FAFSA shows Pell Grant award but school says they don't have it - who's right?

same thing happened with my son last semester!! the FAFSA site said he got $6895 in pell but when he checked with the school they had NOTHING. turns out the school hadn't finished processing all the aid packages yet. took like 3 more weeks before it showed up in his account

The financial aid office is right in this case. The FAFSA only determines your ELIGIBILITY for the Pell Grant and calculates your potential award amount based on your SAI (Student Aid Index). What you're seeing on studentaid.gov is what you QUALIFY for, not what has actually been processed by your daughter's school. The school has to verify your information, package the aid, and then disburse it to her account. This can take several weeks depending on their workload and verification requirements. Also, they won't actually receive the money until closer to the start of the semester. I recommend checking your daughter's student portal at the school to see if they've posted her financial aid package there, which would include the Pell Grant if it's been processed.

I work in a financial aid office (not at your daughter's school) and can explain what's happening here. The FSA system shows your ELIGIBILITY and ESTIMATED award, but the school has to do several things before the Pell Grant is actually awarded: 1. Verify your FAFSA information (sometimes requiring additional documentation) 2. Confirm enrollment status (Pell amount depends on full/part time) 3. Create an official aid package 4. Submit the Pell Grant request to the Dept of Education 5. Receive and disburse the funds (usually right before or after classes start) The disconnect between the FAFSA site and your school is totally normal. If it's still early in the process (sounds like it is for Fall 2025), the school simply hasn't processed her aid package yet.

This exact thing happened to me! Kept seeing my Pell Grant on the FAFSA website but nothing at my school. I literally spent 2 weeks trying to call my financial aid office but could never get through - either busy signal or disconnected after waiting for an hour!! I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a financial aid representative at my school. They got me past the phone queue and I was able to speak to someone who explained the whole situation. They also have a short video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Turns out my school was missing one verification document that I didn't know I needed to submit, which was holding up my whole aid package. Got it resolved in one phone call after weeks of frustration!

I think everyones being too nice to the schools here. This happens EVERY DAMN YEAR and schools act like its perfectly normal. Its ridiculous! The dept of education tells you one thing, the school tells you another. Meanwhile were all just trying to figure out how to pay for college and getting the runaround. I've had to take out extra loans TWICE because my "guaranteed" pell grant didn't show up until after the payment deadline!!

Quick follow-up: Be sure to check if your daughter needs to submit any additional verification documents. About 30% of FAFSA applications get selected for verification, which means the school needs extra documentation (tax transcripts, household size verification, etc.) before they can process any aid. This is the #1 reason for delays in Pell Grant disbursement.

my neighbors dughter had this happen and it turned out the school still needed her to aceept the aid package on there portal even tho fafsa approved it already. mite want to check that too

I'm glad you found the verification email! Just so you know what to expect next: Once you submit the verification documents, schools typically take 2-3 weeks to process them (longer during busy periods). After verification is complete, they'll create her official aid package which should include the Pell Grant. The funds won't actually be disbursed until about 10 days before classes start. If you need to make payment arrangements before then, contact the Bursar's office (not Financial Aid) and let them know she has a pending Pell Grant. Most schools will place a temporary hold on payment requirements if they can see the aid is in process.

one more thing! tell ur daughter to check her SAI score on the fafsa site. if its 0 or close to 0 thats how u know shes getting the max pell amount. my sons was like 3700 and he only got partial pell

As someone who just went through this process with my twin daughters last year, I wanted to add that timing can vary significantly between schools. One daughter's community college processed her Pell Grant within 3 weeks of submitting verification docs, while her sister's state university took almost 8 weeks! Don't panic if it seems to be taking forever - some schools are just slower than others. Also, make sure your daughter accepts her aid package once it's posted (there's usually a deadline), otherwise the Pell Grant can get cancelled even after it's been approved. Good luck with the verification process!

I'm dealing with something similar right now! My son's FAFSA shows he's eligible for a $6,200 Pell Grant, but when I called his school yesterday they said they're still "processing financial aid packages" and couldn't give me a timeline. It's so stressful not knowing if we can count on that money or not. Reading through these comments has been really helpful though - sounds like this is totally normal even though it feels like chaos on our end. I'm going to check his student portal tonight to see if there are any verification documents we missed. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

Just wanted to chime in as another parent who went through this exact same confusion! My daughter's FAFSA showed a $6,895 Pell Grant for this current academic year, but when I called her college in July they acted like I was crazy for expecting them to have that information already. Fast forward to August and boom - there it was in her student account, exactly as the FAFSA had shown. The timing really does depend on when you submit everything and how backed up the financial aid office is. One thing I learned is to screenshot that FAFSA award page because it gives you something concrete to reference when talking to the school. Also, don't be afraid to call back and speak to a different advisor if the first one seems dismissive - some are definitely more helpful than others!

I'm a first-time college parent and this thread has been incredibly eye-opening! My son just submitted his FAFSA last week and I was expecting the school to have everything ready to go once we got our SAR back. Now I realize we need to be proactive about checking for verification requirements and understanding that there's a whole process the school has to go through. Question for those who've been through this - is there a typical timeline I should expect from FAFSA submission to final aid disbursement? I want to set realistic expectations so I don't panic like I probably would have without reading all your experiences. Also planning to take that screenshot advice - brilliant tip!

I'm going through this exact same situation right now! My daughter's FAFSA shows she's eligible for $6,895 in Pell Grant funding, but when I contacted her community college last week they said they "don't have any record of federal aid being processed yet." It's such a relief to read all these responses and realize this disconnect is totally normal - I was starting to worry that something was wrong with our application or that the money wasn't actually going to come through. The explanation about FAFSA showing eligibility versus the school having to process everything makes so much sense now. I'm going to check her student portal tonight for any verification requests we might have missed, and I love the tip about screenshotting the FAFSA award page. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this thread has been a lifesaver for stressed parents like us!

This thread has been so helpful! I'm a single mom going back to school myself and was completely panicking when my college said they didn't see my Pell Grant even though the FAFSA site clearly shows I'm eligible for $4,200. I thought maybe I did something wrong or that being an older student meant different rules applied. Now I understand it's just the normal timing between federal eligibility and school processing. I'm going to check my student portal right now for any verification documents they might need. It's such a relief to know this is standard and not a sign that something went wrong with my application!

This exact situation happened to me last year and I was pulling my hair out! My son's FAFSA showed a $6,200 Pell Grant but his school kept saying "we don't have that information yet" every time I called. What I learned is that the FAFSA website basically shows you what you're ELIGIBLE for, but the school has to do their own verification and processing before they actually award and disburse the money. It took about 5 weeks from when his FAFSA was processed to when it finally showed up in his student account. The key thing is to stay on top of any verification documents they might request - that's usually what causes the biggest delays. Don't panic, the money will come through as long as everything checks out on the school's end!

I'm a college financial aid counselor and wanted to add some perspective here. What you're experiencing is completely normal - the FAFSA system shows your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and calculates potential aid eligibility, but schools need time to verify everything and create official aid packages. The disconnect between federal systems and individual school timelines is one of the most confusing aspects for families. A few tips: 1) Always check both your email AND student portal regularly for verification requests, 2) Don't hesitate to contact the Bursar's office about payment deferrals if aid is pending, and 3) Remember that Pell Grants are entitlements - if you qualify, you'll get the money, it's just a matter of timing. The system could definitely communicate better, but your daughter's aid will come through once the school completes their process!

I'm a newcomer to this community but dealing with this exact same issue right now! My daughter's FAFSA shows she's eligible for $5,730 in Pell Grant money, but when I called her school yesterday they said they haven't even started processing financial aid packages yet and couldn't give me any timeline. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been such a relief - I was starting to think we had done something wrong or that the FAFSA website was showing incorrect information. Now I understand this is just how the system works, even though it's incredibly stressful for parents trying to plan ahead. I'm going to check her student portal tonight for any verification requests we might have missed. Thank you all for sharing your stories and advice - it's so helpful to know we're not alone in this confusing process!

As a new member here, I'm so grateful to have found this discussion! I'm currently experiencing this exact same frustrating situation with my son's college. His FAFSA shows he's eligible for $6,495 in Pell Grant funding, but when I contacted the financial aid office last week, they acted like I was speaking a foreign language and said they "don't have any federal aid information yet." I was starting to panic that maybe we missed a deadline or filled something out incorrectly. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly reassuring - it's clear this timing disconnect between the federal FAFSA system and individual schools is completely normal, even though it creates so much anxiety for families trying to plan financially. I'm going to check his student portal right now for any verification requests, and I love all the practical tips people have shared about contacting the Bursar's office and taking screenshots of the FAFSA award page. Thank you everyone for making me feel less alone in navigating this confusing process!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm dealing with this exact same situation and it's been so stressful! My daughter's FAFSA shows she's eligible for $6,950 in Pell Grant funding, but her college's financial aid office told me they "haven't received anything yet" and to "just wait." I was convinced we had made some mistake or missed a crucial step. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly enlightening - I had no idea that what shows on the FAFSA website is just eligibility, not actual disbursement! The explanation about schools needing to do verification and create aid packages makes so much sense now. I'm definitely going to check her student portal and email (including spam) for any verification requests we might have missed. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences - it's such a relief to know this timing disconnect is completely normal even though it feels chaotic when you're trying to plan for college expenses!