FAFSA shows 'processed' with SAI number but college says they never received it - urgent help needed

The same thing happened to my daughter! It showed processed with an SAI for like 6 weeks but her school said they never got it. Turns out there was an issue with how her name was entered - one system had her with her middle initial and the other didn't. Might want to check if there's ANY difference between how his name appears on the FAFSA vs. the college system.

This is actually pretty common this year with all the FAFSA delays and system issues. A few things to try: 1. Log into studentaid.gov and go to the "My FAFSA" section. Click on your son's processed application and check the "View Processed Information" page. Confirm the school code is correct and that the application actually shows "Processed" not "Processing" 2. Ask the financial aid office to specifically check if they've received the ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) - that's the actual data format they receive from FAFSA 3. On studentaid.gov, you can manually add schools even after processing. Try removing and re-adding the school to trigger a new transmission 4. Request a Student Aid Report (SAR) through the FAFSA site and bring a printed copy to the financial aid office as proof of completion I work in a college financial aid office, and we've seen lots of transmission errors this year. The school CAN manually enter your son's information with a printed SAR if they're willing to help.

have u tried looking at the confirmation page? my sons fafsa had ths weird glitch where it said it was sent to his collage but actually wasnt. we had to click on "view processed information" and then resubmit it again even tho it said processed. worth a shot

After dealing with the FAFSA nightmare this year (took us 3 months to get processed!), I finally managed to get through to a live FSA agent using Claimyr. It's this service that gets you past the hold times - claimyr.com. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent was able to see that our FAFSA had some kind of transmission error that prevented it from reaching our selected schools despite showing as "processed" on our end. They manually triggered a re-transmission and the school received it within 48 hours. Definitely worth trying because the school really can't do anything until they receive the ISIR.

Why does evrything have to be so complicated with FAFSA this year??? It's like they want us to fail! My cousins having the same issue and her school is blaming the "new system" for everything. Maybe try sending the financial aid people a screenshot of the processed confirmation as proof?

This is 100% a result of the botched rollout of the "simplified" FAFSA this year. The Department of Education completely failed students and families. Latest data shows nearly 800,000 fewer students have successfully completed FAFSAs compared to this time last year. The transmission systems between FSA and institutions are also failing. I've heard from multiple financial aid administrators that they're receiving FAFSAs with missing data, corrupted fields, or not receiving them at all despite the student's application showing as processed. Your best bet is to: 1. Print your complete Student Aid Report (SAR) 2. Contact your school's financial aid office DIRECTLY (in person if possible) 3. Ask them to manually input your information based on the SAR 4. Request a written confirmation that they've received it Many schools are making accommodations for these issues given the widespread problems.

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at FSA! After trying for hours yesterday, I called right when they opened this morning and only had to wait 45 minutes. The agent confirmed there was a transmission error on their end - something about a "batch processing failure" that affected multiple applications. They're manually re-sending my son's FAFSA to his school and said it should arrive within 3-5 business days. The agent also gave me a reference number and suggested I forward it to the financial aid office so they can look out for the incoming application. Fingers crossed this actually resolves it! Will update again when/if the school confirms they received it.

wait im confused... if you have the SAI number doesnt that mean it worked??? my fafsa got processed but i never got an SAI number and my school says they cant do anything until i get one. how did you even see the SAI?

FINAL UPDATE: Success! The financial aid office called this morning to confirm they FINALLY received my son's FAFSA information. They said it came through late yesterday. They're expediting his financial aid package and should have it ready by the end of next week, which is just in time for the tuition deposit deadline. Lessons learned for anyone dealing with the same issue: 1. Just because your FAFSA shows "processed" doesn't mean schools actually received it 2. Be persistent with both FSA and your school's financial aid office 3. Get reference numbers for everything 4. Have the school check for name mismatches if they say they didn't receive anything Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! This system is seriously broken, but we made it through.