FAFSA showing 'In Review' status after son signed - how long before processing completes?

The 'In Review' status is normal - it means they're checking your info before calculating the SAI score. It's taking anywhere from 2-8 weeks right now depending on your situation. If there are no issues with your application, it should be on the shorter end. Did you get the confirmation email after submission?

mine took 6 weeks!! and then they asked for more verification stuff after that. its ridiculous how slow the process is this year

The 'In Review' status means FSA is verifying your information. This year's processing timeline is indeed longer due to the FAFSA Simplification Act changes. Some important points: 1. Colleges are aware of the delays and many have adjusted their financial aid deadlines 2. Your application date is based on when you submitted, not when it finishes processing 3. If your application has no red flags or complex financial situations, it typically processes faster 4. You can check for status updates on studentaid.gov every 3-5 days For priority deadlines, I recommend contacting each school's financial aid office to let them know you've submitted but it's still processing.

If u really need to reach someone at FSA about ur processing status, good luck!! I spent 3 days trying, kept getting disconnected or wait times of 3+ hours. FINALLY I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that holds your place in line and calls you back when an agent is available. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Saved me so much frustration and the agent was able to tell me exactly why my app was delayed and what to do. Worth it when u absolutely need to talk to someone.

I'm in the same situation! My daughter signed last week and we're still "In Review" too. Called FSA yesterday and they said it's taking 3-4 weeks for most people right now, but could be longer if they spot anything they need to verify. The agent told me that if there are no issues, we don't need to do anything but wait. One thing she mentioned - make sure both you and your son can log into the studentaid.gov portal and that your email addresses are verified. Apparently they sometimes send requests for additional info through the portal and if you miss those, it delays everything even more.

WAIT TIMES ARE INSANE THIS YEAR!!! My son's FAFSA was "in review" for 10 WEEKS and then they flagged us for verification!!! By then we'd missed 2 scholarship deadlines. The whole system is BROKEN. They changed everything about FAFSA and clearly weren't ready for it. I'm so angry I could scream.

One thing that helped me - I contacted the financial aid offices at all of my son's schools and sent them documentation showing we had submitted the FAFSA (the confirmation email). Most of them were understanding and put a note in his file. When we finally got our SAI, I immediately sent it to them and they honored the original deadline for us.

Just to add some context: schools are definitely aware of the processing delays this year. The Department of Education has been communicating with financial aid offices about the backlog. Many schools are being flexible with their internal deadlines as long as you can prove you submitted before their deadline. One more tip: if your FAFSA remains "In Review" for more than 4 weeks, it's worth calling FSA to check if there are any hidden issues they're not communicating through the portal. Sometimes there are minor verification issues that don't show up in your status.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! My daughter and I submitted our FAFSA two weeks ago and it's been stuck "In Review" ever since. I've been checking the portal obsessively every day hoping for an update. Reading through these responses is both helpful and terrifying - the idea that it could take 6-10 weeks is making me panic about missing deadlines too. Has anyone found that calling FSA multiple times gets you different answers? I'm wondering if some agents are more helpful than others, or if they're all just giving the same standard "wait and see" response. Also, for those who eventually got through processing - did you get an email notification when your status changed, or did you have to keep checking the portal manually?