FAFSA unfrozen: Are colleges finally receiving student aid reports?

Financial aid advisor here (though not part of your daughter's schools). Yes, colleges are FINALLY starting to receive batches of ISIRs (Institutional Student Information Records) from the FAFSA system, but it's happening very unevenly. Some schools got their first batch last week, others are still waiting. The Department of Education is releasing them in waves rather than all at once.\n\nFor context, in normal years, schools would have been receiving these records since October/November and would have had aid packages out by February/March. This year's rollout has been historically problematic.

Thank you! Do you have any idea how they're deciding which schools get the data first? Is it alphabetical or by school size or something? My daughter's top choice is a smaller state school and I'm wondering if they're lower on the priority list.

My son's FAFSA finally went through to his 1st choice school yesterday!!!!!! They emailed him saying they received his SAI info. The other 3 schools he applied to still haven't gotten it tho. This whole process is SO frustrating this year!!!

omg im so jealous!! we've been waiting forever and NOTHING! what state are you in? wondering if theyre going by region or something

We're in Michigan. The school that got it is University of Wisconsin-Madison. The others are still waiting (Michigan State, Purdue, and Illinois). It seems totally random honestly!

I work in the admissions office at a mid-sized private university, and I can confirm we started receiving student data late last week. It's coming in very slowly though - we've only received about 15% of our applicant pool's FAFSA information so far. Our financial aid team is working overtime to process packages as quickly as they arrive.\n\nIf you're bumping against May 1st decision deadlines, I'd strongly recommend contacting each school's financial aid office directly. Many institutions are extending deposit deadlines or making provisional aid offers based on estimated information until the official FAFSA data arrives. Don't make assumptions - each school is handling this crisis differently.

This is everything thats wrong with the system right now. Why should students have to commit to schools without knowing what aid theyll get?? The May 1 deadline should be pushed back NATIONWIDE not school by school. My family cant afford to put down deposits at multiple schools while we wait to see which one we can actually afford. The entire system is biased against low-income students.

I understand your frustration completely. Many institutions (including ours) ARE offering deadline extensions and reduced/refundable deposits precisely because we understand the financial strain. The National Association for College Admission Counseling has encouraged all colleges to be flexible this year, though they didn't mandate a universal extension. If a school is rigid about their May 1st deadline without having provided financial aid information, I'd suggest documenting your communications with them and escalating to the Dean of Admissions or even the Provost's office.

my cousin works in financial aid at a community college and she says theyre getting like a tiny trickle of FAFSAs. like maybe 20-30 per day when they should have thousands by now. she said they're prioritizing packages for the records they do have but its a mess and theyre way behind

This whole situation is ridiculous! My son is a first-gen college student and we relied on FAFSA to make attendance possible. His application has been

I was in the same boat last week - so frustrated with never getting through to FSA after multiple attempts. I ended up using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with a federal student aid agent. They basically hold your place in line and call you when an agent is available. Saved me from having to sit on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\nThe agent was able to tell me that my daughter's FAFSA was fully processed and in the queue to be sent to schools, which at least gave us some peace of mind. Worth it just to get actual information instead of being in limbo.

Thank you - I'm going to try this right now. At this point I'd do anything just to get some real information instead of being in the dark!

Update: I just got off the phone with my daughter's top choice school. They said they've received about 30% of their applicants' FAFSA data so far, and they're processing aid packages within 7-10 days once they get the data. They also confirmed they're extending their deposit deadline to May 15th for all applicants, which gives us a little breathing room. I recommend everyone call their schools directly!

Did they say anything about what order they're receiving the FAFSAs in? Like is it alphabetical or by application date or something? Just wondering if there's any way to guess when mine might come through

The financial aid counselor I spoke with said they don't know what order the Department of Education is using to release records. She just said they're getting batches every few days with no apparent pattern. She did mention they're prioritizing processing freshmen over returning students once they do receive the data.

has anyone actually gotten a complete financial aid package yet from any school? even the one school that got my sons FAFSA says itll be another 2 weeks before they send his aid package! May 1 is 13 days away!!!!

This is why many schools are extending their deposit deadlines. The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has publicly encouraged schools to be flexible with deadlines this year because of the unprecedented FAFSA delays. If a school is refusing to extend their deadline despite not providing timely aid information, that's something worth reporting to NACAC and the Department of Education.

The whole system is RIGGED against students. This is what happens when the government treats education like a business. They KNOW students need this information to make decisions but they dont care. And colleges are just as bad - my daughter applied to 8 schools and only ONE has extended their deposit deadline. We're supposed to come up with deposits for multiple schools with NO IDEA which one will be affordable??? I've been on hold with FSA for 2+ hours today. This is criminal.

While I understand your frustration, it's worth noting that the colleges are victims of this situation too. They can't generate aid packages without the federal data, and they're scrambling to adjust their entire enrollment management calendar. If a school is refusing to be flexible, I'd recommend asking to speak with the Director of Financial Aid or Dean of Enrollment directly rather than just the frontline staff. Often they have more authority to make accommodations in unusual circumstances.

does anyone know if special circumstances still get reviewed this year? my dad lost his job after we submitted our FAFSA and our income is totally different now. normally we'd submit an appeal but do schools even have time for that this year??

Yes, schools are absolutely still reviewing special circumstances appeals! In fact, this is more important than ever given that the FAFSA is using older tax data (2022) that may not reflect current situations. Document your changed circumstances thoroughly (termination letter, unemployment benefits statement, etc.) and contact each school's financial aid office about their specific appeal process. Many schools have streamlined their appeals process this year knowing these issues would arise.

omg thank you so much!! ill tell my parents to start collecting all that paperwork now. this gives me hope!