FAFSA says 'processed' but no SAI number showing - what's the missing step?

Same thing happened to my daughter last month. The SAI doesn't actually show on studentaid.gov - they send it directly to the schools you listed on your FAFSA. Your schools should be able to see it even if you can't. Check your school's student portal instead.

The SAI (Student Aid Index) isn't displayed on the studentaid.gov dashboard. When your FAFSA shows as 'processed,' the information has been sent to your schools. Log into your college's financial aid portal - they should have received your SAI within 3-5 business days after your FAFSA processed. If you don't see it there, call your school's financial aid office directly.

it took like 4 more days after mine said processed before my school actually had it lol the whole system is so slow this yr

I WENT THROUGH THE EXACT SAME THING!! SAI doesn't show on the FAFSA website AT ALL which is SO STUPID! How are we supposed to plan our finances when we can't even see our own numbers?? I ended up having to call my school's financial aid office and they told me over the phone. The lady said they've been getting calls about this all month. Why can't they just FIX the website to show us the number?!

Financial aid advisor here. This is actually by design (though I agree it's not intuitive). The SAI calculation is sent directly to your schools via the ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record). You should be able to see your SAI on your school's financial aid portal within 3-7 business days after your FAFSA shows as processed. If you need your SAI urgently and can't access it through your school portal, you have two options: 1. Contact your school's financial aid office directly 2. Request an SAI calculation breakdown by calling Federal Student Aid at 1-800-433-3243 Keep in mind that phone wait times are extremely long right now due to the new FAFSA rollout.

I had to call FSA when this happened to me because my school was saying they hadn't received anything yet, but FSA said it was sent! Took me THREE DAYS of calling to finally get through to an agent. If you need to speak with someone at Federal Student Aid, I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they hold your place in the phone queue and call you back when an agent is available. Saved me hours of hold time. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ

lol welcome to the wonderful world of fafsa 🙃 where nothing makes sense and everything takes forever

Update: If you've checked your school's portal and they still don't have your SAI after 7-10 business days, you may need to contact both your school AND Federal Student Aid. Sometimes there's a data transmission issue between systems. Ask your school specifically if they've received your ISIR (the technical name for your processed FAFSA data). If not, Federal Student Aid can help identify where the transmission failed.

Glad to hear you found it! For anyone else reading this thread - definitely check all the different tabs in your school's portal. Sometimes the SAI shows up under "Financial Aid Status," "Award Information," or even "Documents Received" depending on how your school's system is set up. The terminology can be really confusing between different schools too.

As someone who just went through this nightmare last year, I can confirm that the FAFSA system is incredibly confusing about where your SAI actually shows up! The key thing to remember is that "processed" on StudentAid.gov just means they've calculated your information and sent it to your schools - it doesn't mean YOU get to see the number on their website. I spent hours clicking through every possible page before realizing I needed to check my college's portal instead. Pro tip: if you can't find it in your school's system after a week, don't hesitate to call the financial aid office directly. They're used to this question and can usually tell you your SAI over the phone in like 2 minutes. The whole process is way more complicated than it needs to be, but you're almost there!

Just wanted to jump in as another newcomer who was completely lost about this whole SAI situation! Reading through all these responses has been SO helpful - I had no idea the SAI number doesn't actually show up on the main FAFSA website. That seems like such a weird design choice? Like, it's my information but I can't see it unless I go somewhere else entirely. I'm still waiting for my FAFSA to show as "processed" (going on week 5 now), but at least now I know what to expect and where to look once it finally goes through. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is a lifesaver for those of us trying to figure out this confusing system!

I'm brand new to the FAFSA process and this thread has been incredibly educational! I had absolutely no clue that the SAI wouldn't show up on StudentAid.gov even after processing - that seems like such a basic piece of information that should be visible to the student. Reading everyone's experiences makes me realize this confusion is totally normal and not just me being clueless. I haven't even submitted my FAFSA yet (still gathering all the documents), but now I know to expect this weird disconnect between "processed" status and actually being able to see my SAI number. Thanks to everyone who shared their stories and solutions - I'll definitely bookmark this thread for when I inevitably run into the same issue in a few weeks!