FAFSA submitted in December but no SAI - stuck in processing limbo?

same for us! submitted dec 15 and nothing. my daughters already getting acceptance letters but we cant compare financial packages without the fafsa done. so frustrating!!

That's exactly our situation! Two acceptance letters already and they keep emailing about

Unfortunately, this IS the new normal with the FAFSA Simplification Act changes. The Department of Education officially announced delays for the 2025-2026 application cycle. Schools won't even receive your son's data until the FAFSA is fully processed. Some data suggests current processing times are 4-6 weeks minimum, with many taking 8+ weeks.\n\nDon't panic yet! Contact your son's schools directly and explain the situation. Most institutions are aware of these delays and are adjusting their priority deadlines accordingly. Get documentation from the studentaid.gov account showing your submission date as proof you submitted before their deadline.

Thank you for this info! I'll screenshot the submission confirmation from December. Do you think I should contact each school individually? Some are small private colleges and others are large state universities - not sure if they're all handling this the same way.

Yes, contact each school individually - especially those with the closest deadlines. Ask specifically about their adjusted FAFSA deadline policies for this year. The financial aid offices at smaller private colleges might have more flexibility, but even the large universities are adapting to these nationwide delays. Document all communications in case you need to reference them later.

I'M BEYOND FRUSTRATED!!! Submitted my daughter's FAFSA on December 2nd and STILL NOTHING after nearly 8 WEEKS! Called FSA 14 TIMES, either get disconnected or told \

After multiple failed attempts calling FSA, I finally got through using Claimyr (claimyr.com). They basically hold your place in line and call you when an agent is available. Saved me from spending hours on hold. The video on their site explains how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\nWhen I finally reached an agent, they confirmed my application was actually stuck due to a verification flag and needed additional income documentation. Might be worth checking if yours has a similar issue rather than just normal processing delays.

THANK YOU!!! Will try anything at this point. Did they actually fix your problem or just tell you what was wrong? So tired of getting nowhere.

They were able to tell me exactly what was wrong (in my case, a discrepancy between reported income and what the IRS data showed), and then walked me through submitting the right documentation. My application started moving again within 3 days. Definitely worth getting a real person on the phone instead of just checking the website status.

my cousin works in financial aid at state college says they're telling everyone to chill bc ALL the schools know fafsa is messed up this year. like nobody's getting rejected for aid just bc of these govt delays.

Really hope that's true! But it's so hard not to worry when decision letters are already coming in but we have no idea what financial aid packages will look like.

Financial aid administrator here. I want to provide some clarity on the 2025-2026 FAFSA processing delays:\n\n1. The Department of Education anticipated some delays with the redesigned FAFSA but underestimated their scale.\n\n2. Applications are being processed in roughly chronological order, but certain factors can flag applications for additional review (income discrepancies, non-matching SSNs, etc).\n\n3. Most institutions (including all federal financial aid participants) have implemented contingency plans. We're seeing internal deadline extensions of 30-45 days at most schools.\n\n4. You should ABSOLUTELY contact each school's financial aid office with your submission date proof. Request written confirmation that your aid eligibility won't be affected by the processing delay.\n\n5. If your son is applying to highly competitive private institutions with institutional aid, these merit scholarships may have stricter deadlines. Prioritize communicating with these schools first.

Im so confused about how this affects dependent students vs independant students...my son lives w/ me but his dad claims him on taxes. Does this change how long processing takes? I submitted on Jan 5th and nothing yet.

For FAFSA purposes, dependency status is determined by specific criteria (age, marital status, military service, etc.), not by who claims the student on taxes. If your son is under 24, not married, not a veteran, etc., he's likely considered dependent for FAFSA. In that case, both parents' information is required unless there's a documented exception.\n\nWho claims him on taxes doesn't directly affect FAFSA processing time, but if there were any issues with the tax data retrieval from the IRS or discrepancies in the parental information, that could cause additional delays.

Thank you for this detailed information! My son applied to 6 schools - 2 state universities and 4 private colleges. I'll start contacting their financial aid offices tomorrow. Would an email be sufficient or should I try to call each one directly?

Start with email so you have written documentation of your communication. Include your son's full name, student ID (if available), FAFSA submission date, and a screenshot of your studentaid.gov confirmation. Request written confirmation that his aid consideration won't be penalized due to FAFSA processing delays.\n\nFollow up with a phone call if you don't receive a response within 2-3 business days. For the private colleges especially, building a relationship with a specific financial aid counselor can be very helpful throughout this process.

has anyone noticed if submitting corrections slows it down more? i realized we put wrong income and sent correction jan 2 but now im worried that reset the whole thing

Yes, submitting corrections can unfortunately reset your place in the processing queue. Minor corrections typically cause shorter delays (1-2 weeks additional), while major changes to income or household size can essentially restart the process. The Department of Education prioritizes accuracy over speed, which is why corrections can significantly impact timeline.

oh no! wish id known that before fixing it. may just call schools and explain everything

wait whats SAI? is that different from EFC? i thought we were supposed to get an EFC number? (this is my first time doing fafsa for my daughter

Great question! The Student Aid Index (SAI) replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as part of the FAFSA Simplification Act. They serve similar functions - both are numbers that help determine aid eligibility - but there are important differences in how they're calculated. \n\nSAI focuses more on available income rather than assets for many families, and uses different formulas for determining need. The SAI can actually go as low as -$1,500 (unlike EFC which couldn't go below $0), which helps schools better differentiate between students with high financial need.\n\nFor most practical purposes, you can think of SAI as the new name for EFC, but with some calculation improvements designed to better reflect actual ability to pay for college.

Update: Finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid! I had to call right when they opened at 8:00 AM and waited 45 minutes, but actually spoke to a human. They confirmed our application is \

thats good news at least! which schools extended? my brother is applying too

The two that responded so far were a small private liberal arts college and a state university. Both basically said they're aware of the FAFSA delays and are being flexible with all students this cycle.

wow you got thru to a real person?? how many times did you have to call? im going on day 3 of trying

If you're struggling to get through the FSA phone line, seriously try Claimyr.com - it saved me days of frustration. They connect you with an agent without you having to wait on hold. Their video demo (https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ) shows exactly how it works. With all these FAFSA delays, getting actual answers from a live agent made a huge difference for us.

thanks will check it out! anything to avoid more time on hold listening to that awful music lol