FAFSA submitted Jan 2025 - No SAI or aid info yet - Do we contact schools?

Submitted ours 1/15 and just got the SAI last week. 18 days total but felt like forever! The dept is SUPER backed up this year with all the FAFSA simplification changes. Each school told me something different when I called - some said they could see our application was received but no SAI yet, others acted like they had no idea what I was talking about.

Financial aid advisor here. The Department of Education is experiencing significant delays processing FAFSA applications this year due to the implementation of the new FAFSA system. The processing time is currently averaging 14-21 days, though some are taking longer. You don't need to worry about contacting schools yet. They cannot create a financial aid package until they receive your son's processed FAFSA with the SAI. Once the SAI is calculated, schools will automatically receive the information. If you're approaching that March 15th deadline and still don't have a processed FAFSA, then contact the financial aid office at that specific school. They often have procedures in place for FAFSA processing delays.

mine got proccessed in like 4 days lol. but my cousin is still waiting from early january. i think its just random how fast they go thru them

GUYS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IS A DISASTER THIS YEAR!!! My daughter's FAFSA has been "processing" for SIX WEEKS now!!! I've called the Federal Student Aid number at least 15 times and either get disconnected or wait on hold for 2+ hours only to be told they "can't provide any timeline estimates" for processing. Meanwhile her dream school is asking for everything by March 1st and we're PANICKING!!! The whole FAFSA simplification was supposed to make things EASIER not impossible!!!

I was in the same situation and got tired of waiting on hold forever to reach someone at FSA. I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual FSA agent in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Turns out there was an issue with our tax information verification that was holding up our application, and they never notified us. The agent was able to clear it up right away, and we got our SAI two days later. Might be worth trying if you're concerned about hitting that March deadline.

Theres NO WAY the schools are gunna get all the fafsa apps processed in time this year!!! My son's counselor said colleges know about the delays and most of them r being flexible with finacial aid deadlines. You should email the financial aid office at ur son's top choice and ask specifically about there policy for the FAFSA delays this year.

One important thing to remember is that the Parent Plus loan isn't directly tied to the SAI calculation or the initial financial aid package. Once your son receives any financial aid offer from a school, you can apply for the Parent Plus loan separately to cover remaining costs up to the cost of attendance. Even if there are delays with the initial aid package, you'll typically have time to complete the Parent Plus application before payment is due. The Parent Plus application process is separate from the FAFSA and usually takes just 3-5 business days for credit approval.

I submitted my FAFSA on January 22nd and just received my SAI yesterday. The entire financial aid process seems much slower this year with the new system. Once we got the SAI, I immediately called my daughter's top choice school and they confirmed they had received the information. One suggestion - check your spam folder regularly. My SAI notification went to spam, and I only found it when I manually checked. Also make sure your contact information is up to date on studentaid.gov.