FAFSA success after system errors! Got SAI in 10 minutes - now what?

Congratulations on getting through the application! Yes, the 1-3 day timeframe for processing is generally accurate for receiving your Student Aid Index (SAI), though sometimes it can process even faster. You'll get another email when the SAI calculation is complete, and your son can log in to studentaid.gov to view his SAI score and see which schools will receive his FAFSA information. Just make sure your son checks both his email inbox and spam folder regularly, as sometimes those notifications get filtered.

Thank you! That's such a relief. He's checking his email religiously now. The confirmation email came through right away, so hopefully the SAI will be quick too. Is there any way to check the status other than waiting for the email?

congrats!! took me 5 tries to finish mine lol. those site crashes are THE WORST. glad u made it through!

5 tries?! And I thought we had it bad with 3 attempts! Did yours process within the 1-3 days they promised?

mine took like 36 hrs, got the email tuesday morning after submitting sunday night. not too bad once it finally worked!!

The timeframe they give is SUCH A LIE!!! My daughter's application has been

I had the same frustration trying to get through on the FSA phone line for a verification issue. Wait times were insane. I finally used a service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in about 10 minutes. They have this system where they wait on hold for you then call you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of headache trying to reach someone at FSA. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Might be worth trying if you're still stuck in processing limbo and need to talk to someone.

THANK YOU - I've never heard of this but I'm going to try it right now. At this point I'll try anything because my daughter's priority deadline for her top school is next week!!

Just want to clarify something important here: the SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation and the actual processing of your FAFSA are two different steps. Most applicants receive their SAI calculation within 1-3 days, but the complete processing (including verification of your tax information with the IRS and sending your information to schools) typically takes 3-5 business days under normal circumstances. However, there have been significant processing delays this year due to the system overhaul. \n\nIf your son's FAFSA shows as \

Oh that's helpful to know the difference! I was confusing those two steps. His status currently shows as \

when i did my fafsa the email came like 4 days later but i forgot to check my spam and it was in there the whole time lol

So this is my third time doing FAFSA (junior in college) and every year it's something different. My freshman year was the old system which was actually less complicated. Last year was the \

Oh no, I hadn't even thought about verification! Is there any way to know if we'll be selected for that? And what's involved if we are?

You'll get a notification if you're selected after they process your application. If you are, they'll usually want additional documents to verify income, assets, household size, etc. It depends on what they flag in your application. Last year they wanted my parents' full tax returns with all schedules plus W-2s from both parents. Keep all your tax documents handy just in case. The verification process can add 2-3 weeks to everything.

One more important thing to note: Make sure your son logs into studentaid.gov occasionally even after receiving his SAI. The system sometimes adds \

Thank you for this advice! We'll make sure he checks the portal regularly. And yes, two of his schools require the CSS Profile too - we actually completed that back in November since we heard it was more stable than FAFSA. Crazy that we finished the supposedly more complicated form months before the \

hey random question but did ur husband have to make a separate FSA ID? my stepdad is having trouble with that part

Yes, he needed his own FSA ID that was separate from mine and my son's. Each person needs their own login. The FSA ID creation was actually the smoothest part of the whole process for us!