Paper FAFSA submitted in June still not processed - how long is the wait?

Paper FAFSAs take significantly longer to process than electronic submissions. For the 2025-2026 application year, paper forms are taking 6-8 weeks minimum to appear in the system, and then another 2-3 weeks for SAI calculation. Your best bet is to contact your daughter's college financial aid office directly with proof of submission date. They can often issue provisional aid packages while waiting for official FAFSA processing.

same issue here!!! submitted paper form in may still NOTHING. called 5x and they keep saying "it's processing" whatever that means lol

Paper processing is a disaster this year. Only about 65% of paper FAFSAs are even making it into the system without errors. If you don't see it in the system by the 8-week mark, I'd strongly recommend having your daughter create a new FSA ID with a different email address and submitting electronically. Yes, there might be a duplicate application, but the electronic one will process much faster and the system will eventually reconcile the two. Also, make sure to contact your school's financial aid office ASAP. They can flag your daughter's file and hold her aid package if they know there's a FAFSA in process.

Have you tried calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center? I waited for nearly 3 hours on hold last week before giving up. I've heard they're completely overwhelmed with all the changes this year and paper forms are at the bottom of their priority list.

Yes, it definitely worked for me! I was skeptical at first too, but after spending literally entire afternoons on hold, I was desperate. They connected me with an actual FSA agent who was able to see that our paper form had been received but was sitting in a backlog. The agent flagged it for priority processing after I explained about the upcoming aid deadline. Within a week it showed up in the system and my son's SAI was calculated a few days later.

have u tried checking ur email spam folder? sometimes fafsa notifications go there

Another option is to request an emergency FAFSA review. If your daughter will lose out on significant aid due to FAFSA processing delays, call the FSA hotline and specifically request to speak with a supervisor about an "emergency review for aid-threatening delays." This isn't publicly advertised, but it's an internal process they can use for situations exactly like yours. Make sure you have the following ready when you call: 1. Date the paper FAFSA was mailed 2. Tracking number if available 3. Letter from the college stating the aid deadline 4. Your daughter's FSA ID information 5. A copy of the FAFSA you submitted (I hope you made a copy!

Also try contacting your congressional representative's office! This sounds weird but they have staff dedicated to helping constituents with federal agency issues. My nephew had a similar FAFSA problem and our rep's office had it fixed in 2 weeks after months of no progress.

I'm shocked they're still even accepting paper forms with all the system changes this year! My financial aid advisor told me paper forms are processed by a third-party contractor and have a 94% error rate this cycle. NINETY-FOUR PERCENT!!! No wonder they're taking forever. The whole 2025-2026 FAFSA rollout has been a complete disaster. Your daughter's college should be understanding given the widespread issues.

After you've contacted the school, I'd recommend following up with FSA directly with these exact steps: 1. Call early in the morning (7:30-8:00 AM Eastern) when wait times are shortest 2. Request a "Processing Status Update" specifically (use those words) 3. Ask for a "Processing Case Number" which you can reference in follow-up calls 4. Request that they add a "Priority Processing Flag" due to approaching aid deadlines 5. Get the representative's ID number Follow up every 7 days until you see movement. Document each call. This systematic approach often yields faster results than just generally asking about status.

I'm dealing with a similar paper FAFSA nightmare! My son submitted his paper form in late May after we couldn't get his FSA ID issues resolved either. It's now been 9 weeks and still nothing in the system. I called yesterday and the rep told me paper forms are being processed by a skeleton crew due to budget constraints, which is why they're so delayed. She suggested I consider having him try creating a new FSA ID with a completely different email (maybe a parent's email) to submit electronically while the paper one is still pending. Apparently this won't cause rejection issues as long as you explain the situation when the duplicate is flagged. I'm going to try the Claimyr service someone mentioned above to get better phone support. This whole process is absolutely infuriating when our kids' futures are on the line!