FAFSA said processed for SIX WEEKS before her school got it. The new system is a total disaster this year. Maybe just give it more time?

Update: Since several people mentioned school code issues, I just had my daughter check, and sure enough, she entered one digit wrong in her top choice school's code. We've submitted a correction, and the financial aid officer said it should show up within 3-5 business days once fixed. Thank you all for your help - I would have spent weeks going in circles without your suggestions!

As someone who just went through this nightmare with my twin sons' FAFSAs, I can't stress enough how important it is to triple-check those school codes! What helped us was creating a spreadsheet with each school's name and their correct federal school code before we even started filling out the FAFSA. You can find the official codes on each school's financial aid website or by searching the Federal School Code lookup tool on studentaid.gov. Also, pro tip: even after you submit the correction, I'd recommend calling the school's financial aid office in about a week to confirm they received it. Sometimes there are still delays even after fixing the code issue. The new FAFSA system has so many bugs that following up is essential. Good luck with your daughter's aid package!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a first-time FAFSA parent too and ran into a similar issue last month. One thing I'd add is that if you're still having trouble after fixing the school code, check if your daughter needs to complete verification. Even if the FAFSA shows "processed," some schools require additional documentation before they can finalize aid packages - especially if you were selected for verification or if there are any inconsistencies in the data. The school's financial aid office should be able to tell you exactly what documents they need. In our case, we had to submit tax transcripts and bank statements even though we used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. It's frustrating, but once we provided everything, the aid package came through within a week. Don't give up - this new FAFSA system is rough, but you'll get through it!

As a financial aid administrator, I want to emphasize something that hasn't been mentioned yet - timing is crucial with deposit deadlines! While you're waiting for the school code correction to process, I'd strongly recommend calling the admissions office (not just financial aid) to explain the FAFSA processing delay. Most schools will grant extensions on deposit deadlines when there are legitimate FAFSA issues, especially with all the problems this year's system has had. Also, ask if they can give you an estimated aid package based on your SAI while you wait for the official FAFSA to come through their system. Many schools can provide provisional awards to help families make decisions. Don't let a technical glitch cost your daughter her spot or force you into a deposit you can't afford - schools are generally very understanding about these delays right now!

I'm going through the exact same situation with my son right now! His FAFSA shows "Processed" on studentaid.gov but two of his schools say they haven't received it at all. After reading through all these responses, I'm realizing we probably made a school code error too. One thing I wanted to add that might help others - when you're making corrections to school codes, you can actually add up to 10 schools on a single FAFSA. So if your student is applying to multiple schools and you're not sure about all the codes, you can double-check and add any missing ones during the correction process rather than having to submit separate corrections later. Also, I called one of the schools directly and they told me that even after they receive the FAFSA, it can take another 1-2 weeks for them to process it on their end and create the financial aid package. So even once you fix the school code issue, there might be additional waiting time. The whole timeline is just so much longer than I expected as a first-time parent!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My daughter's FAFSA has shown "Processed" for over a month, but when I called her dream school yesterday, they said they have no record of receiving it. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly eye-opening - I had no idea there were so many potential pitfalls beyond just filling out the form correctly. I'm definitely going to check the school code first thing tomorrow morning, and I really appreciate the tip about looking at the actual SAI report for error messages that don't show up on the main dashboard. It's frustrating that the "Processed" status is so misleading - it really should be called something like "Partially Processed" if there are still issues preventing schools from receiving it. For other parents reading this thread, I also want to mention that I found it helpful to screenshot the "Processed" status and any confirmation numbers, just in case we need to reference them later when talking to financial aid offices. The documentation has already come in handy when explaining the situation to the school. This whole new FAFSA system really feels like we're all beta testers for a system that wasn't ready for prime time!

I'm a newcomer to this community but dealing with a very similar situation! My son's FAFSA has been showing "Processed" for almost a month now, but when I contacted his top three college choices, two said they never received it and one said it was "incomplete." Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea there were so many potential issues that could occur even after the FAFSA shows as processed. I'm definitely going to check the school codes first (seems like the most common issue based on everyone's experiences), then look at that SAI report for any hidden error messages. I also really appreciate the advice about contacting both admissions and financial aid offices about deposit deadline extensions - with how widespread these FAFSA issues seem to be this year, I'm hoping schools are being understanding. One question for the group: has anyone had success reaching the Federal Student Aid line recently, or are the wait times still impossibly long? I'm debating whether to try calling them directly or look into that Claimyr service someone mentioned. With multiple deposit deadlines coming up in the next few weeks, I'm getting pretty anxious about getting this resolved quickly. Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences - it's reassuring to know we're not the only ones dealing with this!

I'm new to this community but unfortunately dealing with the exact same frustrating situation! My daughter's FAFSA has shown "Processed" for about 3 weeks now, but when I called her first-choice school yesterday, they said they have "no record" of receiving it at all. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been both reassuring (we're not alone!) and incredibly informative. Based on all the advice shared, I'm going to start by double-checking the school code tomorrow morning - it sounds like that's the culprit in most cases. I had no idea that "Processed" status could be so misleading! I also appreciate the tip about looking at the actual SAI report for hidden error messages that don't show on the main dashboard. One thing I wanted to add for other parents in this situation: I've been keeping a detailed log of all my phone calls, including dates, times, and the names of financial aid officers I've spoken with. It's already proven helpful when following up, since I can reference previous conversations. This whole new FAFSA system really feels like we're all guinea pigs for a system that clearly wasn't ready for launch. Fingers crossed we can all get these issues resolved before deposit deadlines hit!

I'm a newcomer to this community but unfortunately experiencing the exact same frustrating issue! My son's FAFSA has been showing "Processed" for nearly a month, but three of his target schools have told us they either haven't received it or that it shows as "rejected" in their systems. Reading through all of these responses has been incredibly eye-opening - I had no idea that "Processed" status could be so misleading! It really should be labeled as "Partially Processed" or something more accurate. Based on everyone's experiences here, I'm going to start by checking the school codes first thing tomorrow (sounds like that's the most common fix), then dig into that SAI report to look for hidden error messages. I really appreciate all the practical advice shared here, especially about contacting admissions offices for deposit deadline extensions and keeping detailed logs of all communications. The tip about being able to add up to 10 schools during corrections is also super helpful since my son applied to 7 schools. This whole "Better FAFSA" rollout has been such a nightmare for families like us who are already stressed about college financing. Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences - it's both reassuring to know we're not alone and incredibly helpful to learn from others who've successfully navigated these issues!

I'm new to this community but unfortunately dealing with the exact same issue! My daughter's FAFSA has shown "Processed" for about 5 weeks now, but when I called her top choice school today, they said it was "rejected due to missing information." Reading through this entire thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea there were so many potential pitfalls even after getting that "Processed" status! Based on everyone's experiences here, I'm going to check the school code first (seems to be the most common culprit), then review that SAI report for any hidden error messages that don't show on the main dashboard. I really appreciate the advice about contacting both admissions and financial aid offices regarding deposit deadline extensions - with how widespread these FAFSA issues are this year, I'm hoping schools are being understanding. One thing I wanted to add that might help other parents: I discovered that you can actually see a history of all your FAFSA submissions and corrections by logging into studentaid.gov and clicking on "View Details" under your application. It shows timestamps for when corrections were submitted and when they were processed, which has been helpful for tracking the timeline when talking to school financial aid offices. This whole "Better FAFSA" situation has been such a source of stress during an already overwhelming time. Thank you to everyone who's shared their experiences and solutions - this community has been a lifesaver!