FAFSA submitted with 10,000 SAI - When should I receive financial aid offers from colleges?

The colleges should definitely have sent you financial aid info by now if your daughter was accepted. Have you checked her student portals? Sometimes they put the financial aid offers there and don't email you. My son's aid packages were all sitting in his portals for weeks before we realized!

After FAFSA processing with your SAI calculation, schools are responsible for putting together financial aid packages. Each school handles this differently and operates on different timelines. The SAI of 10,000 means you won't qualify for Pell Grants (current cutoff is around 6,206), but you should absolutely still receive financial aid offers that include federal loans, possible work-study, and any institutional scholarships or grants. You should: 1. Check all student portals as mentioned above 2. Contact each school's financial aid office directly 3. Verify all FAFSA information was properly received by each school Many schools are behind schedule this year because of the FAFSA delays.

YOU NEED TO CALL THE FINANCIAL AID OFFICES IMMEDIATELY!!! This happened to us last year and we found out there was a "verification flag" on our FAFSA that no one told us about!!! They couldn't process any aid until we submitted extra tax documents. We almost missed out on thousands in institutional aid because we waited too long. Don't trust the portals or emails, CALL THEM!!!

I work in college admissions and there are massive delays in financial aid processing this year because of the FAFSA rollout problems. Many schools are scrambling to get aid packages out before decision deadlines. With an SAI of 10,000, you're right that Pell Grants aren't available (current cutoff is ~6,206), but you should still receive federal loan offers (Subsidized and Unsubsidized), possible work-study, and potentially institutional aid depending on the schools. I strongly recommend calling each school's financial aid office. Most schools have extended their May 1st deposit deadlines because of these issues. Don't make decisions without seeing all offers. If you're having trouble reaching financial aid offices by phone (very common right now), I recently discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to busy phone lines. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Several families I've worked with have used it to reach financial aid offices during this chaotic season.

I'd recommend that while you're figuring this out, also look into scholarship opportunities outside of FAFSA. With a 10,000 SAI, your daughter may still qualify for merit-based institutional scholarships that aren't tied to financial need. Many schools automatically consider students for merit scholarships during the admission process. Also, don't forget about: 1. Direct Subsidized Loans (federal government pays interest while in school) 2. Direct Unsubsidized Loans (interest accrues while in school) 3. Work-study programs (if offered by the schools) 4. Parent PLUS loans (require credit check) Each school will create a unique financial aid package based on their available resources and your daughter's academic profile. Some schools are more generous with institutional aid than others, which is why the packages can vary significantly.

my daughter had an SAI of 12,000 and still got decent financial aid packages from 3 out of her 5 schools. one gave her a $15k/yr merit scholarship plus $5k work study, we only need to cover about $14k with loans. def call the schools!! some are wayyyy more generous than others even with the same FAFSA info

i got my aid package weeks after my friend did even though we both applied to the same school. sometimes its just random when they get sent out.

CHECK FOR VERIFICATION!!!! I can't stress this enough! About 25% of FAFSA applications get randomly selected for verification and they DON'T ALWAYS TELL YOU clearly. It will delay everything and you'll just sit there wondering what's happening while your application sits in limbo.

One more thing - make sure each college has your correct FAFSA information. Sometimes there can be issues with the school codes or data transmission. You can check this on your studentaid.gov account under "My FAFSA" where it shows which schools have received your information.

As someone who just went through this process last year, I want to echo what others have said about checking those student portals! My daughter's aid packages were literally just sitting there for weeks. Also, with your SAI of 10,000, you're actually in a decent position - you might not get Pell Grants but many schools will still offer substantial institutional aid, especially if your daughter has good stats. One thing I learned is that different schools calculate "need" differently even with the same FAFSA info. Our state school gave us mostly loans, but a private college surprised us with a $12k merit scholarship that made it almost the same cost. Don't give up hope yet - and definitely call those financial aid offices if the portals don't have anything. This year has been especially chaotic for everyone in financial aid.